Ohio Valley Conference

SU's Efrem Hill

Samford wide receiver Efrem Hill, who leads the nation in receiving, and his teammate, defensive back Cortland Finnegan, who led the conference in tackles, have earned top honors on the 2003 All-OVC football team in voting by the league's head football coaches and sports information directors.

Hill and Finnegan join their head coach, Bill Gray, who earned the league's Roy Kidd Coach of the Year award, as the first trio from the same team to sweep the OVC football awards since Murray State did it in 1995.

Hill, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound junior from Atlanta, Ga., caught an OVC-record 92 passes for 1,387 yards and an OVC-record 15 TD's in leading the Bulldogs to the top of the league’s rankings in pass offense and scoring offense. His receiving yardage total in 2003 was the second-highest in OVC history and his average of 126.1 yards per game was the most in I-AA football this season. He is currently second in the nation in receptions per game (8.36), and he is one of 16 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which honors the top offensive player in Division I-AA. Hill caught at least one touchdown pass in all but one game this season, and he has now grabbed 143 passes in his career for 2,170 yards and 21 scores. He was named to the first-team offense of the NCAA I-AA Independent squad in 2002.

Finnegan, a 5-foot-10, 166-pound sophomore from Milton, Fla., led the OVC with an average of 9.8 tackles per game. He was second in the conference with 108 stops, and he ranked third in the league with 11 passes defended, including three interceptions. Finnegan scored on an interception return, a fumble return and a kickoff return this season, and he also led the OVC in kick return average with 27.5 yards per attempt. He adds the league’s defensive player of the year award to several honors that he received after his freshman season, including I-AA All-American as a kick returner and first team defense and special teams on the NCAA I-AA Independent squad.

Gray earned the Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year honor, named for the legendary EKU coach, in his first season in the league after leading Samford, which was picked to finish eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll, to an impressive 7-4 overall mark and a 5-3 record in the conference, tying the team for third in the OVC standings. It was the Bulldogs’ best finish in five years. Samford led the league in scoring offense, pass offense, pass efficiency, kickoff returns and third-down conversions. The Bulldogs also allowed the fewest sacks and were the least-penalized team in the conference in 2003.

Southeast Missouri led the way by having six players selected to the All-OVC first team, while Eastern Kentucky had five and Tennessee State had four. Making the squad from Southeast were junior tight end Ray Goodson, junior guard Dan Bieg, junior placekicker Derek Kutz, senior defensive lineman Ryan Roth, senior linebacker Ricky Farmer and junior defensive back Dimitri Patterson. Selected from EKU were senior center Larry Turner, junior return specialist Allen Evans, junior defensive lineman Chad Dewberry, junior linebacker Justen Rivers and senior defensive back Donnell Allison. Chosen from TSU were junior running back Charles Anthony, senior wide receiver C.J. Johnson, junior defensive lineman Paul Thomas and senior defensive back Scott Cunningham.

Also named to the All-OVC first team from Samford was junior quarterback Ray Nelson. From league champion Jacksonville State, senior running back Kory Chapman, senior offensive tackle Levet Jones and junior punter Richie Rhodes were selected. Also chosen were senior guard Burt Shurette and senior linebacker Daniel Wentzel from Tennessee Tech, along with junior defensive lineman Marcus White from Murray State.

2003 ALL-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM
(Selected by OVC Head Football Coaches and Sports Information Directors)

First Team
Offense
Ray Nelson (QB), Samford
Charles Anthony (RB), Tennessee State
Kory Chapman (RB), Jacksonville State
Efrem Hill (WR), Samford
C.J. Johnson (WR), Tennessee State
Ray Goodson (TE), Southeast Missouri
Larry Turner (C), Eastern Kentucky
Dan Bieg (OG), Southeast Missouri
Burt Shurette (OG), Tennessee Tech
Frank Castagnoli (OT), Eastern Illinois
Levet Jones (OT), Jacksonville State
Derek Kutz (PK), Southeast Missouri
Allen Evans (RS), Eastern Kentucky

Defense
Chad Dewberry (DL), Eastern Kentucky
Ryan Roth (DL), Southeast Missouri
Paul Thomas (DL), Tennessee State
Marcus White (DL), Murray State
Ricky Farmer (LB), Southeast Missouri
Nick Ricks (LB), Eastern Illinois
Justen Rivers (LB), Eastern Kentucky
Daniel Wentzel (LB), Tennessee Tech
Donnell Allison (DB), Eastern Kentucky
Scott Cunningham (DB), Tennessee State
Cortland Finnegan (DB), Samford
Dimitri Patterson (DB), Southeast Missouri
Richie Rhodes (P), Jacksonville State

Four linebackers were chosen to the first team due to a tie in the voting.

OVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Efrem Hill, Samford

OVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cortland Finnegan, Samford

ROY KIDD OVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Bill Gray, Samford

Second Team
Offense
Matt Guice (QB), Eastern Kentucky
Jason Ballard (RB), Tennessee Tech
Terry Ennis (RB), Eastern Kentucky
Deandre Green (WR), Murray State*
Andre Ralston (WR), Eastern Kentucky
Nick Eller (TE), Eastern Illinois
Eugene Amano (C), Southeast Missouri
Will Heineman (OG), Eastern Kentucky
Justen Meyer (OG), Southeast Missouri
Dan Connolly (OT), Southeast Missouri
Frank Omiyale (OT), Tennessee Tech
Jesse Ohliger (PK), Murray State
Cortland Finnegan (RS), Samford

Defense
Mike Dunn (DL), Eastern Kentucky
Kory Lothe (DL), Eastern Illinois
Marcus Lorick (DL), Eastern Illinois
Mark Tibbs (DL), Jacksonville State
Darold Williams (DL), Samford
Jonathan Crutcher (LB), Jacksonville State
James Dumervil (LB), Tennessee State
Fred Miller (LB), Eastern Illinois
Laroni Gallishaw (DB), Murray State
Deon Giddens (DB), Tennessee State
Michael Hanley (DB), Murray State
Ahmed Safeullah (DB), Tennessee State
David Simonhoff (P), Southeast Missouri

Five defensive linemen were chosen to the second team due to a tie in the voting.

Honorable Mention: Brock Anderson, C, Tennessee State; Steven Lee, PK, Jacksonville State; Jason Coleman, RS, Tennessee-Martin; Carlos Wright, RS, Tennessee State; Andre Plummer, DL, Tennessee-Martin; Jerome Jones, LB, Eastern Kentucky; Bobby Sanders, DB, Murray State