Lindenwood, McKendree Earn Major GLVC Football Awards

11/21/2019 2:00:00 PM

Jeff Smith, Associate Commissioner

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INDIANAPOLIS – Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) football champion Lindenwood University and McKendree University earned the league’s five major individual postseason awards, it was announced by the Conference office Thursday.  Lindenwood sophomore quarterback Cade Brister and junior linebacker Drew Seers have been named GLVC Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, while Lions head coach Jed Stugart was selected by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year.  McKendree senior return specialist Matt Cole was a unanimous pick for GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year, while his quarterback Turner Pullen was tabbed GLVC Freshman of the Year.  In addition, 72 standouts earned All-Conference accolades while another 38 were named Honorable Mention.

In his first season competing as a member of the GLVC, Brister ranks second in NCAA Division II in completions per game (25.18), third in passing touchdowns (36) and points responsible for (252), fifth in total offense (340.5), sixth in passing yards (3,301) and passing yards per game (300.1), and 16th in completion percentage (.632).  A three-time GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honoree this season, Brister set multiple single-season school records this year.  Among his highlights, the O’Fallon, Missouri native completed a school-record 38 of 59 pass attempts for a school-record 541 passing yards, while adding 13 rushing yards for a school-record 554 total yards in Lindenwood’s 34-27 win over then-No. 8 Indianapolis on Nov. 2.  He set Lindenwood’s single-season records for most yards gained (3,746), points responsible for, passing attempts (438), completions (277) and touchdown passes.  The first-team All-GLVC quarterback piloted the Lions to the nation’s sixth-best passing attack (312.4), which featured four additional first-team All-Conference honorees in senior Jaylen Flye-Sadler and sophomore Blake Rogenhofer in the trenches, senior tight end Erik Henneman, and sophomore wide receiver Payton Rose, who ranks sixth and 12th nationally with 15 receiving touchdowns and 1,075 receiving yards, respectively, on the year.

Seers was equally impressive on the defensive side of the ball as the St. Louis, Missouri native was also a three-time weekly honoree this season.  The first-team All-GLVC linebacker is second in NCAA Division II with 14.0 tackles per game and is found three times on the nation’s top-20 single-game tackle performances, having notched 20 stops against Saginaw Valley State, 19 against Quincy and 18 against Missouri S&T this season.  Seers has totaled 154 tackles on the year, including 62 solo stops.  His 92 assisted tackles are just six shy of the school record of 98, while his 12.5 tackles for loss are nearing the school mark of 15.0.  Seers also has a fumble recovery and two pass breakups on the year.

Cole earned the respect of the seven other GLVC coaches as the unanimous Special Teams Player of the Year.  The Chicago, Illinois native led the GLVC and ranked fifth nationally in punt return touchdowns (1), sixth in combined kick returns (833), eighth in all-purpose yards per game (166.55) and kickoff return touchdowns (1), and 23rd in kickoff returns average (27.2).  Earlier this season, Cole became the third player in program history with a punt return and kick return for a touchdown and finished his career with four combined special teams touchdowns (three kickoff returns, one punt return), which is second all-time in school history.  His 1,832 all-purpose yards this season rank first in school history, and he ranks second overall in career kick return yards (1,400) and fourth in kick returns (46) and all-purpose yards (3,583).  The unanimous first-team All-GLVC return man was also a unanimous choice at wide receiver, following a year where he ranked 15th nationally in receiving touchdowns (12) and 24th in receiving yards (939), both of which were second-best in the league.  Cole becomes McKendree’s first-ever GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year honoree.

