Lenoir-Rhyne, Newberry Lead All-SAC Football Team

ROCK HILL, S.C. – NCAA Division II Football Championship selections Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry lead the list of 2013 SAC football award winners, which was announced on Wednesday.

Lenoir-Rhyne – the SAC regular-season champion – and Newberry both had 11 All-Conference selections, including eight first-team picks for L-R and seven for Newberry. Fellow NCAA Championship selection Carson-Newman was next with nine on the All-Conference Team, followed by Tusculum and Wingate with seven, Catawba with six, Mars Hill with five and Brevard with three.

[Complete list of SAC football awards and statistical champions]

Headlining the All-SAC First Team offense is the conference's Offensive Player of the Year, Tusculum quarterback Bo Cordell, who wins the award for the second time in his career. Cordell broke numerous records in 2013, most notably becoming Division II's all-time leader in both passing yards and total offense. The graduate student also set the SAC's career passing touchdowns record with 112, and his 3,920 passing yards this season represent the fifth-highest single-season total in conference history.

Cordell led the SAC with 25 touchdowns through the air, and his average of 356.4 yards per game ranked fourth in the nation.

Cordell is joined on the first-team offense by a trio of running backs – Mars Hill's Shaikel Davis, Carson-Newman's Brandon Baker and Lenoir-Rhyne's Jarrod Spears. Davis led the SAC with 1,254 rushing yards, Baker ranked third with 872 and Spears was ninth with 711.

Leading the first-team receiving corps is Mars Hill's Dimitri Holmes, whose 1,591 yards were the second-most in a single season in SAC history and ranked second in the nation. Also earning first-team receiver accolades are Newberry's Corey Washington and Tusculum's Justin Houston. Washington ranked second in the conference with 12 touchdowns, while Houston led the league and ranked third in the nation with 110 receptions.

Tusculum's Wesley Powell was selected as the first-team tight end after finishing eighth in the SAC with 520 yards to go along with four touchdowns.

Making up the first-team offensive line are Mars Hill's Denzell Goode, Carson-Newman's Alex Taylor, Lenoir-Rhyne's Joe Ray, Newberry's Jamal Ellis and Lenoir-Rhyne's Zach Bunn. Ray was also named the Jacobs Blocking Trophy recipient, which is presented annually to the conference's top offensive lineman.

On special teams, Carson-Newman's Curt Duncan and Lenoir-Rhyne's Zach Neumann share first-team honors at placekicker, while Newbery's Kyle Clark is the first-team punter. Duncan led the SAC with 94 points in the kicking game, Neumann was second with 82, and Clark led the conference by averaging 39 yards per punt. Newberry's Austin Crook rounds out the special teams unit as its long snapper.

The All-SAC First Team defense is led by Lenoir-Rhyne defensive back Michael Green, the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Of Green's league-leading seven interceptions, three came on Nov. 9 in a L-R win over Alderson-Broaddus - two of which were returned for touchdowns. Green also added 64 tackles for the Bears, who finished the regular season third in the nation in scoring defense.

Lenoir-Rhyne's Blake Baker - who led the conference with 10.5 sacks - is a first-team defensive line pick, joining Mars Hill's Troy Harris, Newberry's Letavious Williams and Carson-Newman's Javaris Neal. Harris – last year's co-SAC Defensive Player of the Year – was second in the conference with eight sacks, while Neal had 5.5 and Williams had five. Neal earns first-team accolades after being named the SAC Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2012.

Mars Hill's Sammy Siasia finished second in the nation with 155 tackles and leads the first-team linebacker group. Also earning first-team selections at linebacker are Lenoir-Rhyne's Tanner Botts, Carson-Newman's Jaycob Coleman and Newberry's Edmond Robinson. Coleman ranked fourth in the SAC with 116 tackles, Botts tied for seventh with 104 and Robinson finished fourth in tackles-for-loss with 12.

In addition to Green, Catawba's L.J. McCray, Lenoir-Rhyne's Myer Nolan and Newberry's David Davis make up the first-team defensive backs. McCray tied for third in the conference with eight breakups, Davis tied for fourth with three interceptions, and Nolan finished with 78 tackles and four tackles-for-loss.

McCray was also named the first-team return specialist after averaging 22.7 yards on kickoff returns.

Mars Hill quarterback Trent Miller was selected as the SAC Offensive Freshman of the Year after finishing third in the conference with 2,757 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. Additionally, Lenoir-Rhyne defensive back Rodney Singleton was voted as the league's Defensive Freshman of the Year after tallying 49 tackles, 3.5 sacks and an interception.

Lenoir-Rhyne's Mike Houston, who led the Bears to their third-straight SAC regular-season title and the top seed in the NCAA Tournament's Super Region II, was named the conference's Coach of the Year. Houston wins the award for the third-straight season.