Four Schools Represented With Major GLVC Football Award Winners

11/15/2018 2:00:00 PM

Jeff Smith, Associate Commissioner

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INDIANAPOLIS – Four Great Lakes Valley Conference football programs have earned major postseason awards, it was announced by the Conference office Thursday.  University of Indianapolis sophomore running back Al McKeller and his backfield teammate Toriano Clinton have been named GLVC Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, Quincy University senior linebacker Cody Leonard was tabbed GLVC Defensive Player of the Year, and Truman State University sophomore return specialist Lawrence Woods was voted as GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year.  Missouri S&T mentor Tyler Fenwick was selected by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year.  In addition, 71 standouts earned All-Conference accolades while another 40 were named Honorable Mention.

McKeller becomes the fifth Greyhound in the league’s seven-year history to earn Offensive Player of the Year, joining wide receivers Mar’Quone Edmonds (2012) and Reece Horn (2014), as well as running back Klay Fiechter (2013), and quarterback Jake Purichia (2017).  The 2017 GLVC Freshman of the Year is also just the second sophomore to earn the award as Southwest Baptist University’s TJ Edwards was the first sophomore to win in 2016.  In just 10 games this season, the Indianapolis, Indiana native finished the regular season with 1,093 yards on 180 carries, which led the league with 109.3 yards each time out – a mark that ranked 18th in NCAA Division II.  His 12 rushing touchdowns paced the GLVC and were 24th nationally.  In the regular-season finale against non-conference foe and 20th-ranked Hillsdale, the unanimous first-team All-GLVC pick scored twice and racked up a career-high 209 rushing yards on 22 carries, averaging 9.5 yards per attempt.  A two-time GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honoree this season, McKeller is just the fourth player in UIndy history to record back-to-back 1,000 rushing-yard seasons.  

Leonard is the first Quincy standout to earn GLVC Defensive Player of the Year honors, and is the fourth straight linebacker and sixth overall to earn the accolade.  The Carrollton, Illinois native led all NCAA Division II defenders this season with 168 tackles and averages of 15.3 stops and 8.0 solo hits per game.  Within the GLVC, the closest defender in terms of total tackles was 66 stops behind Leonard.  In the final game of his career, Leonard broke the GLVC record for tackles in a game with 24 stops, including 11 solo hits.  The unanimous first-team All-GLVC selection shattered the previous league record for single-season tackles with 168, a mark that was previous set by McKendree’s A.J. Wentland with 145 stops in 2016. His average of 15.3 tackles per game also bested Wentland’s league record of 13.5 set in 2015.  His school-record 376 career tackles lands him fourth all-time in GLVC history, while his 88 solo stops and 223 solo tackles were Quincy single-season and career records, respectively.  Leonard is the second Hawk to have earned one of the league’s major postseason awards as Chris Harris was the unanimous Freshman of the Year in 2014.

Woods was electric in the return game this year as he became the first Bulldog and GLVC standout to return three kickoffs for a touchdown in a season.  His third score came in a 45-38 win at McKendree, where he accumulated 223 return yards that ranked second all-time in school history and just three yards shy of the GLVC single-game record of 226, set by Spencer Elrod of Missouri S&T in 2014.  A first-team All-GLVC return specialist and defensive-utility standout this year, Woods led the league with a 50.8 kick-return average, having racked up 609 yards on 12 returns.  The St. Louis, Missouri native and two-time GLVC Special Team Player of the Week honoree becomes the second Truman standout to earn a major GLVC award as quarterback Jaden Barr was named Freshman of the Year in 2016.

