Three Southland Football Players Named All-America.
Dec. 13, 2006
FRISCO, Texas -
McNeese State's Bryan Smith and Steven Whitehead have been named to the 2006 Walter Camp Division Playoff Subdivision All-America Football Team.
Smith, a junior from Newton, TX, was named to the squad as a defensive lineman and Whitehead, a junior from Slidell, LA, was named as the team's kick returner.
The two McNeese State standouts were the only players from the Southland Conference named to the team.
Smith, who set a school record with 13.5 sacks this past season, was recently named the SLC's defensive player of the year while Whitehead, who ranked nationally in pass receiving, all-purpose running and kickoff and punt returns, had been named the league's Player of the Year.
The two are the Cowboys'first, first team all-Americans since the 2002 season when linebacker Roderick Royal, center Jason Davis and defensive back Hadley Prince were all named first team all-Americans.
Besides his school record quarterback sacks, Smith also had a total of 84 tackles, led the team with 23 tackles behind the line, 19 quarterback hurries and with four fumble recoveries and also broke up five passes.
Whitehead led McNeese in pass receiving with 48 catches for 609 yards and three tds, rushed for 156 yards, passed for a touchdown, averaged 16.8 yards on 21 punt returns and ran one back for a td, averaged 23.9 yards on kickoff returns and posted a 131.1 all-purpose yardage average per game.
The quarterback on the team is Ricky Santos of New Hampshire while running backs are Marcus Mason of Youngstown State and Arkee Whitlock of Southern Illinois.
Other members of the offensive team are wide receivers David Ball of New Hampshire and Alex Watson of Northern Arizona, tight end Ben Patrick of Delaware, offensive linemen Corey Davis of James Madison, Matt Isenhour of Appalachian State, Brennan Carvalho of Portland State, Ed McCarthy of Yale and Ryan Jewell of Youngstown State and place kicker Rob Zarrilli of Hofstra.
Others selected on defense are linemen Marques Murrell of Appalachian State, Matt King of Maine and Kroy Biermann of Montana, linebackers Akeem Jordan of James Madison, Kyle Shotwell of Cal Poly and Cameron Siskowic of Illinois State, defensive backs Dre Dokes of Northern Iowa, Jeremy Wiggins of Appalachian State, James Ihedigbo of UMass and Stacey Thomas of Texas Southern and punter David Simonhoff of Southeast Missouri State.
NORTHWESTERN STATE'S TORY COLLINS NAMED TO COACHES' TEAM
Northwestern State senior defensive tackle Tory Collins was among four Louisiana natives to make the 25-man American Football Coaches Association All-America Team for Division I-AA announced Tuesday.
Collins, a product of New Orleans and Fortier High School, becomes the 40th Demon all-time to win All-America honors at any level. He is the eighth Northwestern football player to be a two-time All-American, joining Joe Delaney, Marcus Spears, Mike Green, Al Dodd, Gary Reasons, William Broussard and Jamall Johnson.
Southern punter Breck Ackley, also a senior and a Lake Charles native, made the AFCA team Tuesday. So did two state products from out-of-state programs, Arkansas-Pine Bluff senior offensive lineman Jackie Skipper from Bastrop, and Texas Southern senior safety Stacey Thomas, a New Orleans-Warren Easton product who grew up next door to Collins.
Fifth-year Northwestern head coach Scott Stoker was pleased to see his senior defensive tackle on the select team. Collins was the only Southland Conference player chosen by the AFCA.
After a Football Gazette All-America campaign in his junior season helped him earn consensus preseason All-America honors this year, Collins (6-3, 280) faced double-teams all season long. He finished with 33 tackles, including 4.5 behind the line, and had six quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a blocked kick against a schedule including games at Kansas, Baylor and Ole Miss.
The Demons led the Southland Conference in rushing defense and total defense.
Collins, a three-year starter and a three-year All-Southland Conference selection, made 185 career tackles, 64 in his junior season. He had 33 tackles for loss in 45 career games.
He had surgery Tuesday for a torn biceps that he injured in the season opener at Kansas. He continued to play all season despite being limited by the injury.