• Complete 2017 Walter Camp FCS All-American Team
Four Ohio Valley Conference football players have been named to the Walter Camp FCS All-American Team.
All four selections were from Jacksonville State, the only school to have four selections on the team that includes just 26 total selections. The picks were senior offensive linemen
Justin Lea and
Tyler Scozzaro, senior defensive lineman
Darius Jackson and sophomore defensive back
Marlon Bridges.
Lea earned his sixth All-American honor of the year (AP, Phil Steele, STATS, AFCA, HERO Sports) after helping Jacksonville State to its fourth-straight OVC Championship. The senior was named a first-team All-OVC selection for the third-straight season and started all 51 games of his career, establishing a new OVC career record for consecutive starts. He blocked for an offense that ranked 14th nationally in rushing offense (228.0 yards/game) and included OVC Offensive Player of the Year Roc Thomas (1,065 rushing yards) and quarterback Bryant Horn (734 rushing yards). During the regular season JSU ranked 12th nationally in third down conversion percentage (45.4%).
Scozzaro took over starting center duties this year for four-time defending OVC Champion Jacksonville State and earned first-team All-OVC honors. He blocked for an offense that ranked 14th nationally in rushing offense (228.0 yards/game) and included OVC Offensive Player of the Year Roc Thomas (991 yards) and quarterback Bryant Horn (709 rushing yards). His team also ranked 12th nationally in third down conversion percentage (45.4%).
Jackson, one of three finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, earned his sixth first-team All-American honor of the 2017 campaign (Associated Press, Phil Steele, STATS, AFCA, HERO Sports) and was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season. During the regular season, he ranked fourth nationally in tackles-for-loss (1.7/game), 19th in forced fumbles/game (0.27) and 47th in sacks (0.64). Overall the senior tallied 51 tackles, 19.0 tackles-for-loss, 7.0 sacks, 19 quarterback hurries, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumbles recoveries in 11 regular season games (he added four tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss during JSU's playoff game). When including his playoff numbers, his 20.5 TFL set a new JSU single-season record and pushed his school career record to 60.5. He had at least one TFL in 11 of 12 games and a sack in six different contests. He was the leader for the OVC champion Gamecocks team that ranked second nationally in total defense (230.5 yards/game) during the regular season.
Bridges, who earned his fifth All-American honor of the year (Phil Steele, AP, STATS, HERO Sports), was the top defensive back on OVC champion Jacksonville State. He was part of a unit that ranked second nationally in total defense (230.5 yards/game), second in rushing defense (63.1 yards/game), fifth in pass efficiency defense (100.94), sixth in third down conversion defense (28.9%), seventh in scoring defense (14.8 points/game) and 14th in pass defense (167.5 yards/game) duirng the regular season. He was second on the JSU team with 79 tackles and added 6.0 tackles-for-loss, three interception, five pass breakups, one quarterback hurry and blocked a kick. Bridges had a season-high nine tackles in three-straight games in October.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information.
OVC Players on 2017 Walter Camp FCS All-American Team
OL - Justin Lea, Jacksonville State
C - Tyler Scozzaro, Jacksonville State
DL - Darius Jackson, Jacksonville State
DB - Marlon Bridges, Jacksonville State