Football Southern Conference

TSN Preseason All-America Team Announced

Release courtesy of The Sports Network

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) ? Defending national champion Appalachian State placed six players on The Sports Network’s 2006 Division I-AA Preseason All-America Team, including three selections to the first team.  Offensive tackle Matt Isenhour, defensive end Marques Murrell and safety Corey Lynch all earned first-team honors, while tight end Daniel Bettis was a second-team selection and offensive guard Kerry Brown and safety Jeremy Wiggins garnered honorable mention accolades.

 

After placing second in the closest voting in the history of the Walter Payton Award, New Hampshire’s Ricky Santos returns for his junior season as a first-team All-American at quarterback. Santos threw for 3,797 yards and 39 touchdowns with just nine interceptions and ran for 499 yards and eight scores to lead the Wildcats to the No. 1 seed in the postseason and a quarterfinal appearance. Southern Illinois’ Arkee Whitlock and Harvard’s Clifton Dawson were selected as the first-team running backs. Whitlock ran for 1,457 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead the Salukis to the quarterfinals, while Dawson racked up 1,139 yards and 11 scores and leads all active I-AA players in rushing and all-purpose yardage. Furman’s Jerome Felton (940 yards, 18 TD) earned the first-team nod at fullback.

 

New Hampshire’s David Ball and Illinois State’s Laurent Robinson garnered first-team recognition at wide receiver after each made the 2005 postseason team. Ball is in position to break Jerry Rice’s I-AA record for touchdown receptions, and comes of a strong campaign of 87 receptions for 1,551 yards and a I-AA best 24 touchdowns. Robinson notched 86 receptions for 1,465 yards and 12 scores in a breakout junior season. Eastern Kentucky tight end Patrick Bugg (608 yards, 10 TD) rounds out the trio of pass-catchers.

 

Two players from the Big Sky Conference are among the five on the first-team offensive line. Guards Brennan Carvalho (Portland State) and Matt Alfred (Eastern Washington) made the team along with Isenhour and Ed McCarthy (Yale) at tackle and Ryan Jewell (Youngstown State) at center.

 

The first-team defense consists of nine players that earned postseason All-America honors in 2005. Murrell and Alcorn State’s Martin Jackson man the defensive end spots, with Northwestern State’s Tory Collins and Cal Poly’s Chris White at defensive tackle. Justin Durant (Hampton), Tyler Knight (Mississippi Valley State), Chad Nkang (Elon) and Clint Sellers (Eastern Illinois) make up the first-team linebacking corps, while James Madison’s Tony LeZotte joins Lynch at safety with Cal Poly’s Courtney Brown and Youngstown State’s Codera Jackson as first-team honorees at cornerback.

 

In all, 81 players from 14 conferences were selected to the team. The Atlantic 10 led all leagues with 14 selections, followed by 11 from the Gateway Conference, 10 from the Southern Conference, and seven from both the Big Sky Conference and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Appalachian State led all teams with six selections, with Hampton, New Hampshire and Cal Poly each totaling four players on the All-America team.

 

The Preseason All-America Team is the first of TSN’s many services to I-AA for the 2006 season. The Sports Network also administers the Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, and Eddie Robinson Awards, which are presented annually to the division’s top player, defensive player, and coach, respectively. The 2006 I-AA Awards ceremony will be held on December 14th, 2006, on the eve of the I-AA national championship game in Chattanooga, TN. TSN also administers I-AA’s most widely recognized weekly Top 25 poll, as well as Players of the Week, Postseason All-America Team, and regular features and columns dealing with I-AA college football.

 

THE SPORTS NETWORK 2006 PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA OFFENSE

 

First-Team                                    School                           Pos.        Cl.           Ht.           Wt.

Ricky Santos                                New Hampshire          QB          Jr.            6-2          215

Clifton Dawson                            Harvard                          RB          Sr.           5-10        210

Arkee Whitlock                             Southern Illinois           RB          Sr.           5-9          200

Jerome Felton                              Furman                          FB           Jr.           6-0          250

David Ball                                      New Hampshire          WR         Sr.           6-3          185

Laurent Robinson                       Illinois State                  WR         Sr.           6-2          195

Patrick Bugg                                 Eastern Kentucky        TE           Sr.           6-5          215

Ryan Jewell                                  Youngstown State       C             Sr.           6-4          295

Matt Alfred                                     Eastern Washington   G             Jr.            6-3          290

Brennan Carvalho                       Portland State              G             Jr.            6-1          310

Matt Isenhour                               Appalachian State       T              Sr.           6-1          275

Ed McCarthy                                 Yale                                T              Sr.           6-5          300

Chris James                                Western Kentucky       K             Jr.             6-0          190

Craig Turner                                 Southern Illinois          RS          Jr.            5-10        190

 

Second-Team                              School                           Pos.        Cl.           Ht.           Wt.

