Kats Hauling In All-America Honors
12/15/2016 2:06:00 PM | Football
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – After a 12-1 season and holding the No. 1 ranking in the nation for the final six weeks of the regular season, the Sam Houston State Bearkats are raking in the postseason awards with three players having been named to All-America teams.
Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe earned first team All-America honors from the Associated Press last week and recently added a first team nod from the FCS ADA (Athletic Directors Association) and AFCA (American Football Coaches Assocation). He has also been named an all-America choice from STATS FCS with first or second team distinction pending the final voting results of the Walter Payton Award which will be announced on January 6.
Additionally, defensive end P.J. Hall has also earned first team All-America honors from the AP and STATS FCS, and a second team nod from the AFCA. Senior offensive lineman Bridge Blount was also selected as a third team all-American by STATS FCS.
The Bearkats, along with North Dakota State, were the only teams to land multiple players on the AP First Team. It is the second straight season Sam has had a player on the AP First Team and third straight year the Kats have had at least one AP All-American.
Briscoe is the third Sam Houston quarterback to earn AP All-American honors, and the first to land on the first team. The 6-3 junior set a new FCS single-season record with 57 touchdown passes in 2016, completing nearly 63 percent of his passes and throwing scores to 13 different receivers this year.
His 4,602 yards passing set a new Sam Houston school record, surpassing Dustin Long's previous school high set in 2004. Eight times Briscoe threw for five or more touchdowns, including a pair of seven-touchdown games, setting new a new school record in that category as well.
Those numbers helped him claim Southland Conference Player of the Year honors at the conclusion of the regular season and he is one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award.
Meanwhile, Hall earned AP All-America honors for the second straight year after being a third team selection a year ago. He was named the Southland Conference's Player of the Year and finished the season with 56 tackles (35 solo) and 13 sacks for the season. He also finished with 24.5 tackles for loss and will enter his senior season with 67.5 for his career, which is already a school record.
With those totals, Hall claimed the Southland's Defensive Player of the Year Award and will join Briscoe in Frisco on Jan. 6 as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award (top defensive player).
Meanwhile, Blount, a Huntsville native, made a successful transition from guard to center as a senior and has been the trigger man for an offensive line that has paved the way for the nation's top offense. He was named the Southland Conference's Offensive Lineman of the Year, giving the Kats their second straighthonor for top offensive lineman after Donald Jackson III received it in 2015.
He has started all 13 games at center this season after being named honorable mention all-SLC at guard each of the last two years. Behind him the Kats have averaged 49.5 points and 547.3 yards per game in 2016.
