Baker grabs SAC Offensive Player of the Year; Eagles place league-leading 11 on all-conference teams
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman running back Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) became the 12th Eagle to earn South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and C-N placed a league-best 11 on the all-conference teams, the SAC office announced Wednesday morning.
VIDEO: Ken Sparks Interview
VIDEO: Damian Baker Interview
Baker, quarterback De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.), center Derek Evans (Alcoa, Tenn.), longsnapper Dusty Nance (Lewisburg, Tenn.) and Xavier McFadden (Rock Hill, S.C.) all were first team All-SAC picks.
Wide receiver TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.), Dan Gallman (Naples, Fla.), linebacker Sha'Heem Stupart (Taylors, S.C.), defensive end Phalen Booker (Waveland, Miss.) and kicker Carson Wise (Blacksburg, Va.) were all named to the second team. Ward earned two spots, both as a wide receiver and a return specialist.
Damian Baker finished the regular season ranked in the top 25 in the nation in five rushing categories. He closed out the regular season slate with 1,349 rushing yards to rank No. 9 in Division II, while his 122.6 rushing yards per game was good for No. 15 in the country. Baker piled up 7.2 yards per carry to rank No. 5 in the nation and his 17 rushing touchdowns are No. 12 in D-II.
The tailback averaged 9.8 points per game to finish at No. 20 in the nation to help the Eagles rank No. 11 in the country as a team with 41.8 points per outing.
Baker accounted for 132.4 all-purpose yards per game for the Eagles to fuel a team rushing attack that is currently No. 4 in the nation with 332 yards per game. He turned in six 100-yard rushing games this season, including 249 yards on the ground vs. Mars Hill on Sept. 26 – the seventh highest single game tally in Carson-Newman history. Baker was just three yards shy of his second 200-yard game this season vs. Tusculum in the season finale as he notched 197 rushing yards.
Baker has also factored prominently in the Carson-Newman record books in his senior season. He has a pair of four touchdown days this year, against Mars Hill and Newberry and is the only player since the turn of the century to score four rushing touchdowns twice in the same season.
With his 1,349 rushing yards, Baker has the ninth highest single-season total in Carson-Newman history and his 17 rushing touchdowns are tied for the seventh highest single-season total in school history.
On top of that his 108 points scored this year are tied for seventh all-time in school history.
Baker is the 12th Eagle to earn offensive player of the year honors from the league office. He is the first such honoree since Brandon Haywood in 2012. Baker is Carson-Newman's first running back to garner the accolade since Heath Hawkins in 1998 and the seventh overall.
De'Andre Thomas has captained a second straight first team All-South Atlantic Conference honor after becoming the second Carson-Newman quarterback with a 200-yard rushing performance. Thomas went for 203 yards in the regular season finale against Tusculum to go along with three scores.
Thomas has rushed for 592 yards and nine scores this season while completing 90-of-158 passes for 1,300 yards and three scores. He has the fewest interceptions of any starting quarterback in the country this season with just one interception.
Thomas' best day through the air came in the opener against the University of the Cumberlands when he passed for a career high 225 yards and a touchdown.
The senior from Milledgeville, Ga., ranks fourth all-time in Carson-Newman history with 43 rushing touchdowns. His 2,543 career rushing yards rank 15th all-time, while he is the Sparks-era record holder for completions (278). Pending a precipitous drop in completion percentage, Thomas should conclude his career as Carson-Newman's all-time leader in completion percentage (55.0 percent).
His nimble hands have guided Carson-Newman to score 60 points three times this season and roll up 600 yards of total offense three times.
Derek Evans has done something no other Carson-Newman offensive lineman has done since the C-N sports information department began tracking offensive linemen stats in 2012. Evans is the first C-N offensive lineman with a perfect gradeout on Mike Turner's 80-point scale. Evans has done that three times this season (Shorter, Newberry and North Greenville).
The senior center leads Carson-Newman in knockdowns with 14 this season and is second all-time with 40.
Evans has cleared the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in all three of his seasons as a starter for Carson-Newman. The Eagles rushed for 570 yards in the regular season finale – the fifth highest single-game tally in Carson-Newman football history – behind Evans blocking. Carson-Newman has cracked 60 points three times and 600 yards of total offense three times behind Evans road-grading capabilities.
Dusty Nance has gone back-to-back as a first team All-SAC long snapper. Nance has only one bad snap in his Carson-Newman career.
We don't have many stats for long snapper. So here's Nance showing he has what it takes and proposing to his now fiancé live on the Eagle Sports Network after the Eagles' win over Brevard.
Xavier McFadden earned first team All-SAC honors at safety. He was second on the team in tackles with 65 stops, including a team-best 43 solo tackles.
McFadden has made at least eight stops in a game four times this season and has gone over 10 tackles on three occasions.
McFadden made a career high 12 tackles in the Eagles' overtime win over Wingate.
The junior from Rock Hill, S.C. grabbed his only interception of the season in the Eagles' 48-45 heart-stopper over North Greenville. He also has a forced fumble this year.
TraShaun Ward garners all-conference accolades at both wide receiver and return specialist.
As a return specialist, Ward is Carson-Newman's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage and kickoff returns. Ward has 2,561 career kickoff return yards and 115 career kickoff returns.
His 619 kickoff return yards this season are third all-time for Carson-Newman behind his totals from 2013 and 2012.
Ward finally brought a kickoff return to the house against Wingate – his first career kick return for a score.
As a wide receiver, Ward has caught 37 passes for 663 yards and four scores this season, including his first career 100-yard performance against Limestone when he also snagged two touchdown passes.
Ward needs a catch and another 75 yards receiving to break into the top 10s for single season receiving yards and catches in Carson-Newman's history books.
Dan Gallman is second on the team in overall grade and knockdowns this season. Gallman has cleared the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in all three of his seasons as a starter for Carson-Newman. The Eagles rushed for 570 yards in the regular season finale – the fifth highest single-game tally in Carson-Newman football history – behind Gallman's blocking. Carson-Newman has cracked 60 points three times and 600 yards of total offense three times behind Gallman's road-grading capabilities.
Phalen Booker has asserted himself as a fine pass rusher as a junior college transfer. Booker is fifth in the league with 10.5 tackles for loss and second in the league with six sacks.
Booker turned in a pair of sacks in the Eagles' win over Wingate. He has a trio of games with multiple tackles for loss, beginning with a career high three against North Greenville. Booker also turned in two stops behind the line against Mars Hill and Wingate
Sha'Heem Stupart is Carson-Newman's leading tackler with 84 tackles this season. That total is the fifth highest in the league. Stupart has led C-N in tackles on five occasions this season and has produced a team-best four 10-tackle games.
Stupart's career high of 11 tackles happened three times (Catawba, Newberry and at then No. 21 Wingate).
He picked off a pass for the first time in his career against Shorter.
Carson Wise snags second team all-SAC honors in a year where he was named SAC Special Teams Player of the Week on three occasions. Wise is the first Carson-Newman player since fellow kicker Curt Duncan in 2012 to earn three SAC special teams player of the week accolades.
He does so after tying Duncan's school record for points in a game by a kicker with 17.
Wise drilled three field goals and converted all eight of his extra point attempts in the Eagles' 65-32 stomping of Tusculum Saturday.
Wise nailed a career long 42-yard field goal before the half let out Saturday and also hit from 25 and 30 yards on the day.
Wise has already inserted himself into C-N's record books this season. His 93 points this year are the third most in school history for a kicker. Curt Duncan set that mark in 2013 with 109. His 57 made PATs are fourth most all-time and his 12 made field goals are fifth.
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