Flanders & Taylor Earn AFCA Honors
12/7/2011 1:17:00 PM | Football
Sam Houston State running back Tim Flanders and safety Darnell Taylor have been named as two of the 22 players on the 2011 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' All-America Team announced today by the American Football Coaches Association.
The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best - the coaches themselves.
Flanders, a sophomore from Midwest City, Oklahoma, was the Southland Conference "Player of the Year" while Darnell Taylor from Mesquite, Texas, was the league's "Defensive Player of the Year." Both were first team all-Southland selections.
Flanders and Taylor paired to lead Sam Houston to the only 11-0 regular season record in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The Bearkats rolled 7-0 through league action, out-scoring their opponents 309 to 67 as Sam Houston earned its fourth Southland Conference championship.
Sam Houston ended the regular season ranked No. 1 in the Sports Network FCS national poll and received the No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Division I Football Playoffs.
Flanders ranks 21st in the nation and first in the Southland in rushing this season with 103 yards per game. In his two years as a Bearkat he already has set eight Sam Houston school records and two Southland Conference marks including most points (138) and most touchdowns (23) in one season.
The management information systems major has rushed for 1,235 yards and 21 touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 404 yards and two more scores.
Taylor is the leading tackler for a Bearkat defense that ranks No. 1 in the nation in rushing defense, total defense, scoring defense and pass efficiency defense and stands No. 2 in turnover margin.
The kinesiology major has totaled 100 tackles (69 solo, 31 assists) in 12 games including eight tackles for losses and three quarterback sacks.
Sam Houston State will play host to No. 7 ranked Montana State in the NCAA Division I Football quarterfinals Saturday at 11 a.m. at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
2011 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' All-America Team
Offense
|
Pos |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Cl. |
School |
|
|
WR |
Ryan Spadola |
6-3 |
205 |
Jr. |
Lehigh |
|
|
WR |
Brian Quick |
6-5 |
220 |
Sr. |
Appalachian St. |
|
|
WR |
Nicholas Edwards |
6-3 |
200 |
Jr. |
Eastern Washington |
|
|
OL |
Gino Gradkowski |
6-4 |
295 |
Sr. |
Delaware |
|
|
OL |
Brett Moore |
6-3 |
255 |
Sr. |
Georgia Southern |
|
|
C |
Bryan Boemer |
6-2 |
317 |
Sr. |
Southern Illinois |
|
|
OL |
Paul Cornick |
6-6 |
309 |
Sr. |
North Dakota St. |
|
|
OL |
J.C. Oram |
6-4 |
300 |
Sr. |
Weber St. |
|
|
QB |
Bo Levi Mitchell |
6-2 |
210 |
Sr. |
Eastern Washington |
|
|
RB |
Shakir Bell |
5-8 |
185 |
So. |
Indiana St. |
|
|
RB |
Tim Flanders |
5-9 |
210 |
So. |
Sam Houston St. |
Defense
|
DL |
Ronnie Cameron |
6-2 |
295 |
Sr. |
Old Dominion |
|
|
DL |
Andrew Schaetzke |
6-4 |
245 |
Sr. |
Georgetown |
|
|
DL |
Ben Boothby |
6-0 |
280 |
Sr. |
Northern Iowa |
|
|
DL |
Zack Nash |
6-4 |
260 |
Sr. |
Sacramento St. |
|
|
LB |
Tyler Holmes |
6-0 |
224 |
Sr. |
Massachusetts |
|
|
LB |
Kadarron Anderson |
6-1 |
234 |
Sr. |
Furman |
|
|
LB |
Caleb McSurdy |
6-1 |
242 |
Sr. |
Montana |
|
|
DB |
Josh Norman |
6-2 |
190 |
Sr. |
Coastal Carolina |
|
|
DB |
Ryan Steed |
5-11 |
188 |
Sr. |
Furman |
|
|
DB |
6-0 |
195 |
Jr. |
Sam Houston St. |
||
|
DB |
Trumaine Johnson |
6-3 |
210 |
Sr. |
Montana |
