Courtesy: AFCA http://www.afca.com/ Mount Union's Nate Kmic could become the first runningback in NCAA history to rush for 8,000 yards.
Mount Union runningback Nate Kmic and Wisconsin-Whitewater linebacker Jace Rindahl headline the 2008 AFCA Division III 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.
THE OFFENSE Mount Union’s Nate Kmic will end his career this weekend as college football’s all-time leading rusher. Kmic’s 310-yard effort in the Purple Raiders’ Division III semifinal win on Saturday vaulted him into the No. 1 spot with 7,986 yards and will have a chance to become the first back in college football history to surpass the 8,000-yard mark when Mount Union meets Wisconsin-Whitewater in this weekend’s Stagg Bowl.
Joining Kmic in the backfield are runningback Tunde Ogun of Christopher Newport and quarterback Bobby Swallow of Washington & Jefferson. Ogun rushed for 179 yards per game and 16 touchdowns for the Captains this season to finish as the No. 3 rusher in Division III. Swallow is one of two returnees on this year’s team. He directed the Presidents to an 11-2 record and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. Swallow threw for more than 3,700 yards and 37 touchdowns for the Presidents in 2008.
Hartwick’s Jack Phelen, Hardin-Simmons’ Mychal Carrillo and Ithaca’s Brian Weverbergh make up the receiving corps of this year’s AFCA Division III All-America Team. Phelen led Division III in receiving this season, averaging 153.3 yards per game and catching 26 touchdown passes for the Hawks. Carrillo caught 87 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Cowboys. Weverbergh was one of the top tight ends in Division III football this season, catching 50 passes for 682 yards and five touchdowns for the Bombers.
The offensive linemen on this year’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team are Cortland State’s Sean James, Augustana’s (Ill.) Blaine Westemeyer, St. Thomas’ (Minn.) Josh Ostrue, Williams’ John Szawlowski and Kenyon’s Yancy Edwards. James anchored an offensive line that helped the Red Dragons average 363 yards per game in total offense this season. Westemeyer was the top offensive lineman for a Viking offense that averaged 370.3 yards per game in total offense. Ostrue helped pave the way for a St. Thomas attack that averaged 200 yards rushing per game. Szawlowski anchored an Ephs offensive line that cleared the way for an offensive attack that averaged 370 yards per game. Edwards was the lead blocker for a Kenyon offense that rushed for more than 2,000 yards this season.
THE DEFENSE The defense is led by Wisconsin-Whitewater linebacker Jace Rindahl. Rindahl is the key man in the middle for a young Warhawk defense that is holding opponents to an average of 12.2 points per game. Joining Rindahl at linebacker are Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Eric Henri, North Central’s Matt Wenger and Thomas More’s Brad Steinmetz. Henri set a UMHB record with five fumble recoveries this season and returned two of those for touchdowns. He finished the season with 97 tackles. Wenger was the CCIW Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 137 tackles. Steinmetz finished the year with 92 tackles, including a team-high 19 for a loss.
Salisbury’s Jarrell Chandler, Wabash’s Jared Lange and California Lutheran’s Jacob Calderon man the defensive front on this year’s All-America Team. Chandler finished the season with 21.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks for the Sea Gulls to rank among the national leaders in both categories. Lange led the North Coast Conference in tackles for loss per game as he recorded 16 in 12 games for the Little Giants. The SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year, Calderon led Division III in sacks with 12 in nine games and led the Kingsmen in tackles with 67.
Wheaton’s Peter Ittersagen, Carleton’s Drew Ziller, Case Western’s Bobby Bott and John Carroll’s Carlos Melaragno are the defensive backs on this year’s AFCA All-America Team. Ittersagen is the second returnee on this year’s All-America team and was a first team All-CCIW selection at defensive back and return specialist. Ziller led defensive backs at all levels with an average 7.0 solo tackles per game. Bott intercepted seven passes and returned two for touchdowns in 2008. Melaragno was voted the Outstanding Defensive back in the OAC this season.
THE SPECIALISTS Ferrum’s T.J. Grzesikowski averaged a Division III-leading 43.8 yards per punt for the Panthers. Linfield’s Scott Birkhofer led the Wildcats in scoring in 2008 with 57 points. Wesley’s Larry Beavers averaged 160 all-purpose yards per game this season and set NCAA Division III career records for kickoff return touchdowns (10) and all return touchdowns (13).
2008 AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team
Offense
Pos.
Name
Ht.
Wt.
Cl.
School
Coach
Hometown (High School)
WR
Mychal Carrillo
5-8
188
Sr.
Hardin-Simmons
Jimmie Keeling
Sweetwater, Texas (Sweetwater)
WR
Jack Phelen
5-11
180
Sr.
Hartwick
Mark Carr
Slingerlands, N.Y. (Guilderland)
TE
Brian Weverbergh
6-1
230
Sr.
Ithaca
Mike Welch
Westport, Conn. (Staples)
OL
Sean James
6-3
305
Sr.
Cortland St.
Dan MacNeill
Pelham, N.Y. (Pelham Memorial)
OL
Blaine Westemeyer
6-5
280
Jr.
