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FOUR WONDER BOYS NAMED TO ALL-GSC FOOTBALL TEAMS;
INCLUDING THREE FIRST-TEAM SELECTIONS
RUSSELLVILLE,
Arkansas –
Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys Football placed four players
on the All-Gulf South Conference Football Team released
by the league office in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday.
The All-GSC team is selected by the league’s head
coaches and the coaches were not allowed to vote for
their own players.
Tech had four players selected, including three
First-Team selections. The Wonder Boys selected as first
team selections were senior offensive tackle Jeremy
Ashcraft (Marshall, Texas), junior center
Torrence Wright (Sulphur Springs, Texas) and senior
punter Michael Podobnik (Frankfort, Ill.), while
the lone second team selection was senior receiver
Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.).
Podobnik was repeat first team selections from last
season, while Wright and Ashcraft moved up to the first
team this year after being second team honorees in 2007
and Stiger was a repeat second team selection this
season.
North Alabama led the way with 16 overall selections,
including nine First-Team honorees. Two-time defending
GSC Champion Delta State had 10 honorees overall,
including seven first team selections.
Arkansas-Monticello and Henderson State had seven
overall selections, while Ouachita Baptist and Valdosta
State added six honorees overall and Harding had five
overall selections. Southern Arkansas had three
selections and was followed by West Alabama with two
selections and West Georgia had one selection.
As for the individual honors handed out by the league,
Arkansas-Monticello sophomore quarterback Scott Buisson
was named the GSC’s Offensive Player of the Year, while
Delta State junior linebacker Lardester Hicks-Green was
named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and
Delta State Head Coach Ron Roberts repeated as the GSC
Coach of the Year. In addition, Southern Arkansas
running back and Valdosta State quarterback Chris Hart
were named Co-GSC Offensive Freshmen of the Year, while
Delta State defensive back Dominique Davenport was named
the GSC’s Freshman Defensive Player of the Year. Buisson
was named the league’s GSC Freshman of the Year last
season.
With Tech’s three first-team selections this season, the
Wonder Boys have now had 26 different players named
First-Team All-GSC selections since joining the league
in 1995.
Ashcraft,
who was named as a first team offensive tackle, started
all 10 games for the Wonder Boys in 2008 and averaged a
grade of 81 percent for the season. In addition,
Ashcraft led the Wonder Boys with 78 knockdown blocks
and had 13 pancake blocks and helped Tech’s offensive
line just allow eight sacks in 10 games.
Podobnik
repeats as the first team punter this season after
finishing second in the GSC with a 44 yard punting
average. In 10 games this season, Podobnik, who was a
unanimous Preseason All-American, punted 24 times for
1,057 yards and had four touchbacks and downed five
punts inside the 20-yard line. In addition, he had five
punts travel more than 50 yards, including a season-high
60 yard punt against Central Missouri. In his two years
at Tech, Podobnik set a new career punting mark with a
44.8 yard average, which bettered the old mark of 39.7
held by former Wonder Boy Tommy Edwards
(2000-03). Along with his punting this season, Podobnik
was also 30-for-31 on extra point attempts and was
3-for-4 on field goals, including hitting game-winning
field goals in back-to-back games against West Alabama
and Arkansas-Monticello.
Wright,
who moved up to the first team this season,
played in and starting all 10 games this past season at
center. On the season, Wright had an average grade of 85
and recorded 53 knockdown blocks and had 10 pancakes. In
addition, he helped anchor a Tech offensive line that
allowed just eight sacks in 10 games, which was tied for
third in all of NCAA D-II Football.
Stiger, who named a second team selection as a receiver
for the second consecutive season, finished the year
with a single-season school record 65 receptions for 695
yards and averaged 10.7 yards per reception and 69.5
receiving yards per game. In addition, he also caught
five touchdown passes to tie the school’s career
touchdown reception mark of 21 and also returned 15
kickoffs for 334 yards and averaged 22.3 yards/return
and averaged 123.3 all-purpose yards per game. Along
with holding the school’s career mark for single-season
receptions, he also holds the school’s career mark in
receptions with 163 and also all-purpose yards (4,754)
and also holds the school and GSC career mark for
kickoff returns (94) and kickoff return yardage (2,048).
Joining Wright and Ashcraft on the All-GSC first team
offense was Buisson, Delta State running back Trevar
Deed, North Alabama running back Mike McClendon,
Henderson State receiver Garett Manning, Ouachita
Baptist receiver Julius Pruitt, Ouachita Baptist tight
end Bob Ruffing and North Alabama receivers Rocky
Coleman and Ed Gant. Other first team offensive team
members were Harding guard Ross Conn, North Alabama
guard Sam Hathorn, West Alabama guard Jon Weinreich and
Delta State tackle Mark Ellis.
On defense, the first team honorees were Hicks-Green,
Delta State defensive lineman Justin Halas, North
Alabama defensive linemen Derrick Chatman and Montrel
Craft, along with Valdosta State defensive lineman
Demario Jones, Delta State linebacker Anthony King,
North Alabama linebacker Michael Johnson, West Alabama
linebacker Garry Pack, Delta State defensive back
Dominic Spinks, Henderson State defensive back Devon
Hughes, North Alabama defensive back David Raymond and
Valdosta State defensive back Sherard Reynolds.
Podobnik was joined on the All-GSC First-Team Special
Teams by North Alabama kicker Tom Schneider, Henderson
State return specialist Greg Godfrey, Delta State
blocking team member Kyle Van Ness, Harding blocking
team member Daniel Phipps and Henderson State blocking
team member Michael Buse.
Stiger was joined in the second-team offensive unit by
North Alabama quarterback A.J. Milwee,
Arkansas-Monticello running back Johnny Polite, Ouachita
Baptist running back K.J. Johnson, Southern Arkansas
running back Chris Metcalf, Arkansas-Monticello receiver
Clarence Denmark, Delta State receiver Chad Schroeder,
Harding receiver Kurt Adams, Valdosta State receiver
Albert Dukes, North Alabama tight end Brandon Alldredge,
Delta State center Pete Vaesau, Arkansas-Monticello
guard Joe Wilson, Henderson State guard Louis West,
Arkansas-Monticello tackle John Meadows and North
Alabama tackle Michael Hathorn.
The second team defensive unit features Henderson State
defensive lineman Michael Castillo, Henderson State
defensive lineman Nick Finley, Ouachita Baptist
defensive lineman Jerry McNeil, Southern Arkansas
defensive lineman Ryan Terry, Arkansas-Monticello
linebacker Larry White, Harding linebacker Sevohn Greer,
North Alabama linebacker Larry Wilson, Ouachita Baptist
linebacker Terrence Garrett, Southern Arkansas
linebacker Steven Danenhauer, Valdosta State linebacker
Larry Dean, Arkansas-Monticello defensive back Augustus
Ashley, Ouachita Baptist defensive back Antwon Thompson
and North Alabama defensive back tandem of Bobby Brooks
and Darren Dampier.
On special teams, the second team consists of Harding
kicker Ryan Ferrell, North Alabama punter Will Batson,
Valdosta State Jack Fulford, West Georgia punter Jared
Guberman, Delta State return specialist Chad Schroeder
and Valdosta State blocking team member Joey Farmer.
2008 All-GSC Football Teams
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Tech Athletics -- |