Underclassmen Headline Major GLVC Football Award Winners

11/17/2016 2:54:40 PM

Jeff Smith, Associate Commissioner

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INDIANAPOLIS – For the third consecutive season, representatives from four Great Lakes Valley Conference football teams have earned major postseason awards, it was announced by the league office Thursday.  This year’s honorees, however, have quite the youthful look as three of the four winners are underclassmen, just a year after seniors swept Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Year annals.

Southwest Baptist University sophomore quarterback TJ Edwards was named unanimous Offensive Player of the Year, McKendree University senior linebacker A.J. Wentland was picked as GLVC Defensive Player of the Year, Missouri S&T sophomore return specialist Braxton Graham was selected as GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year, and Truman State University freshman quarterback Jaden Barr was tabbed GLVC Freshman of the Year.  SBU head coach Robert Clardy was also voted by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year.  In addition, 74 standouts earned All-Conference accolades while another 37 were named Honorable Mention.

A year after earning GLVC Freshman of the Year accolades, Edwards becomes both the youngest GLVC Offensive Player of the Year in the league’s five-year history as well as the first unanimous selection.  He broke both the school and GLVC record with 33 passing touchdowns this year, breaking the previous mark of 31 set by former SBU standout Willie Tindal in 2014.  He also added 10 rushing touchdowns to set SBU’s single-season mark with 44 total touchdowns scored.  His 3,612 yards of total offense are also a new GLVC record, having bested the previous single-season record of 3,610, set by McKendree’s Isaac Fisher in 2015.  A native of Garland, Texas, Edwards finished first in the league with 273.8 passing yards and 328.4 total yards per game, the latter of which ranks 10th in NCAA Division II.  Edwards also ranks fourth nationally for being responsible for 264 points of the team’s 470 points this year, and is 21st with a 158.0 passer rating.        

Wentland continues McKendree’s streak of major award winners as Fisher was named GLVC Offensive Player of the Year last season, while current teammate Lucky Baar was named GLVC Defensive Player of the Year in 2014.  The Machesney Park, Illinois native led the GLVC with 13.0 tackles per game, including league-high marks of 77 solo and 144 total stops this year.  His per-game averages 13.0 total and 6.9 solo tackles ranked second and fourth, respectively, in NCAA Division II.  In the season finale win against Truman, Wentland broke his McKendree single-season tackles record for the third consecutive year, notching 11 tackles against the Bulldogs to give him 144 on the year. The effort also gave Wentland 421 total stops in his four-year career, which is also a school record.  Wentland, who totaled double-digit tackles in 28 of his 32 career starts, helped McKendree’s defense finish 23rd in the nation with just 316.1 yards allowed per game.  

Graham, a native of Seneca, Missouri, becomes the Miners’ second major award winner after linebacker Chris Emesih earned Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, while also breaking the four-year streak of University of Indianapolis specialists capturing the Special Teams Player of the Year award.  He led the GLVC with an average of 17.7 yards per punt return, which ranked fifth in NCAA Division II this season and is fourth on the GLVC’s single-season charts. Graham finished his 2015 freshman campaign fourth nationally with 15.6 yards per punt return.  Earlier this season he set a GLVC record with a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown at West Florida, which led to GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week accolades.  The first-team All-GLVC return man is also an accomplished wide receiver, as he was one of four wideouts named to the First Team following a year where he ranked third in receiving yards (93.5) and fourth in receptions (6.2) per game in the league. 