Clinton has put forth one of the most memorable freshman seasons in league history.  He ranked first in the GLVC in scoring average (8.0) and all-purpose yards (126.8), second in kickoff returns (41.3), and fifth in rushing (70.2).  Heading into the NCAA Division II playoffs, Clinton ranks 32nd nationally with 13 total touchdowns, 35th in all-purpose yards, and is tied for first with Truman’s Woods with three kick return touchdowns.  Last month, the Calumet, Illinois native became the first standout in league history to win two weekly awards in the same week when he was tabbed the GLVC Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week.  In a 48-10 win against McKendree, the second-team All-GLVC running back racked up a career-high 182 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries for an average of 16.5 yards per attempt. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns (97, 83 yards), becoming the first Greyhound since at least 1983 to return a pair of kicks for scores in the same game.  His 362 all-purpose yards in the game ranked fifth all-time in league history and was just two yards shy of the school record.

Fenwick earns his first GLVC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Miners to a second-place finish in the league at 6-1 and an overall mark of 9-2.  While the Miners just missed qualifying for the NCAA Division II playoffs, they were selected to play in the 53rd edition of the Mineral Water Bowl, marking the team’s first postseason game since 1950.  Under Fenwick’s direction, 12 Miners were named to first-team All-GLVC, including Austin Holmes (OL), Josh Elam (OL), Tyler Swart (QB), Braxton Graham (WR), Logan Armontrout (WR), Tershawn Wharton (DL), Joe Boettcher (DL), Landon Compton (LB), Bo Brooks (LB), Roderick Chapman (DB), Ryan Kirkendall (DB) and Jonathan Banowetz (P).  Additionally, five Miners were second-team picks and another five earned honorable mention distinction. 

Thirty-five student-athletes were selected to the All-GLVC First Team, while a total of 36 honorees were named to the Second Team to include a tie at defensive lineman.  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.

Missouri S&T led the league with 22 All-Conference honorees, followed by UIndy (20) and McKendree (19).  Five standouts were unanimous picks to the All-GLVC First Team, including UIndy’s McKeller, Missouri S&T’s Graham and Chapman, Quincy’s Leonard, and Truman State’s Woods at the defensive utility position.   

The league also recognized Truman State as the winner of the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award for the sport of football.  In addition, eight standouts were named 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 2018 GLVC All-Conference honorees follows:

GLVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Al McKeller, So., RB, Indianapolis
GLVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Cody Leonard, Sr., LB, Quincy
GLVC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Lawrence Woods, So., KR/PR, Truman State
GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Toriano Clinton, RB, Indianapolis
GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR:  Tyler Fenwick, Missouri S&T

JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD: Truman State

JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD NOMINEES
Jake Purichia, UINDY
Edwin Durassaint, LU
Jalyn Williams, MCK
Landon Compton, S&T
Clayton Cole, QU
Dylan Mountain, SBU
Jaden Barr, TSU
Thaddeus Glenn, WJC
   
 

FIRST TEAM Clay Hadley, So., OL, UINDY Dan McHale, Jr., OL, UINDY Austin Holmes, Sr., OL, S&T Cole Foster, Sr., OL, MCK Nicholas Verbeck, Sr., OL, TSU Josh Elam, Jr., OL, S&T Tyler Swart, Sr., QB, S&T Al McKeller, So., RB, UINDY # Preston Thompson, Sr., RB, MCK Jordan Salima, Jr., RB, TSU Braxton Graham, Sr., WR, S&T# Malik Higgins, Sr., WR, UINDY Jalyn Williams, Sr., WR, MCK Logan Armontrout, Jr., WR, S&T Joe Sarabia, So., TE, UINDY Bailey "Bulla" Graft, Sr., O-UT, WJC Lucas Rice, Sr., DL, UINDY Tershawn Wharton, Jr., DL, S&T Jacob Schmatz, Jr., DL, UINDY Sam Reeves, Jr., DL, TSU Joe Boettcher, Jr., DL, S&T Cody Leonard, Sr., LB, QU# Cole Sigmund, Sr., LB, UINDY Landon Compton, Sr., LB, S&T Bo Brooks, Sr., LB, S&T Joe Lambright, Jr., LB, UINDY Roderick Chapman, Sr., DB, S&T# Robert Williams, Sr., DB, UINDY Jordan Siegel, Jr., DB, TSU Ryan Kirkendall, Jr., DB, S&T Blake Luker, Gr., DB, UINDY Lawrence Woods, So., D-UT, TSU# Josh Lazaro, So., K, MCK Jonathan Banowetz, Jr., P, S&T Lawrence Woods, So., PR/KR, TSU   # Unanimous Selection

