• 2018 All-OVC Football Team and Award Winners (PDF)
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri State took home three of the four major 2018 Ohio Valley Conference football awards in voting conducted by league head coaches and communication directors and announced on Tuesday.
Southeast Missouri senior running back
Marquis Terry was named Offensive Player of the Year, while junior linebacker
Zach Hall was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year. The duo’s coach,
Tom Matukewicz, earned the Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year honor, while Tennessee Tech quarterback
Bailey Fisher was named OVC Freshman of the Year.
Jacksonville State, who won its OVC record fifth-straight OVC Championship, had the most selections with 14, including eight first-team selections, while Southeast Missouri had 10 (including five first-team picks). The All-OVC first-team included 10 seniors, 12 juniors, three sophomores and a freshman while the second-team included 15 seniors and 12 juniors.
Terry is just the second Southeast Missouri player to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors, joining Henry Harris in 2010. Terry played a big part in leading the Redhawks to an 8-3 overall record and only the second FCS Playoff berth in program history, joining the 2010 team led by Harris. A finalist for the Walter Payton Award, Terry, despite missing parts of three games this season, ranks fifth nationally in rushing touchdowns (14), 13th in total rushing yards (1,162), 14th in all-purpose yards (141.64/game), 15th in rushing (105.6 yards/game), 21st in scoring (8.2 points/game) and 26th in rushing yards/carry (6.21). In a September victory at Southern Illinois, he had 438 all-purpose yards (311 rushing yards, 114 kick return yards, 13 receiving yards) which is the most by any NCAA player (FBS, FCS, D2 or D3) in a game in 2018. His 311 rushing yards in that game is the third-most by a FCS player this season. Terry also added a 200-yard rushing game (in a win over Dayton) and capped the season with four 100-yard rushing performances in his final five outings. He is the second-straight running back to win the OVC Offensive Player of the Year Award and fourth over the past 10 years.
Hall, a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, helped key a defense that ranks first nationally in turnover margin (+2.09/game), turnovers gained (31) and passes intercepted (21) entering the playoffs. The junior tallied 150 tackles (13.6/game), which ranks him second nationally (one behind the leader), and one off the SEMO school record. The junior had a season-best 22 tackles in the season-opener against FBS foe Arkansas State (a performance that earned him National Defensive Player of the Week). Overall, he had double-digit tackles in nine of 11 games and five times had 15 or more tackles in a game. But Hall did more than just make tackles, as he intercepted four passes (ranking 27th nationally with 0.4 interceptions/game), forced four fumbles (a mark that ranked him 10th in the FCS with 0.36/game) and recovered two fumbles (21st nationally), one of which he returned for a touchdown. Hall made 11.0 tackles-for-loss and had a pair of sacks, had a pass breakup, six quarterback hurries, blocked a kick and recorded a safety. Hall is the fourth Southeast Missouri player to be named OVC Defensive Player of the Year and first since 2012 (Blake Peiffer).
Matukewicz, a finalist of the Eddie Robinson Award, guided Southeast Missouri to its first winning season since 2010 and only the second playoff berth in school history this season. After back-to-back 3-8 seasons, the Redhawks finished this year 8-3 overall and 6-2 in OVC play and enter the playoffs ranked No. 20 nationally (its first ranking since the 2014 season, and first time ranked in the Coaches Poll since 2014). During the year the Redhawks topped No. 4 ranked Jacksonville State 37-14, ending the Gamecocks OVC record 36-game Conference winning streak. The win was the fourth by Matukewicz over a nationally-ranked team during his five-year tenure; that ranks as the most wins over ranked foes by any coach in Southeast Missouri history. Entering the playoffs, Southeast Missouri ranks first nationally in turnover margin (+2.09/game), turnovers gained (31) and passes intercepted (21). The offense also takes care of the ball, ranking first nationally in fewest fumbles lost (1) and fifth in turnovers lost (8). Offensively, the team ranks ninth nationally in scoring offense (39.2 points/game), which is on pace to break the school record for points/game in a season (currently 34.7 points/game by the 2002 team); a year ago the Redhawks averaged only 20.5 points/game. Matukewicz is the fourth SEMO head coach to win the honor, joining John Mumford (1994), Tim Billings (2002) and Tony Samuel (2010 - he would go on to win the Eddie Robinson Award). The OVC Coach of the Year award is named after Eastern Kentucky legend Roy Kidd, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, who won the award a record 10 times during his career (1964-2002) and retired with 314 victories, the second-most in I-AA/FCS history.
