Football Southern Conference

SoCon Football Coaches Select Annual Awards

SPARTANBURG, SC -- The Southern Conference football coaches have selected their 2006 All-Southern Conference team as well as their annual individual awards winners. Appalachian State’s Kevin Richardson was selected the Offensive Player of the Year with teammate Marques Murrell receiving the Defensive Player of the Year award. Rookie Armanti Edwards was named the Freshman of the Year with Mountaineer Kerry Brown earning the Jacobs Blocking Trophy. Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore was tabbed the Coach of the Year by his peers.

 

Richardson, a 5-9, 190-pound running back from Elizabethtown, N.C., led the Mountaineers to a 10-1 overall record and anchored the ASU offense. The junior rushed for 1,065 yards averaging 5.3 yards per carry and scored 19 touchdowns on the season. He recorded at least 100 yards in five games this season, including a 173 against Furman. Richardson also had 101 receiving yards in the win over Georgia Southern. He has been named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week on four occasions this year, including back-to-back honors after wins over Furman and The Citadel. Richardson joined the Mountaineers as a walk-in in 2004 and earned a scholarship and sport in the two-deep before the 2004 season started. He is also a finalist for the Payton Award.

 

A 6-2, 230-pound senior from Fayetteville, N.C., Murrell anchored a Mountaineer defense that allowed only 250 yards of total offense per game, leading the league in total defense. The defensive end racked up 65 total tackles, including 11 tackles for a loss of 47 yards. He also recorded seven sacks on the season and four forced fumbles. Murrell was selected to the all-conference first team for the second consecutive season and earned his third all-conference award of his career. He led all defensive lineman in the league averaging 5.9 tackles per game and had 27 solo tackles. Murrell is a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award and is one of only two returning finalists from the 2005 season.

 

Edwards, a 6-0, 175-pound true freshman from Greenwood, S.C., led Appalachian State to 9-0 record in his nine starts this season. The quarterback amassed 1,636 passing yards on 124-201 passing with 11 touchdowns while also rushing for 685 yards and nine touchdowns. Edwards had three games of 200-plus passing yardage, including a career-high 311 yards against Chattanooga.  He broke numerous Appalachian State records, including most passing yards by a freshman (1,636), most touchdowns thrown (11) and total offense (2,321). He also entered the record book by rushing for 140 yards against Georgia Southern, the second-best rushing total by a quarterback in ASU history. He was named the SoCon Freshman of the Week on five occasions, tying for the most by any freshman in league history.

 

A 6-6, 285-pound junior from Marietta, Ga., Brown anchored an offensive line for the Mountaineers that surrendered only 14 sacks while allowing the offense to accumulate over 4,300 yards of total offense through the regular season. He was also instrumental in allowing Edwards to throw for over 1,600 yards and letting Appalachian State rush for over 2,300 yards.

 

The winningest coach in SoCon history, Moore led his 2006 squad to an undefeated 7-0 conference record and a 10-1 overall mark to secure the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship Playoffs. He holds the record for most wins as a member of the SoCon with 150 and has 104 conference wins to his name, winning his 100th league game against Wofford on October 14. This is Moore’s fifth Coach of the Year award, his second consecutive, and he is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.

 

Conference champion Appalachian State led the way with 19 total selections, including 12 first team picks, followed by Furman with seven and Georgia Southern with six. Wofford had five selected to the all-league squads, with Chattanooga, The Citadel and Elon all having four picks. Western Carolina also have three players selected for annual honors.

 

Seventeen players repeated as all-conference selections, including six who were named all-league for the third time in their career. Appalachian State’s Murrell and Corey Lynch return to the team, with Lynch receiving the all-conference nod after not competing in the entire season in 2004 due to an elbow injury. Georgia Southern’s John Mohring received his third all-league accolade as did Western Carolina’s Tim Mayse and Elon’s Chad Nkang.

 

2006 Football Coaches All-Conference Teams

 

First Team Offense

Pos.         Name                          School                        Yr                 Hometown

TE            Daniel Bettis #            Appalachian State     Sr.                 Roswell, Ga.

WR          William Mayfield          Appalachian State     Sr.                 Durham, N.C.

WR          Jayson Foster            Georgia Southern      Jr.                 Canton, Ga.

C              Scott Suttle                Appalachian State     Jr.                 Charlotte, N.C.

OG           Jeremy Robertson     Appalachian State     Sr.                 Columbus, Ga.

OG           Kerry Brown *           Appalachian State     Jr.                 Marietta, Ga.

OT           Matt Isenhour *           Appalachian State     Sr.                 Maiden, N.C.

