Eagles place five on Don Hansen All-Region Squad
Postseason honors continue to pour in for Carson-Newman football players. Five Eagles have landed on the Don Hansen All-Super Region II Team.
Center Kevin Day (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) and running back Brandon Baker (Miami, Fla.) made the first team offense. Kicker Curt Duncan (Morristown, Tenn.) wound up on the second team offense, while SAC co-offensive player of the year Brandon Haywood (Rockmart, Ga.) and defensive tackle Deshon Collins (Birmingham, Ala.) ended up on the third team.
Day helped clear the way for the nation’s top rushing offense in Division II. The Eagles piled up nearly 380 yards a game while scoring 52 rushing touchdowns. The 52 scores on the ground are the most among all schools in all divisions. Only FCS’ Georgia Southern averaged more yards rushing a game than C-N.
One of the players day helped clear the way for was Baker. Baker’s 1,468-yard rushing season marked the third best year for an Eagle on the ground in Carson-Newman history. Only Buck Wakefield (1,515 yards in 2009) and Kenneth Tyson (1,867 yards in 1987) rank in front of Baker’s season. He finished the year with 122 yards per game – tops in the SAC and 17th best nationally.
Baker’s 8.25 yards a carry were the best in the nation for anyone with more than 100 carries in 2012. He’s also the first C-N back this century to rush for more than eight yards a carry with more than 100 carries in a season.
Baker finished the year with four straight games with more than 140 yards on the ground. The junior has 2,452 yards for his career – 1,704 away from Robert Thomas’ (1988-1991) career record of 4,156.
Duncan was tops for Carson-Newman in scoring, leading the team with 102 points – the most points scored in a season by a kicker in school history. Duncan breaks a 14-year-old record set in 1998 by Ryan Fleming, who scored 92 points in that season.
Duncan connected on 14 of his 15 field goals and all 60 of his extra points.
The 54-yard field goal he blasted against Tusculum Nov. 3 was the longest in school history.
The four-time SAC Special Teams Player of the Week also became the first C-N kicker to make four field goals in a game for the first time since 1984 – he accomplished that feat twice this year, against Lenoir-Rhyne in September and in the quarterfinals of the DII playoffs against Valdosta State.
Haywood and Collins highlight the third team after solid senior seasons. Haywood was named the SAC’s offensive player of the year after he led the league in rushing touchdowns with 15. The senior also found the end zone seven times through the air.
Haywood tossed for 1,095 yards through the air, becoming the first C-N quarter back to throw for more than 1,000 yards in a season since Alex Good in 2009. Haywood came 13 yards short of a 1,000 yard season on the ground with 987 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, Collins clogged the interior line with 22 stops and seven tackles for loss. He made five stops in the UNCP game, two of which came behind the line of scrimmage.
The Don Hansen team carries out the legacy of long-time small college football advocate
Don Hansen, who passed away at age 75 on Aug. 29, 2010. Hansen, from Brookfield, Ill.,
started and published Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette for three decades, selecting NCAA Division II All-America teams for the first time in 1988. Don Hansen’s Football Gazette began selecting Division II All-Region squads in 2003.
The first-team and second-team All-Region selections advance to a national ballot from which the 2012 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America team will be named later this month.
First Team Offense
POS NAME HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWN
QB Cayden Cochran 6-2 188 JR Valdosta State Cashion, Okla.
FB Isaiah Whitaker 5-10 225 SO Lenoir-Rhyne Salisbury, N.C.
RB Derrick Washington 6-0 215 SR Tuskegee Raymore, Mo.
RB Brandon Baker 5-11 210 JR Carson-Newman Miami, Fla.
WR Chris Bowden 6-2 215 SR Wingate Forsyth, Ga.
WR Gerald Ford 6-3 220 JR Valdosta State New Orleans, La.
TE Eric Watts 6-4 220 SR Brevard Powhatan, Va.
AP Xzanvion Smith 5-11 190 JR Tusculum Anderson, S.C.
C Kevin Day 6-0 270 SR Carson-Newman Soddy-Daisy, Tenn
OG Edmund Kugbila 6-5 347 SR Valdosta State Lawrenceville, Ga.
OG Kaleb Myrick 6-3 325 SR Lenoir Rhyne Loganville, Ga.
OT Ryan Schraeder 6-7 300 SR Valdosta State Wichita, Kan.
OT Mesh Wokomaty 6-7 283 SR Valdosta State Dallas, Ga.
PK Ryne Smith 5-8 180 SR West Alabama Madison, Miss.
2012 Don Hansen Super Region Three Team… page 2
First Team Defense
POS NAME HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWN
DE Ridge Wilson 6-4 256 SR West Alabama Louisville, Ky.
DE Tyler Josey 6-2 249 SR Valdosta State Dublin, Ga.
DG/DT Lawrence Virgil 6-5 278 JR Valdosta State Quitman, Ga.
DG/DT Mam Nyang 6-3 280 SR Mars Hill Marietta, Ga.
LB Leron Furr 6-3 JR Fort Valley State Columbus, Ga.
LB Tavarius Wilson 5-11 225 JR North Alabama Jackson, Miss.
LB Corey Jones 6-2 240 SR Lane Compton, Calif.
LB Cory Johnson 5-10 240 SR Catawba Fayetteville, N.C.
LB Deon Lacey 6-2 208 SR West Alabama Birmingham, Ala.
S Caleb Massey 6-0 226 JR North Alabama Sulligent, Ala.
S Dexter Moody 6-3 200 JR Albany State Twin City, Ga.
CB Jumal Rolle 6-0 185 SR Catawaba Wilson, N.C.
CB William Buford 6-0 190 SR Tuskegee Thomasville, Ala.
