ACU has school-record 11 players on first team
11/15/2006 5:00:00 AM | Football
RICHARDSON -- On the heels of the program's most successful season in almost 30 years, the ACU Wildcats placed a school-record 11 players on the first team all-Lone Star Conference South Division, and it also won four individual awards, including Coach of the Year.
The Wildcats had 19 players named either first team, second team or honorable mention all-LSC, tying the school record set in 1973. No Wildcat team, however, has ever produced as many first team players as the 2006 squad.
The Wildcats had six players named to the first team offensive unit and five to the defensive team, which was announced Wednesday by the LSC office. Junior receiver Jerale Badon was named the division's Wide Receiver of the Year, while junior guard Nathan Young was named the division's Offensive Lineman of the Year. Defensively, safety Tony Harp was named the division's co-Freshman of the Year.
ACU head coach Chris Thomsen was named the division's Coach of the Year after leading the Wildcats to an 8-2 finish and the program's first NCAA Division II playoff berth. ACU was picked to finish sixth going into the season, but the Wildcats finished tied for second in the league and tied for second in the division.
Thomsen is only the fourth head coach in school history to win Coach of the Year honors in football, joining Wally Bullington (1973), Ted Sitton (1981) and Dr. Bob Strader (1993) on the list.
ACU finished the year 8-2 overall and 7-2 in the LSC (4-2 in the LSC South) and is the No. 6 seed in the Southwest Region in the NCAA Division II playoffs that start Saturday. The Wildcats will be playing West Texas A&M at noon in Canyon in a rematch of ACU's 49-33 win over the Buffaloes on Oct. 19.
Aside from Badon and Young, other Wildcat first-team offensive selections were sophomore quarterback Billy Malone, sophomore tailback Taber Minner, sophomore fullback Chris Conklin and sophomore tight end Trey Simeone.
The Wildcats also had five players named to the first team defense, led by junior defensive end Travis Carpenter. He's joined on the first team unit by teammates Marcus Brown (linebacker), cornerbacks Corey Jordan and Mark Gaines and safety Landon Kinchen.
Malone - named earlier this week as a Southwest Region finalist for the Harlon Hill Award - enters Saturday's playoff game with 2,916 passing yards, the third-best single-season total in school history. Malone has completed 227 of 347 passes for 2,916 yards and 25 touchdowns, while only throwing six interceptions. His yardage total is the third-best single-season total in school history, and he is only 252 yards away from setting a new single-season record.
Malone's 227 completions this season leave him two away from setting a new ACU single-season best as he trails Lamberti (228 in 1985) by one completion. His 25 touchdown passes this season are the fourth-most in a single season in school history, trailing only Lamberti (32 in 1986 and 28 in 1993) and Longley (28 in 1973).
Badon is quickly moving up the ACU single-season and career receiving lists. Last week against Midwestern State he recorded his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season to give him eight for his career, which is the third-most in school history behind Johnny Perkins and Ronnie Vinson, each of whom finished with 12 100-yard receiving games.
This season, Badon has set career bests in catches (63), yards (973) and touchdowns (5) to lead ACU's receiving corps. With ACU having qualified for the playoffs, Badon will have a chance to record ACU's first 1,000-yard receiving season since Cle Montgomery caught 57 passes for 1,168 yards and 10 touchdowns in 1977. Badon's total of 63 catches this season is the third-best single-season total in school history, and his 973 receiving yards is the eighth-best single-season total in school history.
With a playoff appearance this season, Badon will also have a chance to become the school's all-time leader in reception as he now has 162 career catches, just five away from breaking Arthur Culpepper's total of 166.
Young has been the ringleader for an ACU offensive line that has allowed just 11 sacks on the season. That offensive line has been one of the reasons ACU is fourth in the nation in total offense, third in passing offense and seventh in scoring offense.
Minner has enjoyed a breakout season with 695 yards and 11 touchdowns on 118 carries and another 247 yards and one touchdown on 25 catches. Conklin, meanwhile, has been the lead blocker in the backfield and has 203 yards and four touchdowns on 13 catches.
Carpenter led the LSC and was sixth in the nation in forced fumbles (four) to go along with 47 tackles (25 solo). He was second in the league in sacks (6.5 for minus-46 yards) and in tackles for loss (12.5 for minus-65 yards).
Brown finished the regular season with 70 tackles (37 solo) from his outside linebacker spot, and he also finished third in the league in sacks (5.0 for minus-26 yards) and fifth in tackles for loss (12.0 for minus-44 yards).
Jordan, a second team selection last year at cornerback, was second in the league in interceptions with four, and he returned one of those 76 yards for a touchdown against Southwestern Oklahoma State. He finished the regular season with 32 tackles (23 solo) to go along with those team-high four interceptions.
Gaines, in his first season as a full-time starter at cornerback, finished the season with 33 tackles (15 solo), two tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and five passes defended. Kinchen led the secondary in tackles with 43 (19 solo) and ad one interception, five passes defended, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.
Harp, meanwhile, has enjoyed a fine freshman season with 25 tackles (18 solo) and one interception in 10 games (one start). His interception in the end zone near the end of the first half of ACU's 21-0 win over Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 30 preserved ACU's streak of 10 straight shutout quarters.
Badon and Brown were both first team selections last year, while Minner and Jordan were second team picks and Young an honorable mention choice.
The Wildcats' second team selections were running back Chancy Campbell, wide receiver John Brock, and offensive linemen Cody Savage, Devorias Jackson and Isaac Morales on offense. Defensively, linebackers Cody Stutts and Brandon Henry were each named second team. Defensive tackle Willis Hogan was named honorable mention all-LSC South Division, giving the Wildcats a total of 20 players recognized by LSC South Division coaches.
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