CCU

Football Has 15 Named to All-Big South Squads

           

Football Has 15 Named to All-Big South Squads

Co-Champions place seven on the first team and eight on the second

CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina's football team had 15 players earn All-Big South Conference honors for their play during the 2005 season, the league office announced. Coastal captured a share of its second consecutive Big South title, finishing the year with a 9-2 mark and 3-1 in league play.

On the defensive side, senior end Kelvin McIver paced the lineman for the second-straight season. McIver recorded 55 tackles, third among all defensive lineman, and ranked in the top 10 in tackles for loss with 9.0 for 28 yards. A First Team All-Eastern Region and All-Big South selection last year, he started all 11 games and recorded five or more tackles in seven games, including all four Big South contests. His best game occurred in conference play as he had nine tackles, including 1.5 for loss, in the win at Liberty and added eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss, at Charleston Southern.

Junior linebacker Jamar Leath, who finished third in the league's Defensive Player of the Year voting, led Coastal and ranked fourth in the League with a career-high 108 tackles and posted 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception. A starter in all 11 games, he was the Big South Defensive Player of the Week the first two weeks of the season after recording then career-highs of 14 tackles at Elon and then 15 against James Madison (including five in the last six plays against JMU). He also was named The Sports Network National Defensive Player of the Week for his play in the win over James Madison and earned the Big South's weekly honor after posting a career-best 15 tackles in the overtime win against Gardner-Webb, Oct. 15.

Senior linebacker Maurice Simpkins earned his third consecutive first-team honor following his 91-tackle season. He tied for eighth in the Big South with 10 tackles for loss and tied for third with 4.0 sacks. A starter in all 33 games in his Coastal career, he posted a season-high 13 tackles at Charleston Southern, including one tackle for loss and one interception. He also had 12 tackles in the road win at Liberty and had 11 each in the wins at Elon and at South Carolina State.

Senior defensive back Quinton Teal, a First-Team All-Conference selection in 2004, led the Big South in interceptions for the second-straight season with five, and owns the career record (13). A Third Team All-Eastern Region award winner last year, Teal started all 11 games at safety for Coastal, recording 66 tackles on the season (38 of them solo), which ranked fifth in the league among defensive backs. He had a career-high 11 tackles and one forced fumble at SoCon Champion Appalachian State and later matched that mark with 11 tackles, nine of them solo, and one interception in the dramatic road win at South Carolina State. Teal is on track to earn back his fourth year of eligibility at the end of this academic year.

Junior kicker Josh Hoke captured first-team honors for the second-straight year, as he tied for the Conference scoring lead with 80 points. He hit all 38 PAT attempts and was 14-of-22 on field goals. Hoke was named National Weekly Football Gazette National Special Teams Player of the Week twice, had three field goals of 45 yards or more and posted 28 touchbacks on 57 kickoffs in 2005. He was also named to the conference's All-Academic Team for the second consecutive season, as Hoke has a 4.0 in communications.

Coastal had four offensive linemen earn honors this season, as senior Antwon Trice and junior Brad Poston were honored on the first team and senior Robbie Wright and junior Brian Kepple were named to the second team. This was Trice's second First Team selection and third All-Big South honor in his career, as Trice was also honored as Third Team All-American last season. Poston earned second-team honors in 2004, while Wright and Kepple earned their first All-Big South awards. These linemen led Coastal to league-bests 202.5 rushing yards and 360.6 total yards per contest, as well as blocking for a passing game that improved 31 percent from 2004.

Coastal had three other offensive players honored on the second team as well, as senior running back Patrick Hall, junior running back Aundres Perkins and sophomore wide receiver Jerome Simpson received awards.

Hall, the Big South Offensive Player of the Year in 2004, played in all 11 contests for Coastal, starting eight of them. He finished fifth in the league with 603 rushing yards and two touchdowns, saving his best game of the season for the last, going for 127 yards and one touchdown at Charleston Southern. He completed his career as CCU’s all-time rushing leader with 2,144, just the third player in league history to eclipse the 2,000-yard rushing mark in his career. He also owns five of the top eight single-game rushing records at CCU.

Perkins played in all 11 games as well, splitting time between running back and fullback during the season. He rushed for 349 yards on 68 carries (5.1 yards per carry) and ranked second in the league with 12 touchdowns, tops among running backs. He had five games with two or more touchdowns this season, including against Gardner-Webb, Liberty and Charleston Southern. He holds the league’s career record for touchdowns scored with 38 and ranks second on CCU’s career rushing chart with 1,744 yards.

Simpson set new school records with 33 receptions, 527 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Last year's Big South Freshman of Year tied for seventh in the league with 54 points on nine touchdowns, ranking second in the league among wide receivers. He set a new school record with 10 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns in the dramatic win over defending national champion James Madison. He is already CCU's career leader in receptions (59), receiving yards (946) and receiving touchdowns (17).

Defensive lineman Adrain Grady picked up his third Second Team All-Big South selection this season after starting all 11 contests for the Chanticleers. He ranked sixth among the league’s defensive linemen with 4.4 tackles per contest (48 total tackles) and finished with 12.5 tackles for loss, tying for second in the Big South among all defenders. He posted a career-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, in the road win at Liberty. He also chipped in six tackles in the win over James Madison and had five at Charleston Southern.

Junior defensive back Sergio Geiger was honored on the second team as well. His first All-Big South honors come after he started all 11 games at cornerback for Coastal, recording 30 tackles (17 solo) this season along with a pair of interceptions, one fumble recovery and two pass breakups. He had a season-high five tackles at South Carolina State and at Savannah State and chipped in four tackles against James Madison.

Junior long snapper Zack St. Clair was also honored as a Second Team All-Big South player, getting his first league award. St. Clair has been the long snapper for CCU for three straight seasons and was a part of a punt team that did not give up any blocked punts during the 2005 season and ranked second in the league in net yards per punt and punt return defense average. He also had two special teams tackles on the season. St. Clair has been on a punt team that has not had a punt blocked in the last two seasons and is currently on a streak of 28 games and 136 straight punts without a block.