Augustana (Ill.)
Jim Barnes
Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley NW)
OL
Josh Ostrue
6-4
285
Jr.
St. Thomas (Minn.)
Glenn Caruso
South St. Paul, Minn. (South St. Paul)
OL
John Szawlowski
6-2
270
Sr.
Williams
Mike Whalen
Hatfield, Mass. (Northampton)
OL
Yancy Edwards
6-2
295
Sr.
Kenyon
Ted Stanley
Wesley Chapel, Fla. (Charter School [Del.])
QB
Bobby Swallow*
6-2
210
Sr.
Wash. & Jeff.
Mike Sirianni
Salem, Ohio (West Branch)
RB
Nate Kmic
5-9
193
Sr.
Mount Union
Larry Kehres
Delta, Ohio (Delta)
RB
Tunde Ogun
6-0
218
Jr.
Christopher Newport
Matt Kelchner
Richmond, Va. (Douglas Freeman)
Defense
Pos.
Name
Ht.
Wt.
Cl.
School
Coach
Hometown (High School)
DL
Jarrell Chandler
6-3
240
Sr.
Salisbury
Sherman Wood
Salisbury, Md. (Wicomico)
DL
Jared Lange
6-1
238
Sr.
Wabash
Erik Raeburn
Terre Haute, Ind. (North)
DL
Jacob Calderon
6-0
235
Sr.
Calif. Lutheran
Ben McEnroe
Thousand Oaks, Calif. (South Hills)
LB
Jace Rindahl
6-3
230
Sr.
Wis.-Whitewater
Lance Leipold
Cambridge, Wis. (Cambridge)
LB
Eric Henri
6-1
220
Sr.
UMHB
Pete Fredenburg
Lake Dallas, Texas (Lake Dallas)
LB
Matt Wenger
5-11
220
Jr.
North Central
John Thorne
Davis, Ill. (Dakota)
LB
Brad Steinmetz
6-0
224
Jr.
Thomas More
Jim Hilvert
West Harrison, Ind. (East Central)
DB
Pete Ittersagen*
5-10
190
Sr.
Wheaton
Mike Swider
Wheaton, Ill. (North)
DB
Drew Ziller
6-0
203
Sr.
Carleton
Kurt Ramler
Byron, Minn. (Rochester Lourdes)
DB
Bobby Bott
6-1
190
Jr.
Case Western
Greg Debeljak
Grafton, Ohio (Midview)
DB
Carlo Melaragno
5-9
190
Sr.
John Carroll
Regis Scafe
Highland Heights, Ohio (NDCL)
Specialists
Pos.
Name
Ht.
Wt.
Cl.
School
Coach
Hometown (High School)
P
T.J. Grzesikowski
6-4
293
So.
Ferrum
Dave Davis
Seminole, Fla. (Seminole)
PK
Scott Birkhofer
6-2
185
Sr.
Linfield
Joe Smith
Boring, Ore. (Portland Christian)
AP
Larry Beavers
5-11
178
Sr.
Wesley
Mike Drass
Annapolis, Md. (Annapolis)
*-2007 AFCA All-American
Top Teams: The leaders are Mount Union and Augustana (Ill.), which have been represented 18 times by 17 players chosen since 1972. The Purple Raiders and Vikings are followed by Wittenberg (17/16), Washington & Jefferson (15/13), Wisconsin-La Crosse (15/15), Central (Iowa) (14/13), Ithaca (13/13), Mississippi College (13/12), Widener (13/10), Emory & Henry (12/12), Linfield (12/11), Springfield (Mass.) (12/11), Montclair State (12/10), Frostburg State (11/10), Wheaton (11/10), St. John’s (Minn.) (10/10), Westminster (Pa.) (10/10), Wisconsin-Whitewater (10/8) and Millsaps (10/7).
Consecutive Years: Mount Union has had a player chosen every year since 2000 to surpass Emory & Henry’s previous record of eight straight seasons from 1985-1992. Mount Union had one player chosen for six consecutive seasons from 1993-1998. Augustana (Ill.) had a player selected for six consecutive seasons from 2000-2005.
Repeat After Me: Five players have earned AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team honors three times. They are: DB Tom Deery, Widener, 1979-80-81, RB Scott Reppert, Lawrence 1980-81-82; RB Joe Dudek, Plymouth State 1983-84-85; DL Sean Brewer, Millsaps 1990-91-92 and P Jeff Shea, California Lutheran 1995-96-97.
Class Distinction: This year’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team is made up of 18 seniors, 6 juniors and 1 sophomore.
First Time Schools: There are no first time schools on the AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team this year.
Back-to-Back: Brandon Bennett, Bobby Swallow and Pete Ittersagen earned AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America honors for the second consecutive season in 2008.
One Player, Two Schools: Punter Mark Bounds is the only player to earn Coaches’ All-America honors at two different schools. He was named to the AFCA College Division I team in 1990 while playing for West Texas A&M. He transferred to Texas Tech after West Texas dropped football and earned I-A All-America honors as a Red Raider in 1991.
Courtesy: AFCA