OT           John Kivett                 Furman                       Sr.                 High Point, N.C.

QB           Armanti Edwards       Appalachian State     Fr.                 Greenwood, S.C.

RB           Kevin Richardso n*    Appalachian State     Jr.                 Elizabethtown, N.C.

RB           Eldra Buckley *           Chattanooga              Sr.                 Charleston, Miss.

RS           Dexter Jackson          Appalachian State     Jr                  Dunwoody, Ga.

PK            Julian Rauch              Appalachian State     Jr.                 Gastonia, N.C.

                                                                                                          

First Team Defense

Pos.         Name                          School                        Yr                 Hometown

DB           Corey Lynch *&         Appalachian State     Jr.                 Cape Coral, Fla.

DB           Jeremy Wiggins *       Appalachian State     Sr.                 Macon, Ga.

DB           Quintez Smith #          Chattanooga              Jr.                 Dublin, Ga.

DB           Jeremy Blocker          Furman                       Sr.                 Hodges, S.C.

DL            Marques Murrell *^     Appalachian State     Sr.                 Fayetteville, N.C.

DL            Roy Ravenell #$         Furman                       Sr.                 Goose Creek, S.C.

DL            Charrod Taylor #        Georgia Southern      Sr.                 Miami, Fla.

DL            James Wilson #          The Citadel                 Sr.                 Longs, S.C.

LB            Chad Nkang*^            Elon                            Sr.                 Hyattsville, Md.

LB            Andrew Jones           Furman                       Jr.                 Birmingham, Ala.

LB            John Mohring *^         Georgia Southern      Sr.                 Naples, Fla.

P              Tim Mayse #^             Western Carolina       Sr.                 Pine Mountain, Ga.

 

Second Team Offense

Pos.         Name                          School                        Yr                 Hometown

TE            Taylor Cornett            The Citadel                 So.                Columbia, S.C.

WR          Dexter Jackson          Appalachian State     Jr.                 Dunwoody, Ga.

WR          Terrell Hudgins           Elon                            Fr.                 Rocky Mount, N.C.

C              Lance Wayne            Georgia Southern      Sr.                 Lake Worth, Fla.

OG           Justin Matherson       Chattanooga              Sr.                 Chattanooga, Tenn.

OG           Andrew Thornburg    Furman                       Sr.                 Snellville, Ga.

OG           Marty Bauer               Wofford                     Sr.                 Cincinnati, Ohio

OT           Mario Acitelli               Appalachian State     Fr.                 Charlotte, N.C.

OT           Joel Bell                      Furman                       So                 Spartanburg, S.C.

QB           Duran Lawson           The Citadel                 Jr.                 Conway, S.C.

RB           Jerome Felton #         Furman                       Jr.                 Madisonville, Tenn.

RB           Darius Fudge #          Western Carolina       Sr.                 Riverdale, Ga.

RS           Jayson Foster            Georgia Southern      Jr.                 Canton, Ga.

PK            Andrew Wilcox          Elon                            So.                Richmond, Va.

                                                                                                          

Second Team Defense

Pos.         Name                          School                        Yr                 Hometown

DB           Jerome Touchstone   Appalachian State     Jr.                 Riverdale, Ga.

DB           Brandon Jackson       Georgia Southern      So.                Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

DB           Mitchell Dukes            Western Carolina       Sr.                 Atlanta, Ga.

DB           Brandon Berry           Wofford                     Sr.                 Knoxville, Tenn.

DL            Gary Tharrington       Appalachian State     Fr.                 Middlesex, N.C.

DL            Omarr Byrom             Appalachian State     Sr.                 Winston-Salem, N.C.

DL            Trevar Broughton      The Citadel                 Jr.                 Hampton,Va.

DL            James Gonsoulin       Wofford                     Sr.                 Tulsa, Okla.

LB            Monte Smith               Appalachian Sate      Sr.                 Shelby, N.C.

LB            Chris Johnson            Chattanooga              Jr.                 Chattanooga, Tenn.

LB            Justin Franklin            Wofford                     Sr.                 Jacksonville, N.C.

LB            Kyle Horne                 Wofford                     Sr.                 Jacksonville, Fla.

P              Brandon Lane            Elon                            So.                Greensboro, N.C.

 

* 2005 1st team                          #2005 2nd team         $2004 1st team  ^2004 2nd team       &2003 2nd team     

 

Offensive Player of the Year: Kevin Richardson, Appalachian State    Defensive Player of the Year: Marques Murrell, Appalachian State

Freshman of the Year: Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State          Coach of the Year: Jerry Moore, Appalachian State

Jacobs Blocking Trophy: Kerry Brown, Appalachian State