Barr becomes Truman State’s first major award winner after leading the Bulldogs to a share of their first GLVC Championship in his debut season.  The California, Missouri native also shared second-team All-GLVC honors following a season in which he ranked fifth in the conference with 173.2 passing yards per game.  He completed 165 of his 277 passes (59.6%) for 1,905 yards, with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions.  Barr was also the Bulldogs' second-leading rusher with 135 carries for 343 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Clardy is the third different coach in five years to earn the top respect from his peers as Coach of the Year.  Picked to finish fifth in this year’s GLVC Preseason Poll following a 4-6 record in 2015, the Clardy-led Bearcats shared the GLVC Championship with Truman and recently earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division II Playoffs with a 10-1 record.  The No. 17 Bearcats will host No. 21 Colorado School of Mines on Saturday in SBU's first-ever postseason appearance. Although Clardy has spent the past eight seasons on the coaching staff at SBU, the 2016 campaign marked just his second as head coach.  In addition to Edwards, Clardy mentored four additional unanimous first-team All-GLVC selections in junior running back Bubba Jenkins, senior defensive linemen Vice Epenesa and Via Manuma, and junior defensive utility standout D’Angelo Tucker.  His staff also guided five others to a league-high 10 first-team selections, including junior wide receiver Kendrick Payne, junior offensive lineman Sammy Zeqiraj, junior offensive utility star Connor Still, senior linebacker Shaun Hutchinson, and senior punter Austin Molitor, while leading another nine players to All-Conference accolades for a league-best total of 19 honorees.    

Thirty-six student-athletes were selected to the first-team All-Conference squad, due to a tie at linebacker.  A total of 38 honorees were named to the Second Team to include a tie at quarterback, offensive utility, and defensive back.  The standard 35-member GLVC All-Conference squad is comprised of a quarterback, three running backs, four wide receivers, one tight end, six offensive linemen, one offensive utility, one defensive utility, five defensive linemen, five linebackers, five defensive backs, a kicker, punter, and one return specialist.

In addition to McKendree’s Wentland and five SBU standouts who earned unanimous recognition on the First Team, four additional players garnered league-wide respect.  McKendree’s Baar, Quincy senior wide receiver Eric Poindexter and junior tight end Owen Schoenenberger, and Truman senior offensive lineman Brad Wellman were also unanimous picks to the First Team.

Second to SBU’s 10 first-team selections were McKendree and UIndy with six each, while McKendree and Truman tied for second overall with 15 All-Conference honorees.

The league also recognized nine GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.

A complete list of the 2016 GLVC All-Conference honorees follows:

GLVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: TJ Edwards, So., QB, Southwest Baptist
GLVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: AJ Wentland, Sr., LB, McKendree
GLVC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Braxton Graham, So., Missouri S&T
GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Jaden Barr, Fr., QB, Truman State
GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Robert Clardy, Southwest Baptist
 

FIRST TEAM QB - TJ Edwards, So., SBU # RB - Andrew Walker, Jr., UINDY RB - Shayeen Edwards, Jr., MCK RB - Bubba Jenkins, Jr., SBU # WR - Malik Higgins, So., UINDY WR - Braxton Graham, So., S&T WR - Eric Poindexter, Sr., QU # WR - Kendrick Payne, Jr., SBU TE - Owen Schoenenberger, Jr., QU # OL - Hayden Janney, Sr., UINDY OL - Clint Ratermann, Sr., MCK OL - Adam Echele, Jr., S&T OL - Jared Carlton, Jr., QU OL - Sammy Zeqiraj, Jr., SBU OL - Brad Wellman, Sr., TSU # O-UT - Connor Still, Jr., SBU DL - Lucky Baar, Sr., MCK # DL - Tobias Cook, Jr., MCK DL - Vice Epenesa, Sr., SBU # DL - Via Manuma, Sr., SBU # DL - Sam Reeves, Fr., TSU *LB - Derrick Bryant, Sr., UINDY *LB - Rob Dury, Sr., UINDY *LB - AJ Wentland, Sr., MCK # *LB - TJ Daniels, So., QU *LB - Shaun Hutchinson, Sr., SBU *LB - Ben Wellman, Jr., TSU DB - Korey Rogan, Sr., UINDY DB - Nate Powell, Jr., MCK DB – Jeremi Ross, Sr., S&T DB - Adehkeem Brown, Jr., QU DB - Austin Zoda, Sr., DB, TSU D-UT - D'Angelo Tucker, Jr., SBU # K - Alex Templeton, Jr., LU P - Austin Molitor, Sr., SBU PR/KR - Braxton Graham, So., S&T   # Unanimous Selection * Extra member due to tie

