ORANGEBURG, South Carolina — Senior defensive lineman Javon Hargrave was named to the STATS FCS All-American First Team as announced.
Javon Hargrave (6-2, 300, Senior DL, Salisbury, NC, SCSU) earned a spot on the prestigious All-American Team for the second straight year, while earning back-to-back MEAC Defense Player of the Year honors.
Others honor include after aiding the team to a 6-2 conference finish and 7-4 overall mark, while earning national FCS player of the week honors (STATS Inc.), Boxtorow National Defensive Player of the Week, and Stats FCS National Defensive Player of the Week honors. He led the MEAC in sacks (5th in FCS) and is second in tackles for loss (5th in FCS). He recorded 59 total tackles (43 solo), 13.5 sacks, and 22 tackles, 11 quarterback pressures and two forced fumbles.
Johnta' Hebert (5-10, 195, Senior RB, Baton Rouge, LA, PVAMU): Prairie View A&M senior running back Johnta' Hebert was selected to the 2015 STATS FCS All-America First Team.
The Baton Rouge, La. native was selected as an all-purpose back and rightfully so as he led the Panthers in rushing, receiving and all-purpose yardage as the team finished 9-2 in their first season under head coach Willie Simmons. The spark plug behind an offensive unit which ranked sixth nationally in total yardage (488.5 ypg), Hebert finished second nationally in all-purpose yardage (201.2), 16th in kickoff return yardage (26.3), 18th in rush yards per carry (6) and 27th in rushing yardage per game. He also caught a team-high 47 receptions and closed out his career with 3,133 rushing yards, 1,301 receiving yards, 3,093 kickoff return yards and 33 career touchdowns.
Hebert was also named the STATS FCS Player of the Week this season after posting a career-best performance of 398 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns at Southern. He also received All-SWAC First Team honors and was named to the Boxtorow.com All-America team.
Deon King (6-1, 235 Senior LB, Reston, VA, Norfolk State): In a season full of accolades, Norfolk State senior linebacker Deon King received perhaps his highest distinction yet on Tuesday, when he was selected to the STATS Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-America first team, the organization announced. On Wednesday, King followed that accolade up by being selected to the FCS All-America first team of The Associated Press.
King is one of four linebackers listed on the STATS FCS first team. The organization previously administered its All-America awards under the umbrella of The Sports Network. King was one of just three linebackers on the AP first team. Safety Terrell Whitehead was NSU's last AP first-team All-American, in 2009.
King, who last week was named to the BOXTOROW HBCU All-America team, led all of Division I football (FBS and FCS) with 163 total tackles this year. He also had 11 tackles for loss, three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble. He finished sixth in the voting for the STATS FCS Defensive Player of the Year award and capped his career with his third consecutive All-MEAC honor.
The 2015 season marks the third straight year in which a Spartan defender has been named to an FCS All-America first or second team. Linebacker Lynden Trail was named to The Sports Network's first team in 2013 and to its second team in 2014. Trail was a third-team AP pick in 2013 and a second-team selection in 2014.
Willie Quinn (5-5 145 Senior KR, Miami, FL, Southern): Southern wide receiver/return specialist Willie Quinn won two major national awards Tuesday. The junior from Miami was named a Football Championship Subdivision first-team All-American as well as the Special Teams Player of the Year from programs representing historically black colleges and universities.
Quinn returned four kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns this season. He led the SWAC and is sixth in the FCS in kickoff return average (28.8 yards). He is the Jaguars’ first FCS All-American since wide receiver Lee Doss in 2013.
Khris Gardin (5-7, 158, SO, Morganton, N.C, North Carolina A&T.) is the first first-team All-American punt returner since Curtis Deloatch in 2001. Oddly, enough it is Gardin who has erased some of Deloatch’s single-season records. Gardin is only two yards shy of breaking the NCAA FCS record for punt return yards in a season as the Aggies head to Atlanta to face Alcorn State in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, Dec. 19. ABC will air the broadcast live at noon.
Deloatch once held the record with 530 punt return yards in a season. Gardin is averaging 60.5 punt return yards per game. If Gardin has a big game for the Aggies on Saturday he would break Deloatch’s national per punt return yardage which stands at 26.5. Gardin leads the nation with an average of 22.2 yards per return. Gardin also holds the school record for punt returns in a season with 30.
