SPARTANBURG, SC -- The Sports Network released their official "Payton Watch" and "Buchanan Battle" members yesterday and a total of five Southern Conference football players were chosen by the information service as contenders for the two respective awards. Overall, there were 32 players (16 each) designated as candidates for the awards.
The three players that were chosen for the "Payton Watch" were Ingle Martin of Furman, Richie Williams of Appalachian State and Jermaine Austin of Georgia Southern.
The Payton Award, thus named for the illustrious Walter Payton, a former I-AA star at Jackson State, was implemented by The Sports Network in 1987 and goes to the top player in I-AA every year. The Buck Buchanan award is given out yearly to the nation’s top I-AA defensive player. The awards undergo three revisions and are voted on by media members and sports information directors at I-AA schools.
Martin, a senior quarterback, enters the 2005 season after a stellar first year at Furman in 2004 after transfering into the Paladins program from Florida in early 2004. After just one year of play for the Paladins, Martin enters 2005 already 12th in Paladin history in passing yards with 2,792 and ninth in touchdown passes with 22.
Williams, a senior and the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year for 2004, was in the running for last year’s Payton Award, finishing 15th in the voting. As a junior, Williams broke nearly every single-game and single-season passing mark in school history at Appalachian after throwing for 3,109 yards and 24 touchdowns last year for the Mountaineers. The Camden, SC native needs just 1,660 passing yards and 12 touchdown passes to set ASU career records.
Austin enters the 2005 season with the distinction of being the top active career rusher in the NCAA I-AA ranks. Austin has amassed a total 3,865 yards in his career. The senior is a three-time All-SoCon selection and needs just 12 yards to move into second place on the Georgia Southern all-time rushing list behind former Payton Award winner Adrian Peterson.
If a SoCon player garners the Payton Award in 2005 they will join the three past winners in quarterback Michael Payton (Marshall), running back Peterson (Georgia Southern) and running back Louis Ivory (Furman). Peterson and Ivory were back-to-back winners of the award in 1999 and 2000.
The two players named to the "Buchanan Battle" list were Katon Bethay of Wofford and William Freeman of Furman.
Bethay, a 6-foot-2 senior nose tackle, is a two-time All-SoCon selection, who comes into the year ranked as the No. 4 defensive tackle in the nation by The Sports Network. Bethay is also the only Wofford student-athlete to commandeer All-SoCon honors in more than one sport, as he is a two-time All-SoCon selection in shot put for the Wofford indoor track and field team.
Freeman, the 2005 SoCon Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, comes into 2005 rated the No. 1 linebacker in NCAA I-AA by The Sports Network. The Swansea, SC native was the SoCon defensive player of the Year in 2004 after pacing the team on the year with 100 tackles and four and a half sacks.
The last SoCon player to receive the Buchanan Award was Appalachian State’s Dexter Coakley. The three-time consensus All-American (1994-96) won the award in consecutive seasons in 1995 and 1996.