Southeast Missouri has been tabbed as the favorite to capture its first ever Ohio Valley Conference football championship in 2003, according to a poll of the league’s head football coaches. The Indians prevailed in a tight vote, earning five first-place votes, while defending co-champion Murray State received four first-place votes and was picked to finish second. Eastern Illinois, which has won at least a share of the last two league crowns, was picked third, and Eastern Kentucky was fourth. First-year member Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech tied for fifth, followed by Tennessee State, first-year member Samford and Tennessee-Martin.
Southeast Missouri returns 18 starters from last year’s surprise team that finished 8-4 and ranked 23rd in the final ESPN/USA Today poll. The Indians welcome back senior quarterback Jack Tomco, who passed for a school record 3,132 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, as well as the entire offensive line and 1,000-yard rusher Corey Kinsey. Murray State is coming off its first championship season since 1996, finishing with a 5-1 conference record and a berth in the I-AA playoffs. Eastern Illinois will try to become the first team in 15 years to win at least a share of its third straight OVC title, while Eastern Kentucky aims to continue its streak of 25 straight winning seasons. Both Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State look to bounce back from disappointing finishes a year ago, while Jacksonville State and Samford hope to compete for the crown in their first year of OVC play. Tennessee-Martin is looking for its first league win in seven years.
SOUTHEAST LEADS PRESEASON ALL-OVC FOOTBALL TEAM
Southeast Missouri led all schools with seven players selected to the 2003 Preseason All-OVC football team in voting by the league’s head football coaches and sports information directors. Twenty-one players who earned either first or second-team All-OVC honors a year ago were among 26 selected to the squad. Eastern Illinois placed five players on the preseason all-conference team, while Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State each put four on the list.
Leading the offensive unit is senior quarterback Jack Tomco of Southeast Missouri, who led the league and finished fifth in the nation with a 152.9 quarterback rating in 2002. Making the team at running back were Southeast’s Corey Kinsey, who ran for 1,067 yards last year, and Andre Raymond, who has been an All-OVC selection at three different positions in his career at EIU. At wide receiver, Murray State senior Willie Ponder (69-1,005 yds, 6 TD’s) and Tennessee State senior C.J. Johnson (45-1,034 yds, 9 TD’s) were near-unanimous choices. On the offensive line, Levet Jones of Jacksonville State joins four players who earned all-league honors a year ago.
Ten of the 12 players on the defensive side received All-OVC accolades last season. Senior linebacker Nick Ricks of Eastern Illinois, who was the 2002 OVC Defensive Player of the Year, was a first-team selection last season as were Eastern Kentucky junior linebacker Justen Rivers and Tennessee State senior defensive backs Scott Cunningham and Deon Giddens. Including Rivers, Eastern Kentucky placed three of its front seven on the squad, including defensive linemen Mike Dunn, a senior, and junior Chad Dewberry, who was an All-OVC second-teamer last season. Southeast Missouri also had three players on the defensive unit, including senior defensive lineman Ryan Roth and senior defensive backs Dimitri Patterson and Marco Tipton, both all-conference players in 2002.
Tennessee State junior placekicker Joey Hudak earns a spot on the team after being named second-team All-OVC last year. A pair of newcomers to the league take the other two special teams spots in Jacksonville State senior punter Richie Rhodes, a two-time All-American, and Samford sophomore kick returner Cortland Finnegan, who was an All-American with the Bulldogs last season.
2003 PRESEASON ALL-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM
(Selected by OVC Head Football Coaches and Sports Information Directors)OFFENSE
Player/School Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown
Jack Tomco, Southeast Missouri# QB 6’5 240 Sr. Anchorage, Alaska
Corey Kinsey, Southeast Missouri# RB 5’9 185 Jr. Miami, Fla.
Andre Raymond, Eastern Illinois* RB 5’11 201 Sr. Hialeah, Fla.
Deandre Green, Murray State* WR 6’2 215 Sr. Prichard, Ala.
C.J. Johnson, Tennessee State# WR 5’10 175 Sr. Nashville, Tenn.
Nick Eller, Eastern Illinois* TE 6’4 270 Sr. Hubbard, Iowa
Eugene Amano, Southeast Missouri# OL 6’3 315 Sr. San Pedro, Cal.
Frank Castagnoli, Eastern Illinois# OL 6’4 283 Sr. Channahon, Ill.
Dan Connolly, Southeast Missouri# OL 6’4 292 Jr. St. Louis, Mo.
Levet Jones, Jacksonville State OL 6’4 260 Sr. Prichard, Ala.
Larry Turner, Eastern Kentucky* OL 6’3 290 Sr. New Carlisle, Ohio
Joey Hudak, Tennessee State# PK 5’11 160 Jr. Miami, Fla.
Cortland Finnegan, Samford RET 5’10 165 So. Milton, Fla.
DEFENSE
Player/School Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown
Chad Dewberry, Eastern Kentucky# DL 6’1 218 Jr. Griffin, Ga.
Mike Dunn, Eastern Kentucky DL 6’4 256 Sr. Alexandria, Ky.
Kory Lothe, Eastern Illinois DL 6’4 250 So. Sun Prairie, Wis.
Ryan Roth, Southeast Missouri# DL 6’4 270 Sr. Naperville, Ill.
Nick Ricks, Eastern Illinois* LB 6’0 200 Sr. Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Justen Rivers, Eastern Kentucky* LB 5’11 232 Jr. Columbus, Ga.
Daniel Wentzel, Tennessee Tech# LB 5’10 195 Sr. Ellenwood, Ga.
Scott Cunningham, Tennessee State* DB 5’10 175 Sr. Orlando, Fla.
Deon Giddens, Tennessee State* DB 5’10 180 Sr. Nashville, Tenn.
Dimitri Patterson, Southeast Missouri# DB 6’0 195 Jr. Orlando, Fla.
Marco Tipton, Southeast Missouri# DB 5’9 170 Sr. St. Louis, Mo.
Demetrick Westbrook, Murray State# DB 6’2 212 Jr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Richie Rhodes, Jacksonville State P 6’1 195 Sr. Alexander City, Ala.
Honorable Mention: Stewart Childress, Sr., QB, Murray State; Charles Anthony, Jr., RB, Tennessee State; Dan Bieg, Jr., OL, Southeast Missouri; Lee Lawrence, Sr., OL, Tennessee-Martin; Burt Shurette, Sr., OL, Tennessee Tech; Deon Taylor, Sr., DL, Tennessee Tech; Mark Tibbs, Sr., DL, Jacksonville State; Darold Williams, Sr., DL, Samford; Ricky Farmer, Sr., LB, Southeast Missouri; Bobby Sanders, Sr., LB, Murray State; David McMahan, So., DB, Tennessee Tech; Mike Miller, Jr., DB, Southeast Missouri; Adam Smith, Sr., PK, Eastern Kentucky; Andre Raymond, Sr., RET, Eastern Illinois.
* - 1st team All-OVC in 2002
# - 2nd team All-OVC in 2002