P Justin Rosenbaum 6-2 SR Fort Valley State Owosso, Mich.
RS Thomas Williams 5-10 185 JR Morehouse Knightdale, N.C.
Second Team Offense
POS NAME HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWN
QB David Thomas 6-2 206 SR Miles Opelika, Ala.
FB Jordan Ollis 5-10 215 SO Brevard Columbus, N.C.
RB Shaikel Davis 5-10 170 SO Mars Hill East Flat Rock, N.C.
RB Cedric O’Neal 5-11 197 FR Valdosta State Dublin, Ga.
WR Dimitri Holmes 5-10 165 SO Mars Hill Athens, Ga.
WR Seantavious Jones 6-4 193 JR Valdosta State Tucker, Ga.
TE Daniel Youssif 6-4 249 SR West Georgia Clinton Township, Mich.
AP Brian Marshall 5-7 180 SR Tusculum Chatanoogs, Tenn.
C Jordan Ritchey 6-4 295 SR West Georgia Covington, Ga.
OG Devonte Jones 6-2 315 JR Tuskegee Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
OG Andy Nations 6-7 360 SR West Alabama Pascagoula, Miss.
OT Christopher Tolbert 6-5 290 JR Tuskegee Birmingham, Ala.
OT LeQuawn James 6-0 300 SR Newberry Gaston, S.C.
PK Curt Duncan 5-11 185 JR Carson-Newman Morristown, Tenn.
Second Team Defense
POS NAME HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWN
DE Vauchard Goodridge 6-2 260 SR Clark Atlanta St. Petersburg, Fla.
DE Troy Harris 6-4 260 JR Mars Hill Orlando, Fla.
DE Carlos Ware 6-3 222 SR Kentucky State Cincinati, Ohio
DG/DT Willie Packer 6-1 290 JR West Alabama Moss Point, Miss.
DG/DT Juan Pickett 6-1 275 SR West Georgia Columbus, Ga. LB William Muscatello 5-9 190 JR Brevard Lakeland, Fla.
LB Tanner Botts 6-2 230 SO Lenoir-Rhyne Lawrenceville, Ga.
LB Chris Pope 6-1 216 JR Valdosta State Jackson, Ga.
LB Quavon Taylor 6-0 228 FR Tuskegee Miami, Fla.
LB Demetrius Green 5-11 220 SR Lenoir-Rhyne Cedartown, Ga.
S Otha Foster 6-1 207 SR West Alabama Angie, La.
S Luke Harris 6-1 210 SR Tusculum Floyd, Va.
CB Carlos Wilson 5-10 175 JR Stillman Mobile, Ala.
CB Adam Lucas 6-1 190 SR Tuskegee Riverdale, Ga.
P Eric Watts 6-4 220 SR Brevard Powhatan, Va.
RS Lavon Downs 6-1 185 SR Delta State Avon Park, Fla.
Third Team Offense
POS NAME HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWN
QB Brandon Haywood 5-11 185 SR Carson-Newman Rockmart, Ga.
RB Matt Willis 5-8 205 SR West Alabama Collins, Miss.
RB David Carter 5-10 225 SR Morehouse Marietta, Ga.
WR Corey Washington 6-4 200 JR Newberry North Charleston, S.C.
WR Christopher Slaughter 6-3 SR Fort Valley State Fort Valley, Ga.
TE Vance Locke 6-3 231 SR Kentucky State Lexington, Ky.
AP Damian Ford 6-3 185 SR Stillman Birmingham, Ala.
C Joseph So 6-2 275 SR Wingate Salisbury, N.C.
C David Garbo 6-4 SR Fort Valley State Quitman, Ga.
OG Cam Short 6-3 287 SR Valdosta State Thomaston, Ga.
OG Nick Allison 6-4 290 SO Mars Hill Asheville, N.C.
OG Drew Wilkins 6-4 315 SO Morehouse Elkins Park, Pa.
OT Taylor Burnett 6-3 271 JR West Alabama Spanish Fort, Ala.
OT Will Furlong 6-5 275 SR North Alabama DeLand, Fla.
PK Zach Neumann 5-7 180 SR Lenoir-Rhyne Mechanicsville, Md.
Third Team Defense
POS NAME HT WT YR SCHOOL HOMETOWN
DE Nick Napolitano 6-3 245 SO Wingate Shallotte, N.C.
DE Tevin Davis 6-0 244 SO Valdosta State Forsyth, Ga.
DG/DT Deshon Collins 6-2 280 SR Carson-Newman Birmingham, Ala.
DG/DT Bernard Little 6-3 SO Fort Valley State Eatonton, Ga.
LB Brandon Houston 5-10 225 SR Morehouse Boynton Beach, Fla.
LB Apollo Strtch 6-2 245 SR Newberry Columbia, S.C.
LB Michael Gruber 6-3 225 SO Brevard Walterboro, S.C.
LB Jeremy Grable 6-1 210 JR Valdosta State Alpharetta, Ga.
S Myer Nolan 5-11 185 JR Lenoir-Rhyne Atlanta, Ga.
S Dajuan Williams 6-0 SR Fort Valley State Baxley, Ga.
S Michael Green 6-0 195 JR Lenoir-Rhyne Kingsland, Ga.
S Matt Pierce 5-10 196 SR Valdosta State New Orleans, La.
CB Malcom Butler 5-11 180 JR West Alabama Vicksburg, Miss.
CB Brian Spencer 6-1 190 SR Newberry Columbia, S.C.
P Andy Rosetti 5-11 195 JR Tusculum Kenneth City, Fla.
RS Jarrod Spears 5-9 180 SO Lenoir-Rhyne Bunnlevel, N.C.
