WACO, TEX. — Mount Union wide receiver Pierre Garcon and Wesley defensive back Mario Harris headline the 2006 AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team announced today by the American Football Coaches Association.

The AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team is made up of players from NCAA Division III institutions.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all four 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 Pierre Garcon caught 59 passes for 1,096 yards and 15 for touchdowns, for the Purple Raiders this season. Garcon averaged nearly 20 yards a reception and was voted the receiver of the year in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Joining Garcon in this year’s AFCA All-America receiving corps are receiver Chris Barnette of Guilford and tight end Michael Allan of Whitworth.

Barnette caught 94 passes for 900 yards and nine touchdowns for the Quakers. Allan, a returnee from the 2005 AFCA All-America team was the leading tight end receiver in all of Division III this season with 53 catches for 1,100 yards and nine touchdowns.

Quarterbacking this year’s AFCA All-America Team is Occidental’s Andy Collins.

A threat to beat you with his legs or his arm, Collins guided the Tigers to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and a berth in the Division III playoffs. He completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,189 yards and rushed for 349 yards this season.

Joining Collins in the backfield are runningbacks Tom Arcidiacono of Union (N.Y.) and Phil Porta of Bethel (Minn.).

Arcidiacono finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in rushing and No. 5 in scoring in Division III. He ran for 4,919 yards in his career, the 15th-best total in Division III history. Porta capped his stellar career at Bethel by becoming the all-time leading rusher in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history with 5,270 career rushing yards.

The offensive linemen on this year’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team are Washington & Jefferson’s Chris Teter, Sprinfield’s Adam Feit, Hardin-Simmons’ Josh Knox, Willamette’s Brandon Bennett and Wooster’s Rick Drushal.

Teter anchored an offensive line that helped the Presidents lead the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 12 statistical categories, including total offense, scoring and rushing offense. Feit was the key blocker for an offensive line that helped the Pride lead Division III in rushing with an average of 387.7 yards per game this season. Knox centered an offensive line that cleared the way for the Cowboys to average nearly 450 yards in total offense per game. Bennett opened holes for a Willamette ground game that averaged 173 yards per game. Drushal was a key component of an offense that averaged 337 yards per game in 2006.

THE DEFENSE
The defense is led by Wesley defensive back Mario Harris. The second returnee from the 2005 AFCA All-America Team, Harris headlines a Wesley secondary that propelled the Wolverines deep into the Division III playoffs this year. Harris posted two interceptions and 13 pass break-ups this year.

Harris is joined in the secondary by Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Steve Teeples, King’s’ (Pa.) Craig Haywood and Salisbury’s Byron Westbrook.

Teeples ended the season with 7 interceptions, and also blocked two kicks for the Eagles this season. Haywood set a school record with 12 interceptions this year and finished with 19 picks for his career. Westbrook finished the year with 33 tackles, five interceptions and five pass break-ups.

Wheaton’s Andy Studebaker, Alfred’s Don Miller, Cortland State’s Adam Haas and Ohio Northern’s Jason Trusnik man the defensive front on this year’s All-America Team.

Studebaker was the Defensive Player of the Year in the CCIW, finishing the season with 24.5 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks and 19 quarterback pressures. Miller finished the season with 57 tackles and four sacks for the Saxons. Haas posted 71 tackles and 15.5 TFLs for the Red Dragons. Trusnik led the Ohio Athletic Conference in tackles for loss (19.5) and sacks (11).

Thomas More’s Mark Carlisle, Mount St. Joseph’s Matt Lawless and Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Jerrell Freeman are the linebackers on this year’s AFCA All-America Team.

Carlisle was named the Most Valuable Player in the President’s Athletic Conference this year. Lawless earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in the Heartland Conference. Freeman was the leading tackler on a Crusader defense that surrendered only 12.8 points per game this year during the regular season.

THE SPECIALISTS
Johns Hopkins’ Ben Scott averaged 41.6 yards per punt for the Blue Jays. St. Norbert’s Bob Forstrom converted on 56 PAT attempts for the Green Knights in 2006. Christopher Newport’s Rob Rodriguez has blocked nine kicks over the last two seasons and ended the regular season in 2006 with nine career interceptions.

*-2005 AFCA All-American

South of the Border: The 20 seniors on this year’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team earned invitations to play on the AFCA’s Division III all-star team that met a team of Mexican college all-stars in the Aztec Bowl on December 16 in Aguascalientes.
Eighteen of those players will be on the field in Saturday’s game.

Team Background: The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945.

The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945.

From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams, University Division and College Division, were selected.

In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — Division I-A and Division I-AA.

In 1996 the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III respectively. In 2006 AFCA Division II was split into Division II and NAIA teams.

From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997 a return specialist was added. That position was changed to an all-purpose player in 2006, giving us the current 25-player team.

The Award: Members of the AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team receive a plaque commemorating their selection to the team.

Top Teams: The leaders are Wittenberg and Augustana (Ill.), which have both been represented a total of 17 times by 16 players chosen since 1972. The Tigers and Vikings are followed by Mount Union (16 appearances/15 players), Wisconsin-La Crosse (15/15), Central (Iowa) (14/13), Emory & Henry (12/12), Washington & Jefferson (13/12), Widener (13/10), Ithaca (12/12), Springfield (Mass.) (12/11), Mississippi College (12/11), Montclair State (12/10), Frostburg State (11/10), Linfield (11/10), St. John’s (Minn.) (10/10), Westminster (Pa.) (10/10) and Millsaps (10/7).

Consecutive Years: Emory & Henry had at least one player chosen for 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 20 seniors and 5 juniors.

First Time Schools: There are no first-time schools on this year’s AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team.

Back-to-Back: Mario Harris and Michael Allan earned AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America honors for the second consecutive season in 2006.