Pullen completed his first season at McKendree as the league’s fifth-best passer with 219.5 passing yards each time out, while setting school records for a first-year quarterback.  The Shelbyville, Illinois native completed 169 of 280 passes for a 60.4 completion percentage and 2,407 total yards, while posting 24 touchdowns with just seven interceptions.  He threw nine touchdowns of at least 50 yards and 12 total scores of 40 yards or more on the year, with the longest coming on a 75-yard strike against Missouri S&T on Nov. 16.  He had 2,708 yards of total offense, including 301 yards on the ground and a team-leading eight rushing touchdowns.  The Bearcat newcomer, who is McKendree’s first-ever GLVC Freshman of the Year, already ranks in the school’s top-five career marks for total offense (2,708, 5th), pass attempts (280, 5th) and completions (169, 4th).  Cole and Pullen join four other Bearcats as major award winners as Isaac Fisher was the 2015 GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, while Lucky Baar (2014), A.J. Wentland (2016) and Austin Weltha (2017) have picked up GLVC Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

Stugart earns GLVC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Lions to the outright GLVC Championship with an undefeated 7-0 mark and an 8-3 overall record, which secured the school’s first-ever NCAA Division II playoff appearance.  Under Stugart’s direction, nine Lions were named first-team All-GLVC, including Brister, Flye-Sadler, Henneman, Rogenhofer, Rose, Seers, junior running back Nash Sutherlin, sophomore defensive lineman Tayvian Weary, and junior defensive back Grady Daniels.  Additionally, four Lions were second-team All-GLVC selections and another two earned honorable mention distinction. 

Thirty-six student-athletes were selected to the All-GLVC First Team due to a tie at running back, while another 36 honorees were named to the Second Team to include a tie at defensive utility.  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.

UIndy led the league with 20 All-Conference honorees, followed by Missouri S&T (16), Lindenwood (15) and Truman State (15).  Eleven standouts were unanimous picks at 12 positions on the All-GLVC First Team, including UIndy junior defensive back Mitch DeWitt, junior offensive lineman Clay Hadley, senior linebacker Joe Lambright, and junior running back Al McKeller, Lindenwood’s Henneman, McKendree’s Cole at wide receiver and returner, Missouri S&T sophomore defensive utility Stefan Camplin and senior kicker Ben Styron, and Truman State sophomore punter Taylor Cornish, senior defensive lineman Sam Reeves, and senior running back Jordan Salima.

The league also recognized William Jewell 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 2019 GLVC All-Conference honorees follows:

GLVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Cade Brister, So., QB, Lindenwood
GLVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Drew Seers, Jr., LB, Lindenwood
GLVC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  MATT COLE, Sr., KR/PR, McKendree
GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Turner Pullen, Fr., QB, McKendree
GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR:  Jed Stugart, Lindenwood
 

FIRST TEAM (36) CLAY HADLEY, Jr., OL, UINDY Tarnjeet Singh, So., OL, UINDY Jaylen Flye-Sadler, Sr., OL, LWU Blake Rogenhofer, So., OL, LWU Josh Elam, Sr., OL, S&T Jacob VanDoren, Jr., OL, TSU Cade Brister, So., QB, LWU AL MCKELLER, Jr., RB, UINDY* Nash Sutherlin, Jr., RB, LWU* Deshawn Jones, Sr., RB, S&T* JORDAN SALIMA, Sr., RB, TSU* Daveon Bell, Jr., WR, UINDY Payton Rose, So., WR, LWU MATT COLE, Sr., WR, MCK Logan Armontrout, Sr., WR, S&T ERIK HENNEMAN, Sr., TE, LWU Payton McAlister, So., O-UT, S&T Jacob Jones, So., DL, UINDY Jacob Schmatz, Sr., DL, UINDY Tayvian Weary, So., DL, LWU Jacob Floyd, Sr., DL, TSU SAM REEVES, Sr., DL, TSU JOE LAMBRIGHT, Sr., LB, UINDY Alex Parsons, Sr., LB, UINDY Drew Seers, Jr., LB, LWU Peyten Chappel, So., LB, QU Reed McBroom, Jr., LB, TSU MITCH DEWITT, Jr., DB, UINDY Loren Strickland, Fr., DB, UINDY Grady Daniels, Jr., DB, LWU Justin Onwugbufor, Jr., DB, S&T Jordan Siegel, Sr., DB, TSU STEFAN CAMPLIN, So., D-UT, S&T BEN STYRON, Sr., K, S&T TAYLOR CORNISH, So., P, TSU MATT COLE, Sr., PR/KR, MCK Unanimous Selection in CAPS *Extra member due to a tie