Fisher, a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award given to the FCS National Freshman of the Year, tallied 2,027 yards of total offense this season for the Golden Eagles. That included completing 139-of-268 passes for 1,681 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushing 106 times for 346 yards and two additional scores. Fisher finished as Tennessee Tech’s No. 2 rusher on the season. The true freshman threw for 383 yards and four touchdowns against Eastern Illinois and against Murray State passed for 248 yards and ran for 76 yards while accounting for three total touchdowns as Tech won 27-24 to snap an 11-game losing streak. Among all freshmen nationally, Fisher ranked third in total offense, fourth in total passing yards and passing touchdowns and fifth in completion percentage (51.9%) and completions/game (13.9). Fisher is the third Tennessee Tech player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year, joining quarterback Lee Sweeney (2006) and wide receiver Tim Benford (2008).
The All-OVC first team offense was highlighted by Terry, who earned first-team All-OVC honors for the second-straight season. He was joined by his junior quarterback
Daniel Santacaterina, who passed for 2,598 yards and 25 touchdowns in his first season after transferring from Northern Illinois. Santacaterina was one of two quarterbacks selected to the first-team due to a tie in voting; the other quarterback was Jacksonville State sophomore
Zerrick Cooper who led JSU to the OVC Championship while accounting for 3,128 yards of total offense and 32 touchdowns (27 passing, 5 rushing). Cooper ranks fifth nationally in passing touchdowns and 10th in passing efficiency (151.4). It marks the fifth-straight season Jacksonville State has had the first-team All-OVC quarterback selection, an all-time OVC record. The backfield was rounded out by Austin Peay junior
Kentel Williams who ranked first nationally in rushing yards/carry (7.99), while running for 831 total yards and seven touchdowns in nine games. The wide receiver selections ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in all of Division I football (FBS or FCS) in touchdown receptions, combining for 33 scores. Jacksonville State junior
Josh Pearson led all Division I players with 17 receiving touchdowns, a new school record and two away from the OVC record; Pearson also ranked fourth nationally in scoring (9.6 points/game) while hauling in 59 total passes for 980 yards. Eastern Illinois senior
Alexander Hollins had 16 receiving touchdowns while also ranking eighth nationally in receptions/game (7.2) and 11th in total receiving yards (1,090). The first-team tight end selection was JSU sophomore
Trae Barry who caught 26 passes for 401 yards and a touchdown. After placing four offensive lineman on the All-OVC first-team twice in the past three years, Jacksonville State had three first-team selections this season in senior center
Tyler Scozzaro, senior guard
BJ Autry and junior guard
Darius Anderson. The trio was joined by Southeast Missouri senior tackle
Drew Forbes and Tennessee State senior tackle
Chidi Okeke.
The first-team defense was headlined by Hall, who had been a second-team All-OVC pick a season ago. He was joined at the linebacker position by Murray State senior
Quincy Williams and Austin Peay senior
Gunnar Scholato. The trio ranked first through third in the OVC in tackles/game, with each ranking in the Top 15 nationally. Williams had 111 total stops, while also intercepting a pair of passes and forcing two fumbles, while Scholato earned his third career All-OVC honor (first-team in 2017, second-team in 2016) after making 109 tackles, including 11.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks. The first-team defensive line included Austin Peay junior
Jaison Williams, Murray State senior
Kenney Wooten, Jacksonville State senior
Randy Robinson and Eastern Kentucky junior
Aaron Patrick. Williams had a career-best 14.0 tackles-for-loss to go along with 4.5 sacks while Wooten led the OVC and ranked 10th nationally in sacks (10.5 total, 0.95/game). Robinson ranked second nationally with four blocked kicks (to go along with 34 tackles, 8.0 tackles-for-loss and nine quarterback hurries) while Patrick returned from an injury a season ago to rank second in the OVC with 0.68 sacks/game (7.5 total) while adding 53 tackles, 12.0 tackles-for-loss and 15 quarterback hurries. The defensive back selections including Jacksonville State junior
Marlon Bridges who earned his third-straight first-team All-OVC honor after leading a secondary that helped JSU rank 12th nationally in pass defense (177.4 yards/game allowed). Bridges tallied 52 tackles, an interception and forced a fumble during the year. He was joined by Southeast Missouri sophomore
Bydarrius Knighten, Tennessee State junior
Dajour Nesbeth and Eastern Kentucky junior
Leodis Moore III. Knighten tallied 75 tackles, an interception, nine pass breakups, a forced fumble and fumble recovery while Nesbeth led the OVC and ranked 19th nationally in passes defended/game (1.2) and second in the OVC and 14th nationally in interceptions (0.4/game). Moore led all OVC players with five interceptions (0.5/game) to go along with 48 tackles, five pass breakups and a blocked kick.