SECOND TEAM  Austin Huls, So., OL, MCK Justin Rosendahl, Jr., OL, QU Tarnjeet Singh, Fr., OL, UINDY Mitch Rougraff, Gr., OL, UINDY Ryan Becker, Sr., OL, SBU Jake Kapustka, Jr., OL, WJC Reece Metcalf, Sr., QB, MCK Toriano Clinton, Fr., RB, UINDY Kimbo Ferguson, Jr., RB, LU De’shawn Jones, Jr., RB, S&T Blake Tibbs, Sr., WR, LU Josh Brown, So., WR, S&T Josh Revay, Sr., WR, MCK Justin Vaughn, Sr., WR, S&T Zach Bobos, Sr., TE, MCK Jacob Morris, So., O-UT, TSU *Deshawn Tone, Jr., DL, SBU *Eric Hart, Sr., DL, UINDY *Jake Floyd, Jr., DL, TSU *Rondell Weathers, Jr., DL, UINDY *Isaiah Gray, Sr., DL, LU *Jack Kutey, Jr., DL, WJC Tyler Curts, Sr., LB, SBU Ricco Gipson, Jr., Jr., LB, MCK Bryan Edwards, Sr., LB, TSU Antonio Wabanimkee, Jr., LB, WJC Edwin Durassaint, Sr., LB, LU Donte' Colum, Jr., DB, WJC Hasan Muhammad-Rogers, Jr., DB, LU Blake Benoist, Jr., DB, MCK Keenan Stegall, Jr., DB, QU Travis Myerson, Jr., DB, TSU Caleb Shipley, So., D-UT, MCK Ben Styron, Jr., K, S&T Monte Wolke, Jr., P, MCK/ Braxton Graham, Sr., PR/KR, S&T  *Extra member due to a tie

HONORABLE MENTION  Skylar Lacy, Gr., OL, UINDY Alex Parsons, Jr., LB, UINDY Jake Purichia, Sr., QB, UINDY Aaron Matio, So., WR, UINDY Wolky Belancourt, Sr., P, LU Jamal Brown, Sr., OL, LU Chavon Gross, Jr., DB, LU Amani Nelson, Sr., LB, LU Victor Williams, Sr., LB, LU Matt Cole, Jr., KR/PR, MCK Jace Franklin, So., RB, MCK Jake King, Sr., OL, MCK Steven Leadlove, So., O-UT, MCK Brandon Purnell, So., DL, MCK Isaiah Ward, So., DL, MCK Mike Smith, Jr., DL, MCK Chandler Anderson, Sr., DL, S&T Austin Griffin, Jr., TE, S&T Justin Onwugbufor, So., DB, S&T Ben Straatmann, Fr., LB, S&T Josh Thornton, Jr., OL, S&T Jacques Jean Baptiste, Fr., DL, QU Clayton Cole, Sr., LB, QU DT Christiansen, Jr., DB, QU Devon Hickman, Sr., OL, QU Theo Hopkins, Sr., RB, QU Bryce Johnson, Jr., DL, QU Kris Sutton, Sr., DL, QU Brayden Byrd, Sr., OL, SBU Asa Carter, Jr., DB, SBU Eric Knight, Fr., RB, SBU Kevin Momah, Jr., DL, SBU C.J. Brown, Sr., TE, TSU Zach Nadle, Fr., DB, TSU Brock Rohler, Sr., P, TSU Andy Satulla, Sr., RB, TSU Josh Scheiderer, Fr., K, TSU Jacob VanDoren, Fr., OL, TSU Dalton Dye, So., P, WJC Major Walker, Jr., DL, WJC