SECOND TEAM (36)  Jake Stevenson, Jr., OL, MCK Kejuan King, Jr., OL, S&T Justin Rosendahl, Sr., OL, QU Connor LeClair, Jr., OL, SBU Dane Eggert, Fr., OL, TSU Jacob Lewis, Sr., OL, TSU Jaden Barr, Gr., QB, TSU Toriano Clinton, So., RB, UINDY Jace Franklin, Jr., RB, MCK Cody Schrader, Fr., RB, TSU Maurice Robinson, Sr., WR, UINDY Najee Jackson, Sr., WR, LWU Brandon Gaston, Sr., WR, QU Jalik Jaggwe, Jr., WR, WJC Joseph Sarabia, Jr., TE, UINDY Jacob Morris, Jr., O-UT, TSU Uchenna Egwuonwu, Sr., DL, LWU Drew Harlow, Jr., DL, LWU Mike Smith, Sr., DL, MCK Joe Boettecher, Sr., DL, S&T De'Shawn Tone, Sr., DL, SBU Ricco Gipson, Jr., Sr., LB, MCK Wulfe Retzlaff, So., LB, S&T Dontay White, So., LB, S&T Aaron Harris, So., LB, SBU Antonio Wabanimkee, Sr., LB, WJC Keenan Steegal, Sr., DB, QU Ricky McCoy, Sr., DB, LWU Devon Myles, So., DB, MCK Cory Hanger, Sr., DB, SBU Travis Myerson, Sr., DB, TSU Caleb Shipley, Jr., D-UT, MCK* Marvion Harris, So., D-UT, QU* Joshua Scheiderer, So., K, TSU Jonathan Banowetz, Sr., P, S&T Daveon Bell, Jr., PR/KR, UINDY

HONORABLE MENTION (38)  Evan Pumphrey, Sr., OL, LWU Quinn Polaski, Sr., OL, MCK Nino Schmitt, Jr., OL, S&T Imori Heard, Fr., OL, QU Max Snell, Jr., OL, QU Keelan Lewis, Sr., OL, SBU Zach White, Fr., OL, WJC TJ Edwards, Sr., QB, UINDY Turner Pullen, Fr., QB, MCK Andrew Rund, Sr., QB, QU Will Schnieder, Jr., QB, WJC Aaron Matio, Jr., WR, UINDY Breon Michel, So., WR, S&T Steven Towns, So., WR, MCK Paul Sullivan, So., WR, QU Curtis Cuillard, Jr., WR, SBU Jacob Ellis, Jr., TE, TSU Caleb Fisher, Fr., O-UT, MCK Briar Hancock, Sr., O-UT, QU Alec Patch, Jr., DL, UINDY Rondell Weathers, Sr., DL, UINDY Brandon Purnell, Jr., DL, MCK TerShawn Wharton, Sr., DL, S&T Norman Ogelsby, Sr., DL, QU David Tabakovic, So., DL, QU Major Walker, Sr., DL, WJC Kennith Wilson, Sr., LB, MCK Sam Mock, Sr., LB, QU TJ Morgan, Jr., LB, SBU Brock Geisz, Sr., LB, WJC Cameron McKasson, Jr., LB, WJC Connor Steeb, Jr., DB, UINDY Ryan Kirkendall, Sr., DB, S&T Tevin Hall, Sr., DB, SBU Donte Colum, Sr., DB, WJC Nathan Kewney, Sr., P, QU Spencer Redd, Fr., PR/KR, LWU Toriano Clinton, So., PR, UINDY