The first-team All-OVC specialists all hail from Murray State and include junior kicker
Gabriel Vicente, freshman punter
Steve Dawson and junior return specialist
Malik Honeycutt. Vicente, a second-team pick a year ago, connected on 15-of-19 field goals, including 3-of-5 from 40 yards of longer. Vicente hit a 50-yarder during the season and ranked 14th nationally in field goals made/game (1.36). Dawson led the OVC and ranked 20th nationally in punting (42.1 yards/punt), had a long punt of 66 yards, 10 punts of 50 yards or longer and 16 punts downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. In the next-to-last game of the season, Honeycutt returned a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown with three seconds left to beat No. 19 Southeast Missouri and followed that by returning a punt 80 yards for a score against Austin Peay in the final week of the season.
The All-OVC second-team offensive unit included Murray State senior quarterback
Drew Anderson (2,840 passing yards and 20 touchdowns; 225 rushing yards and five touchdowns), Eastern Illinois senior running back
Isaiah Johnson (708 rushing yards, 7 TDs, 30 receptions) and Eastern Kentucky senior running back
LJ Scott (780 rushing yards, 8 TDs) in the backfield. The receivers included Southeast Missouri junior
Kristian Wilkerson (54 catches, 806 yards, 12 TDs), Tennessee State junior wide receiver
Chris Rowland (57 catches, 727 yards, 5 TDs) and Eastern Illinois junior tight end
James Sheehan (50 catches, 544 yards, 3 TDs). The second-team offensive line included Jacksonville State junior tackle
Hunter Sosebee (giving JSU four total offensive lineman across the two teams), Southeast Missouri senior center
Lucas Orchard, Austin Peay seniors center
Byron Glass and senior guard
Ethan Self, Tennessee State junior guard
Raekwon Allen and Eastern Kentucky senior tackle
Cameron Kowalewski.
The second-team defensive line included Jacksonville State senior
Connor Christian (20 tackles, 9.0 TFL, 5.5 sacks), UT Martin junior
Julian Crutchfield (41 tackles, 9.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks), Eastern Illinois senior
Levi Watson (55 tackles, 10.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks) and Southeast Missouri junior
Clarence Thornton (30 tackles, 6.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks). The linebackers included UT Martin senior
James Gilleylen (89 tackles, 13.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks), Jacksonville State junior
Jalen Choice (73 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 1 INT) and Southeast Missouri junior
Justin Swift (97 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 3 INTs, 2 touchdowns). The second-team defensive backs included Austin Peay senior
Malik Davis (78 tackles, 4 INTs) and junior
Juantarius Bryant (65 tackles, 2.5 TFL), Jacksonville State junior
Traco Williams (50 tackles, 4 INTs) and Eastern Kentucky senior
Cornelius Floyd (51 tackles, 4 INTs).
The second-team specialists included Eastern Illinois senior
Nick Bruno, who earned honors as both a kicker (12-of-14 FGs, Long of 48, 37-of-40 PATs) and punter (40.4 yards/punt, Long of 56, 20 inside the 20-yard line). He was joined by a pair of Tennessee State return specialist teammates in
Chris Rowland (13.0 yards per punt return), who also earned second-team honors as a wide receiver, and
DeVon Johnson (26.4 yards per kickoff return).
Eleven (11) players were selected to the All-OVC Newcomer squad; to be selected to the team an individual had to be a first-year player (freshman or transfer) in the OVC. One of the selections was TTU’s Fisher, the OVC Freshman of the Year. The squad also included four other players who were either first or second-team All-OVC selections including JSU’s Cooper (first-team quarterback), SEMO’s Santacaterina (first-team quarterback) and Murray State’s Honeycutt (first-team return specialist) and Anderson (second-team quarterback). The remaining All-Newcomer selections included Eastern Illinois junior quarterback
Johnathan Brantley (2016 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns, 6 rushing touchdowns), Jacksonville State redshirt freshman
Yul Gowdy (32 tackles, 5 PBU), Tennessee State junior running back
Te’kendrick Roberson (527 rushing yards, 1 TD), junior defensive end
Mekhi Brown (26 tackles, 4.0 sacks) and freshman kicker
Antonio Zita (12-of-14 FGs, 28-of-29 PATs) and UT Martin junior wide receiver/return specialist
Terry Williams (67 catches, 736 yards, 3 TDs).