Gardin has two punt returns for touchdowns this season – a 71-yarder at Hampton (Oct.3) and an 82-yarder against Howard (Oct. 24). He has seven punts of 40 yards or more. His breakout game was at Hampton when he returned four punts for 203 yards in the Aggies 45-31 win.
Gardin, Cohen and Parker were among 102 players chosen, spread out among 57 schools and all 13 FCS conferences that comprise the three All-American teams. The Aggies head into the Celebration Bowl 9-2 overall and co-champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
See Complete Listing Below:
HBCU Players highlighted in RED
2015 STATS FCS ALL-AMERICA TEAM
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
QB - Eli Jenkins, junior, 6-2, 205, Jacksonville State.
RB - Marshaun Coprich, senior, 5-9, 205, Illinois State; Chase Edmonds, sophomore, 5-9, 196, Fordham; Kade Harrington, junior, 5-8, 190, Lamar.
FB - Tyler Renew, junior, 5-11, 217, The Citadel.
WR - Jamaal Jones, senior, 6-1, 192, Montana; Cooper Kupp, junior, 6-2, 195, Eastern Washington; Jake Wieneke, sophomore, 6-4, 210, South Dakota State.
TE - Ben Braunecker, senior, 6-4, 240, Harvard.
OL - Clay DeBord, senior, 6-6, 305, Eastern Washington; Joe Haeg, senior, 6-6, 310, North Dakota State; Donald Jackson III, senior, 6-2, 290, Sam Houston State; Corey Levin, junior, 6-5, 305, Chattanooga; Cole Toner, senior, 6-7, 300, Harvard.
AP - Johnta' Hebert, senior, 5-10, 195, Prairie View A&M.
DEFENSE
DL - James Cowser, graduate, 6-4, 258, Southern Utah; Javon Hargrave, senior, 6-2, 295, South Carolina State; Tyrone Holmes, senior, 6-4, 245, Montana; Victor Ochi, senior, 6-2, 255, Stony Brook; Noah Spence, junior, 6-3, 261, Eastern Kentucky.
LB - Deon King, senior, 6-1, 220, Norfolk State; Christian Kuntz, junior, 6-1, 210, Duquesne; Darnell Sankey, senior, 6-2, 250, Sacramento State; Myke Tavarres, senior, 6-3, 230, Incarnate Word.
DB - Dee Delaney, sophomore, 6-1, 191, The Citadel; Deiondre' Hall, senior, 6-2, 190, Northern Iowa; DeAndre Houston-Carson, senior, 6-2, 195, William & Mary; Patrick Onwuasor, senior, 6-2, 225, Portland State.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Nick Dorka, sophomore, 6-0, 180, William & Mary.
P - Ben LeCompte, senior, 5-10, 196, North Dakota State.
KR - Willie Quinn, senior, 5-5, 145, Southern.
PR - Khris Gardin, sophomore, 5-7, 158, North Carolina A&T.
LS - Joshua Appel, junior, 6-2, 250, Indiana State.
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SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
QB - Jacob Huesman, senior, 6-2, 220, Chattanooga.
RB - Jacobi Green, senior, 5-9, 192, Richmond; De'Angelo Henderson, junior, 5-8, 205, Coastal Carolina.
FB - Andrew Bonnet, senior, 6-3, 250, North Dakota State.
WR - Emmanuel Butler, sophomore, 6-3, 210, Northern Arizona; Tyler Dube, graduate, 6-0, 170, Sacred Heart; Brendan Flaherty, junior, 6-2, 200, Holy Cross.
TE - Beau Sandland, senior, 6-5, 250, Montana State.
OL - Erik Austell, junior, 6-3, 285, Charleston Southern; Jonathan Burgess, senior, 6-2, 305, Liberty; Julie'n Davenport, junior, 6-7, 315, Bucknell; Casey Dunn, junior, 6-3, 285, Jacksonville State; Mitch Kirsch, junior, 6-6, 300, James Madison.
AP - John Santiago, freshman, 5-9, 170, North Dakota.