SECOND TEAM *QB - Robbie Kelley, So., QU *QB - Jaden Barr, Fr., TSU RB - Charles Bournes, So., S&T RB - Martez Walker, Sr., SJC RB - Jordan Salima, Fr., TSU WR - Tremel Glasper, So., SJC WR - Cassian Foreman, Fr., SBU WR - Joey Schenck, Sr., TSU WR - Anthony Mullins, Sr., WJC TE - Dustin Schindler, Sr., S&T OL - Ruben Holcomb, Jr., UINDY OL - Justus Smith, So., MCK OL - Brian Collins, Gr., SJC OL - Brayden Byrd, So., SBU OL - Jaylon Kuykendall, Fr., SBU OL - Nick Verbeck, So., TSU *O-UT - Delvon Rouser, Sr., LU *O-UT - Darrick Strzelecki, Sr., WJC DL - Lucas Rice, So., UINDY DL - Bret Curtis, Jr., S&T DL - Darian Johnson, Sr., QU DL - Evan Gill, Jr., SJC DL - Kyle Leckrone, Sr., TSU LB - Addison Tucker, Jr., LU LB - Kyle Kirpatrick, Jr., MCK LB - Landon Compton, So., S&T LB - Luke Teague, Jr., SJC LB - Brycen Gagnon, Jr., SBU *DB - Aeneas White, Jr., UINDY *DB - Marvin Holley, Jr., LU *DB – Mygeish Dennis, Jr., SBU *DB - Quinlan Gaines, Jr., SBU *DB - Jordan Brown, Jr., TSU *DB - Isaac Dozier, Jr., WJC D-UT - Bryan Edwards, Fr., TSU K - Brad Schickel, Jr., UINDY P - Marcin Gawlak, Gr., SJC PR/KR - Tuwan Payton, Jr., UINDY

HONORABLE MENTION RB - Isaac James, Fr., SJC WR - Anthony Townsend, So., LU WR - Drew Slager, Fr.,TSU WR - Garrett Willis, Jr., UINDY WR - Bailey "Bulla" Graft, So., WJC WR - Scottie Wilson, Jr., Jr., SBU OL - Aaron Fritts, Jr., OL, S&T OL - Ray Gieseo, Jr., OL, QU OL - Miles Wallace, So., OL, LU OL - Jake King, So., OL, MCK OL - Ryan Becker, So., OL, SBU  OL - Donavan Vance, Sr., OL, QU OL - Josh McCaskel, Jr., OL, SJC OL - Alex Chandler, Gr., OL, SJC DL - Darion Simmons, Jr., MCK DL - Isaiah Hinton, Jr., TSU DL - Jacob Schmatz, Fr., UINDY DL - Noah Johnson, So., LU DL - Tyler House, Sr., MCK DL - Marquis Cherry, Jr., MCK DL - Pat Vitek, Sr., SJC DL - Tommy Taylor, Sr., UINDY LB - Austin Truvillion, Jr., S&T LB - Austin Weltha, Jr., MCK LB - Nate Rueckemann, Jr., QU LB - Chad Veccherella, Sr., SJC LB - Cody Leonard, So., QU DB - Nick Burns, Sr., SBU DB - Jabaree Winston, Sr., MCK DB - Chris Kale, So., SJC DB - Shane Barrett, So., QU DB - D'Anthony Knight, Jr., TSU DB - Lawrence Hogue, Jr., LU DB - Jasus Harkins, Sr., QU K – Steven O’Block, Sr., MCK P - Brock Rohler, So., TSU P/KR – Anthony Mullins, Sr., WJC