Birmingham-Southern's Morris Heads D3football.com All-America Selections

Birmingham-Southern's Morris Heads D3football.com All-America Selections

SALEM, Va. - Birmingham-Southern College junior running back Shawn Morris was selected as a D3football.com First Team All-American in an announcement made at halftime of Friday evening's 2011 NCAA Division III National Championship football game.

Centre College senior offensive lineman Ben Hume was named to the Third Team and Trinity University junior punter Kyle Trella was recognized as Honorable Mention. Complete Release

Morris, a 5-8, 192-pound junior running back from Pensacola, Fla., had one of the most prolific seasons by a SCAC running back in league history. In just nine games, Morris finished with 1,449 yards rushing – the third most in the 50-year history of the conference – and 17 touchdowns in leading the Panthers to a 7-2 record, the most wins for the program since reinstating football in 2007. A two-time selection to the D3football.com Team-of-the-Week, he also had a team-high 17 receptions for 131 yards. Morris had a record-setting game in Birmingham-Southern's season-finale against Millsaps, rushing for a program- and league-record 332 yards in the 35-21 win. The performance marks just the third 300+ yard rushing game by a SCAC back in league history and shatters the former single-game mark of 305 posted by Jeremy Boyce of Trinity in a 2001 contest against Sewanee.

Hume, a 6-4, 280-pound senior offensive tackle from Lexington, Ky., helped lead Centre to a 9-2 overall record including a 5-1 mark in conference play and a second-place finish and the school's first-ever bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, where they lost to eventual Stagg Bowl participant Mount Union in the second round. Hume anchored a Colonel offensive line that helped Centre lead the league in scoring offense (33.4 points/game) and rank in the top three in total offense (second - 362.3 yards/game), rushing offense (third - 189.4 yards/game) and passing offense (third - 172.9 yards/game.). Additionally, Hume helped pave the way for the Centre running game to tally over 1,700 yards and 24 touchdowns. Hume was named to the 2011 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-America team earlier this week.

Trella, a 5-11, 175-pound junior from Chandler, Ariz., led the SCAC and was second in the nation in punting, averaging 42.6 yards per attempt. He was a First Team All-SCAC and All-South Region selection as a freshman in 2009 when he was named the SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year. He was a Second Team All-SCAC honoree in both 2010 and 2011. Trella was a four-time SCAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Week 2, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11) this past season.

Happy Holidays from the SCAC!
December 25, 2011 Happy Holidays from the SCAC!