Football

November 19, 2019

Page And Ferguson Earn All-SAC Football Honors

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) -- The South Atlantic Conference released its 2019 all-conference teams and award winners on Tuesday and Catawba placed a pair of players on the second team defense. Earning the honors were senior defensive back Cris Page and junior linebacker Jeremiah Ferguson.

Page becomes a rare four-time All-SAC selection, earning second team honors three times and first team accolades as a sophomore. He led the team with five interceptions this season and finished with 11 in his career. Page broke up an additions 10 passes and had three stops for losses among his 54 tackles.

Ferguson collects All-SAC honors for the second straight year, earning a first team nod a season ago. He led the team in 2019 with 69 tackles. He had four and half sacks with seven stops for losses. Ferguson added two interceptions, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.

Craig Rucker from Mars Hill, repeated as SAC Offensive Player of the Year and Offensive Freshman of the Year and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Jaquan Artis was named Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year honors went to Carson-Newman’s Troy Dendy on offense and Mars Hill’s Dexter Fitzpatrick on defenes. Lenoir-Rhyne’s Jason Poe was named the Jacobs Blocking Trophy award winner for the second year in a row and Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Drew Cronic took home Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive year.
 
Rucker, a senior wide receiver, finished the regular season ranked first in the conference in touchdowns (14), receiving yards (1,325), all-purpose yards (1,643), receiving yards per game (120.5) and receptions (97). Artis, a senior defensive end, leads the SAC in sacks with 12 and has 19.5 tackles for loss.
 
Dendy, a running back, racked up 611 yards on the ground with an average of 61.1 yards per game and six touchdowns. Fitzpatrick, a linebacker, had 79 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and broke up a pass. Poe, a junior, anchored an O-Line that helped the Bears accumulate 2,969 rushing yards and 1,886 passing yards during the 2019 season. Cronic led the Bears to the 2019 SAC Football Championship for the second straight seasons.
 
2019 South Atlantic Conference Football All-Conference
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB – Grayson Willingham, Lenoir-Rhyne
RB – Antonio Wimbush, Carson-Newman
RB – Nijere Peoples, Wingate
RB – Domineke McNeill, Wingate
WR – Craig Rucker, Mars Hill
WR – Braxton Westfield, Carson-Newman
WR – Jalen Brooks, Wingate
OL – Andrew Strickland, Wingate
OL – Jason Poe, Lenoir-Rhyne
OL – Keveon Broadwater, Tusculum
OL – Connor Baroniounas, Wingate
OL – Phillip McDowell, Carson-Newman
TE – Drake Starks, Lenoir-Rhyne
PK – McLean Robertson-Wingate
LS – Dawson Campbell, Carson-Newman
RS – Kyle Dugger, Lenoir-Rhyne
 
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL – Jaquan Artis, Lenoir-Rhyne
DL – Dan Louba, Lenoir-Rhyne
DL – Keito Jordon, Newberry
DL – Jordon Anderson, Wingate
LB – Robbie Wallace, Wingate
LB – Ivan Hogans, Tusculum
LB – Clayton Horn, Lenoir-Rhyne
LB – Rondrow Peebles, Carson-Newman
DB – Kyle Dugger, Lenoir-Rhyne
DB – Dee Alford, Tusculum
DB – Desmond Fairell, Carson-Newman
DB – Davion Washington, Wingate
P –  Thomas Cook, Limestone
                 
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB – Shaw Crocker, Wingate
QB - Derrick Evans, Carson-Newman
RB – Jaquay Mitchell, Lenoir-Rhyne
RB – Ameen Stevens, Lenoir-Rhyne
RB – Jerko’ya Patton, Limestone
WR – Deshun Kitchings, Newberry
WR – B.J. Muckelvene, Wingate
WR – Tory Ponder, Tusculum
OL – Jordan Seal, Carson-Newman
OL – Travis James, Mars Hill
OL – Tyler Anderson, Newberry
OL – Ronnie Clifton, Lenoir-Rhyne
OL – Cameron Thomason, Limestone
TE – Trevor Makarov, Carson-Newman
PK – Chase Allbaugh, Lenoir-Rhyne
LS – Travis Morgan, Newberry
RS – Demetrius Mann, UVA-Wise
 
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL – Amari Houston, Lenoir-Rhyne             
DL – Cal Hanford, Wingate
DL – Montel Presely, Carson-Newman       
DL – Kelvin Atkins, Limestone   
LB – Austin Hicks, UVA-Wise
LB – Elijah Gilmore, Wingate     
LB – Jeremiah Ferguson, Catawba             
LB – Jackson Cauthen, Tusculum
DB – Eric Jackson, Lenoir-Rhyne
DB – Marcus Tarrer, UVA-Wise
DB – Chris Page, Catawba         
DB – Malik Goodman, Tusculum                
DB – Mannie  Ogletree, Limestone
P –  Nate Craft, Carson-Newman
P –  Michael Owen-Lenoir-Rhyne

Offensive Freshman of the Year: Troy Dendy, Carson-Newman
Defensive Freshman of the Year: Dexter Fitzpatrick, Mars Hill
Offensive Player of the Year: Craig Rucker, Mars Hill
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaquan Artis, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jacobs Blocking Trophy: Jason Poe, Lenoir-Rhyne
Coach of the Year: Drew Cronic, Lenoir-Rhyne