2018 All-OVC Team and Award Winners
OVC Offensive Player of the Year: Marquis Terry (RB), Southeast Missouri
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Zach Hall (LB), Southeast Missouri
OVC Freshman of the Year: Bailey Fisher (QB), Tennessee Tech
Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year: Tom Matukewicz, Southeast Missouri
FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Zerrick Cooper, Jacksonville State
QB - Daniel Santacaterina, Southeast Missouri
RB - Marquis Terry, Southeast Missouri
RB - Kentel Williams, Austin Peay
WR - Josh Pearson, Jacksonville State
WR - Alexander Hollins, Eastern Illinois
TE - Trae Barry, Jacksonville State
C - Tyler Scozzaro, Jacksonville State
OG - BJ Autry, Jacksonville State
OG - Darius Anderson, Jacksonville State
OT - Drew Forbes, Southeast Missouri
OT - Chidi Okeke, Tennessee State
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Jaison Williams, Austin Peay
DL - Kenney Wooten, Murray State
DL - Randy Robinson, Jacksonville State
DL - Aaron Patrick, Eastern Kentucky
LB - Zach Hall, Southeast Missouri
LB - Quincy Williams, Murray State
LB - Gunnar Scholato, Austin Peay
DB - Marlon Bridges, Jacksonville State
DB - Bydarrius Knighten, Southeast Missouri
DB - Dajour Nesbeth, Tennessee State
DB - Leodis Moore III, Eastern Kentucky
FIRST-TEAM SPECIALISTS
K - Gabriel Vicente, Murray State
P - Steve Dawson, Murray State
RS - Malik Honeycutt, Murray State
SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Drew Anderson, Murray State
RB - Isaiah Johnson, Eastern Illinois
RB - LJ Scott, Eastern Kentucky
WR - Kristian Wilkerson, Southeast Missouri
WR - Chris Rowland, Tennessee State
TE - James Sheehan, Eastern Illinois
C - Lucas Orchard, Southeast Missouri
C - Byron Glass, Austin Peay
OG - Ethan Self, Austin Peay
OG - Raekwon Allen, Tennessee State
OT - Hunter Sosebee, Jacksonville State
OT - Cameron Kowalewski, Eastern Kentucky
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Connor Christian, Jacksonville State
DL - Julian Crutchfield, UT Martin
DL - Levi Watson, Eastern Illinois
DL - Clarence Thornton, Southeast Missouri
LB - James Gilleylen, UT Martin
LB - Jalen Choice, Jacksonville State
LB - Justin Swift, Southeast Missouri
DB - Traco Williams, Jacksonville State
DB - Cornelius Floyd, Eastern Kentucky
DB - Malik Davis, Austin Peay
DB - Juantarius Bryant, Austin Peay
SECOND-TEAM SPECIALISTS
K - Nick Bruno, Eastern Illinois
P - Nick Bruno, Eastern Illinois
RS - Chris Rowland, Tennessee State
RS - DeVon Johnson, Tennessee State
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
QB - Johnathan Brantley, Eastern Illinois
QB - Zerrick Cooper, Jacksonville State
CB - Yul Gowdy, Jacksonville State
QB - Drew Anderson, Murray State
WR/RS - Malik Honeycutt, Murray State
QB - Daniel Santacaterina, Southeast Missouri
RB - Te’kendrick Roberson, Tennessee State
DE - Mekhi Brown, Tennessee State
K - Antonio Zita, Tennessee State
QB - Bailey Fisher, Tennessee Tech
WR/RS - Terry Williams, UT Martin
Note: The All-Newcomer team is comprised of first-year players in the OVC - that can be either true freshmen, redshirt freshmen or first-year transfers. The team consists of 11 total players and is not voted on by position.
There were 13 players on the All-OVC first-team offense (2 QB’s), second-team offense (2 C’s) and second-team specialists (2 RS’s) due to ties in voting.