Eric Sanders                                Northern Iowa              QB          Jr.            6-1          190

Alonzo Coleman                          Hampton                       RB          Sr.           5-11        205

Omar Cuff                                     Delaware                      RB          Jr.            5-10        180

Broderick Cole                             Nicholls State               FB           Jr.           5-11        230

Tony Kays                                     UC Davis                       WR         Sr.           6-1          188

Henry Tolbert                                Grambling State          WR         Sr.           5-11        205

Daniel Bettis                                 Appalachian State       TE           Sr.           6-3          245

Alex Miller                                      Massachusetts            C             Sr.           6-2          300

Cody Morris                                  William & Mary             G             Sr.            6-4          285

Jon Reuter                                    Eastern Illinois             G             Sr.           6-4          285

Corey Davis                                  James Madison           T              Sr.           6-4          325

Chad Rinehart                             Northern Iowa              T              Jr.             6-5          300

Rob Zarrilli                                    Hofstra                           K             Jr.             6-0          190

Shamen Washington                 North Dakota State      RS          Jr.             5-6          150

 

Honorable Mention

QB: Justin Rascati, James Madison (Sr., 6-2, 220); RB: Lex Hilliard, Montana (Sr., 6-0, 225), James Noble, Cal Poly (So., 5-6, 160); FB: Reuben Mays, Grambling State (Sr., 6-2, 245); WR: Michael Caputo, St. Francis (PA) (Sr., 5-11, 170), Tyrone Timmons, Mississippi Valley State (Sr., 6-3, 210); TE: Jonathan Allen, Norfolk State (Sr., 6-5, 235); C: Will Justice, Southern Illinois (Sr., 6-4, 290); G: Kerry Brown, Appalachian State (Jr., 6-6, 285), Tucker Peterson, New Hampshire (Sr., 6-3, 300); T: Rocky Hanni, Eastern Washington (Jr., 6-5, 290); Mike Saint Germain, Lafayette (Sr., 6-5, 290); K: Andrew Paterini, Hampton (Sr., 6-0, 195); RS: Nick Feldman, Morehead State (So., 5-9, 175)

 

 

 THE SPORTS NETWORK 2006 PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA DEFENSE

 

First-Team                                    School                           Pos.        Cl.           Ht.           Wt.

Martin Jackson                             Alcorn State                  DE          Sr.           6-4          250

Marques Murrell                           Appalachian State       DE          Sr.           6-2          230

Tory Collins                                  Northwestern State     DT           Sr.           6-3          280

Chris White                                   Cal Poly                         DT           Sr.           6-3          275

Justin Durant                                Hampton                       LB           Sr.           6-2          235

Tyler Knight                                   Miss. Valley State        LB           Sr.           6-0          210

Chad Nkang                                 Elon                                LB           Sr.           6-1          215

Clint Sellers                                  Eastern Illinois             LB           Sr.           6-1          220

Tony LeZotte                                 James Madison           S             Jr.            6-0          200

Corey Lynch                                  Appalachian State       S             Jr.            6-0          200

Courtney Brown                           Cal Poly                         CB          Sr.           6-2          205

Codera Jackson                          Youngstown State       CB          Sr.           5-10        180

David Simonhoff                          Southeast Missouri     P             Sr.           6-2          200

 

Second-Team                              School                           Pos.        Cl.           Ht.           Wt.

Tyrone McGriff                              Florida A & M                DE           Jr.            6-1         220

Mike Murphy                                  Montana                        DE          Sr.            6-3          240

Mike DeVito                                   Maine                             DT          Sr.            6-3         300

Kendal Langford                          Hampton                       DT          Jr.             6-6         280

Zak DeOssie                                Brown                            LB           Sr.            6-4          240

Kyle Shotwell                               Cal Poly                         LB           Sr.            6-1         235

Cameron Siskowic                     Illinois State                  LB           Sr.            6-2         225

Gian Villante                                 Hofstra                           LB           Jr.            6-1         224

Tristan Burge                               Eastern Illinois             S             Sr.            6-0          200

Keldrick Holman                          Stephen F. Austin        S             Sr.           6-0         195

Dominic Dixon                             Portland State              CB          Sr.           5-10        195

Corey Graham                             New Hampshire          CB          Sr.           6-0          190

Christian Koegel                         Massachusetts            P             Sr.           6-0          185

 

Honorable Mention:

DE: Royce Morgan, Lehigh (Sr., 6-1, 255), Roy Ravenell, Furman (Sr., 6-2, 270); DT: Mike Berg, Harvard (Sr., 6-2, 260), Mark Cristiani, Eastern Kentucky (Sr., 5-11, 275); LB: Colin Disch, Albany (Jr., 6-1, 220); Jamar Leath, Coastal Carolina (Sr., 6-2, 230), John Mohring, Georgia Southern (Sr., 6-1, 215), Pago Togafau, Idaho State (Sr., 5-10, 210); S: Russ Washington, Northwestern State (Sr., 5-9, 185), Jeremy Wiggins, Appalachian State (Sr., 5-9, 190); CB: Dre Dokes, Northern Iowa (Sr., 5-9, 160); Walter Musgrove, Texas State (Sr., 5-9, 190); P: Wesley Taylor, Florida A & M (Jr., 5-7, 170).