August 4, 2015

Eagles place nine on preseason all-conference teams

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman football landed nine players on the South Atlantic Conference’s preseason all-conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday morning.

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman football landed nine players on the South Atlantic Conference's preseason all-conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday morning.

The nine selections and five first team picks are second in the league behind preseason favorite Lenoir-Rhyne. Quarterback De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.), safety Jerry Miclisse (Homestead, Fla.), return specialist Lonnie Williams (Philadelphia, Pa.), longsnapper Dusty Nance (Lewisburg, Tenn.) and offensive lineman Tyler Scott (Ringgold, Ga.) all made the first team.

Carson-Newman's second team selections were wide receiver TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.), offensive lineman Dan Gallman (Naples, Fla.), running back Damian Baker (Columbia, Miss.) and cornerback Eien Jacob (Jeanerette, La.).

De'Andre Thomas was a first team All-SAC quarterback a year ago. He pushed his consecutive start streak to 23 as he started all 10 games under center as a junior. Thomas continued to showcase his capabilities in his junior season by rushing for 850 yards with 12 touchdowns and passing for 1,170 yards with nine scores.

Thomas' best performance came in the Eagles 35-33 win over Catawba (9/27). He earned both SAC and TSWA offensive player of the week honors after passing for 173 yards and a score while rushing for four more touchdowns and 104 yards. He passed for a season-high 208 yards against Mars Hill (10/4). Thomas came within a rushing touchdown against the Indians of tying the school record for TDs in a single game.

He had four, the school record is five, held by Buck Wakefield. Thomas also found the end zone multiple times on the ground against Lenoir-Rhyne (11/1) and MHU. He passed for multiple touchdowns against Edinboro (9/4), Brevard (9/20) and Tusculum (10/18). All his nine touchdown passes came in the season's first six weeks.

Jerry Miclisse was Carson-Newman's leading tackler in three games last year. The safety produced a career high 15 tackles against Brevard (9/20). That tally was the third best tally by a Carson-Newman defensive back in school history and the 20^th most among all players.

Miclisse led the team in breakups with seven. His 62 tackles were second on the team and he produced four tackles for loss to boot. He had eight tackles or more in three games and had two tackles for loss against Newberry.

Lonnie Williams earned all-America honors as a return specialist from the Beyond Sports Network. Williams led the nation in yards per kickoff return with 34.1 a touch and one was of ten players in the country to bring to kickoffs back for touchdowns.

Williams' 34.1 yards per return is the third highest single season mark in Carson-Newman school history behind Kendall James (39.7) and Ques Rumph (34.7). Williams was the fourth Carson-Newman player to return multiple kickoffs for scores in a single season. He set the Carson-Newman single game record for kickoff return yards against Brevard (9/20) – his first game returning kicks.

Williams set a school record for kickoff return yards with 215. His first career kickoff return went 100 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the game. The 100-yard kickoff return is the fourth in school history and the first since 1992. He also returned a kickoff 92 yards for a score against Newberry (11/8). Williams also caught three passes for 36 yards as a slot receiver.

Dusty Nance continued his exceptional performance as the Eagles' longsnapper. Carson-Newman has never had an extra point, punt or field goal blocked in his three seasons as the program's longsnapper. That's 172 extra points, 50 field goals and 98 punts without a block. He started all 10 games of his junior year as the program's long snapper.

Tyler Scott started all 10 games at right tackle, finishing the year with an average grade of 71.1 and 10 knockdowns. Graded out at 70 or above in eight of the Eagles 10 games and produced a knockdown in every game. He had two knockdowns against Tusculum (10/18) and a season-high grade of 75 against Mars Hill (10/4). He helped clear the way for Harlon Hill Trophy finalist Andy Hibbett to rush for 1391 yards and for Carson-Newman to rank in the top five in the country with 357.5 rushing yards per game.

TraShaun Ward was second on the team in all purpose yards with 915. He rushed for two, was Carson-Newman' second leading-receiver with 292, grabbed 68 in punt return yards and 553 in kickoff returns. Ward's best games catching the ball came in succession against Brevard, Catawba and Mars Hill. He caught three passes for 79 yards and a score against the Tornadoes. He looped in a quartet of receptions, including the game-sealing touchdown, for 59 yards against Catawba before tallying a career high 96 yards on three catches and a touchdown against Mars Hill.

Dan Gallman started all 10 games at left tackle for the Eagles with an average grade of 70.7 and 10 knockdowns. He has the highest single game grade ever recorded by a Carson-Newman offensive lineman on Mike Turner's 80-point scale. He scored a 79 in the mud against Tusculum (10/18). He had multiple knockdowns against both Wayne State (9/13) and the Pioneers

Damian Baker ranked third on the team in rushing yards in his junior season. He started games against Lenoir-Rhyne (11/1) and Wingate (11/15) and appeared in seven other contests. Baker tallied 515 yards on the ground on 93 carries.

He scored six touchdowns and averaged 5.5 yards a touch. Baker scored his first Carson-Newman touchdown in the Eagles' opener with Edinboro. However, it wasn't until the second half of the year that he broke out. He collected his first career 100-yard day with a 133-yard performance on homecoming against North Greenville to go along with his first career multi-touchdown day.

He scored three times against the Crusaders. Baker followed that up with a 179-yard performance against Lenoir-Rhyne (11/1) as the Eagles rally fell short against the #4 Bears.

Eien Jacob earned All-America honors following his sophomore season. He finished his junior season with 27 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups. Had his best game against Wayne State (9/13) with a six tackle performance. All six stops that game were solo tackles. He also produced six tackles against Catawba (9/27). Had a career high two tackles for loss against the Warriors.

Carson-Newman's all-conference selections will be on display during the Eagles opener Sept. 3 against the University of the Cumberlands (KY). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starting at 6 p.m. with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online with a free high definition stream at cneagles.com/live.