DEFENSE
DL - Keionta Davis, junior, 6-4, 260, Chattanooga; Dino Fanti, senior, 6-1, 265, Eastern Illinois; P.J. Hall, sophomore, 6-1, 270, Sam Houston State; Karter Schult, junior, 6-2, 265, Northern Iowa; Chima Uzowihe, senior, 6-2, 250, Liberty.
LB - Andrew Ankrah, sophomore, 6-4, 234, James Madison; Kourtney Berry, junior, 6-0, 215, Alabama State; Don Cherry, senior, 6-1, 240, Villanova; Stephen Hodge, graduate, 6-2, 196, Fordham; Brett McMakin, junior, 6-4, 232, Northern Iowa.
DB - David Jones, junior, 6-1, 187, Richmond; Miles Killebrew, senior, 6-3, 230, Southern Utah; Harlan Miller, senior, 6-1, 180, Southeastern Louisiana; Donald Payne, junior, 6-1, 215, Stetson; Wallace Scott, senior, 6-1, 211, McNeese State.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - John Lunsford, senior, 6-1, 180, Liberty.
P - Ryan Hawkins, senior, 5-11, 185, Northern Arizona.
KR - Lorenzo Jerome, junior, 5-11, 185, Saint Francis.
PR - Ellis Onic II, sophomore, 5-6, 163, Northern Colorado.
LS - Joseph Smith, junior, 6-3, 200, Charleston Southern.
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THIRD TEAM
OFFENSE
QB - Case Cookus, freshman, 6-4, 200, Northern Arizona; Vad Lee, senior, 6-1, 225, James Madison.
RB - Tarik Cohen, junior, 5-6, 173, North Carolina A&T; Troymaine Pope, senior, 5-9, 205, Jacksonville State.
FB - Joe Protheroe, sophomore, 6-0, 230, Cal Poly.
WR - Brian Brown, junior, 6-1, 198, Richmond; Anthony Warrum, junior, 6-2, 190, Illinois State; Justin Watson, sophomore, 6-3, 210, Penn.
TE - Eric Saubert, senior, 6-4, 242, Drake.
OL - Quinton Marsh, senior, 6-3, 310, McNeese State; Garrick Mayweather, senior, 6-3, 319, Fordham; Sean Meehan, senior, 6-5, 300, North Dakota; Brandon Parker, sophomore, 6-7, 279, North Carolina A&T; Nick Ritcher, senior, 6-6, 304, Richmond.
AP - Justice Shelton-Mosley, freshman, 5-10, 170, Harvard.
DEFENSE
DL - Mitchell Jeter, senior, 6-0, 275, The Citadel; Chris Landrum, graduate, 6-3, 260, Jacksonville State; O.J. Mau, senior, 6-2, 319, Gardner-Webb; Greg Menard, sophomore, 6-2, 239, North Dakota State; Derek Rivers, junior, 6-5, 255, Youngstown State.
LB - Aaron Brown, senior, 6-0, 220, Charleston Southern; Tyler Drake, senior, 6-2, 220, Penn; John Hugunin, 5-11, 232, Drake; Cory Magwood, senior, 6-2, 232, Furman; James Rentz, junior, 6-1, 230, Sacred Heart.
DB - James Bradberry, senior, 6-1, 213, Samford; Casey DeAndrade, junior, 5-11, 212, New Hampshire; Jermaine Hough, senior, 5-10, 185, Jacksonville State; Jevon Elmore, Central Connecticut State, junior, 5-10, 185; Clayton Ewell, senior, 6-1, 195, Bucknell.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Chris Moore, senior, 6-0, 215, Northwestern State.
P - Chris Fraser, junior, 6-2, 211, Cornell.a
KR - Devin Brown, junior, 5-8, 155, Coastal Carolina.
PR - Makinton Dorleant, senior, 5-11, 185, Northern Iowa.
LS - Kameron Canaday, senior, 6-4, 230, Portland State.M
COURTESY THE SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENTS AT PRAIRIE VIEW A&M, SOUTH CAROLIINA STATE, SOUTHERN, NORTH CAROLINA A&T AND NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITIES.