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Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
Wildcats land 12 on all-Southland squad
11/26/2014 12:33:00 AM | Football
ABILENE, Texas – The ACU Wildcats were one of the surprises of the 2014 Southland Conference football season, and on Tuesday they were rewarded for their solid play with 12 all-conference selections.
A pair of seniors – defensive end Nick Richardson and tight end Noah Cheshier – were voted first team all-conference, while four more Wildcats were voted second team and six were named honorable mention all-conference.
The Wildcats' second team selections were redshirt freshman running back De'Andre Brown, junior receiver Cedric Gilbert, sophomore offensive tackle Codey Funk and junior return specialist Jonathan Epps. The honorable mention selections were senior receiver Demarcus Thompson, senior defensive tackle Damon Williams, senior safety Justin Stewart, senior linebacker Justin Stephens, sophomore quarterback Parker McKenzie, and sophomore placekicker Nik Grau.
The awards put the cap on a year that saw the Wildcats finish 4-4 in Southland Conference play (tied with McNeese State and Northwestern State for sixth in the league) and 6-6 overall with wins over Troy (Ala.), Central Arkansas and at Stephen F. Austin to close out the regular season.
"It's good to be represented so positively in the all-conference selections," ACU head coach Ken Collums said. "This is a tremendous league full of good players and coaches. To have 12 players among the best the Southland has to offer speaks highly for ACU. The number of quality players we have here at ACU is already comparable to many of the teams in the Southland, and it's only going to get better."
Richardson was second in the league in both sacks (9.0) and tackles for loss (16.5) en route to earning first team all-conference honors. He finished his career with 32.5 sacks for his career, which is second in ACU history behind Reuben Mason (34 sacks from 1976-79).
Cheshier led all Southland Conference tight ends in catches with a career-best 27 to go along with 298 yards and three touchdowns.
Brown – who led the Southland Conference in rushing yards per attempt at 7.0 – was second in the league in rushing yards with 962. Gus Johnson of Stephen F. Austin led the league in rushing with 1,601 yards and was voted the league's Player of the Year.
Gilbert finished with 38 catches for 667 yards and seven touchdowns, and he was among the league leaders in yards per catch at 17.6. Funk was one of the top left tackles in the Southland Conference in his first season as a Wildcat, and Epps led the league in punt return average (14.8) en route to earning second team honors as the return specialist.
Thompson had a career-best year with 54 catches for 650 yards and two touchdowns, while Williams led the league in forced fumbles (three) and was a force on the interior of ACU's defensive line. Stephens and Stewart finished among the league leaders in tackles with 100 and 95, respectively, on the season.
Grau was among the league leaders in field goals (14), PATs (46 for 47) and points scored (88) and already ranks in the top three in ACU history in field goals, PATs and kicking points after just two seasons. McKenzie threw for 3,084 yards (second in the Southland), becoming just the sixth quarterback in ACU history to throw for at least 3,000 yards in a season. He was among the top four in the league in passing yards, yards per game, yards per completion, completion percentage, completions per game, passing efficiency, and passing touchdowns.
Johnson – who helped the Lumberjacks to a five-win improvement in 2014 and a spot in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs – took home the league's top honor as he was named the player the year while sophomore quarterback Zach Conque was tabbed the newcomer of the year for the Lumberjacks. First-year head coach Clint Conque was named the conference's coach of the year after leading the Lumberjacks to an 8-4 overall mark.
After sharing the 2014 Southland Conference championship, Southeastern Louisiana and Sam Houston State dominated the all-conference teams, claiming 20 of the 58 spots on the two teams. The Lions landed five players on the first team, including senior quarterback Bryan Bennett, the league's offensive player of the year. The Bearkats placed a league-high six players on the first team with defensive end P.J. Hall, the freshman of the year, leading the way.
Central Arkansas claimed the remaining two individual awards with left tackle Cole Caruthers being named the offensive lineman of the year and defensive end Jonathan Woodard earning the league's defensive player of the year honors.
All 11 Southland schools were represented on the all-conference teams. Southeastern Louisiana led all teams with 11 players on the all-conference teams followed by Sam Houston State with nine and Northwestern State with eight. McNeese placed seven players while Abilene Christian had six and Central Arkansas and Lamar each had five. Stephen F. Austin had three players on the all-conference teams. Houston Baptist had two all-conference picks in its first season of football and UIW and Nicholls each had one honoree.
The all-conference teams are comprised of 29 first-team and second-team members. Each coach nominates players from his own team. The teams are selected by vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors, who cannot vote for their own players.
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