When most players who win awards at the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s annual Mr. Football banquet come to the microphone, they will typically speak off the cuff, making sure to thank God, their parents and their team, not necessarily in that order.

Not Nick Gibson. The Pinson Valley running back heard his named called as Class 5A Back of the Year, stepped to the podium — and pulled a paper with prepared remarks from his coat pocket.

That act in itself, even before Gibson said a word, brought laughs and applause from the capacity crowd at the Alabama Events Center in downtown Montgomery last Wednesday.

“I knew I had a good chance of winning, so I thought I’d better be prepared,” Gibson said afterward.

Gibson, who ran for more than 2,200 yards in 10 regular-season and two playoff games, was also named to the ASWA Super 12 team, which includes the top 12 players in the state regardless of classification or position. The top vote-getter of the Super 12, running back Racean “Roc” Thomas of Oxford, was named Mr. Football for 2013.

Gibson finished ninth on the Super 12 list, two places behind Keith Mixon of Shades Valley, the only other junior to make the team. That makes Mixon and Gibson front-runners for Mr. Football next year.

It’s already gotten Gibson even more attention from college programs, including Alabama. Barely 24 hours after winning the award, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban stopped by the school to talk with coach Matt Glover. Then later in the day, new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin also visited. (He also went to Oxford to try to flip Thomas, who’s already verbally committed to Auburn.)

Glover wasn’t too surprised that Gibson won the award.

“His stats were the best, and we got a call to make sure he was going to be there, so that kid of tipped me off,” Glover said. “That’s why he had remarks prepared.”

The award just makes the target on Gibson’s back even bigger — as if his 460-yard game against Mortimer Jordan didn’t do that enough. But that won’t stop Glover from continuing to use Gibson’s talents.

“We’re going to find ways to get him the ball differently this year,” Glover said. “We can’t just line him up and run him every time. We’ll try to throw him the ball a little bit and use his skills.”

Gibson was one of two north Jefferson players up for an award. Kadarrius Lawrence, an offensive and defensive lineman for Fultondale, was a finalist for the Class 2A Lineman of the Year honors, but finished second to Baltazar Rubio, of Tanner by just seven points.

“I thought I had a real good shot at it,” Lawrence said. “I was just thankful to be mentioned for the award.”

Lawrence is being recruited by a number of colleges, including Auburn.

“He’s has two tremendous years back to back, playing on both sides of the ball.” Wildcat coach Richie Busby said. “We’ve seen Rubio, and he’s very deserving — the two years we played against him we couldn’t block him. But our entire offensive line the last two years has been tremendous. They willed us to another 10-win season — it was on their backs.”

The ASWA awards are chosen by a committee of 16 sports reporters from newspapers across the state, including the North Jefferson News.