MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Birmingham-Southern College junior running back Shawn Morris (pictured) and Centre College offensive tackle Ben Hume highlight the SCAC's eight selections to the 2011 D3football.com All-Region teams, the website announced this afternoon. Complete D3football.com Release
Both Morris and Hume were First Team All-South Region selections.
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., was the anchor of a Centre line that paved the way for the highest scoring offense in the league at 33.4 points per game. The Colonels' balanced attack rushed for 189.4 yards (third in the SCAC) and passed for 172.9 yards per game (third in the SCAC). A three-time First Team All-SCAC selection. Hume was named Third Team All-South Region in 2010. Head coach Andy Frye offers the highest praise for Hume, calling him the "best lineman we have had since I have coached at Centre."
Earning Second Team All-Region honors were junior placekicker Jordan Gay of Centre, senior linebacker Ben Robinson of Trinity University as well as junior punter Kyle Trella, also of Trinity. Gay was also recognized with a Third Team selection for his punting talents.
Gay, a 6-1, 216-pound junior punter/placekicker from Danville, Ky., who was also recognized with a Third Team All-South selection for his punting talents, finished second in the SCAC with an average of 41.3 yards per punt (currently eighth in the nation) and killed 14 of his 49 attempts inside the 20. As a placekicker, Gay has hit on 45 of 46 PAT attempts and 11 of 16 field goal attempts for 84 points, which is tops among SCAC kickers and second overall. He has a long field goal of 51 yards this season, and his 154 career points in just two seasons in Danville is already the ninth-most points by a kicker in league history. The 2010 SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, Gay was a three-time SCAC Special Teams Player-of-the-Week selection during the 2011 season.
Robinson, a 5-11, 193-point senior linebacker from Coppell, Tex., led the SCAC in tackles for loss this season, and was fourth in the league in tackles per game. The two-time SCAC Defensive Player of the Week had double-digit tackles four times in the past six weeks – including a season-best 14 tackles in Saturday's NCAA Playoff game against McMurry. His 15.0 tackles for loss are the most by a Tiger player since the 2005 season. Robinson has been selected to play with a group of Division III All-Stars in the Tazon de Estrellas in December, and was selected for the D3football.com Team-of-the- Week earlier this month. Robinson is a three-time All-SCAC honoree, who was also in the top 10 in the SCAC in passes defended this season.
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.
Rounding out the All-Region selections from the SCAC, junior receiver Jack Lartigue of Rhodes College and junior safety Andrew Shannon of Birmingham-Southern were both Third Team All-South selections.
Shannon, a 6-0, 213-pound junior from Trussville, Ala., was credited with 67 tackles (41 solo) during the regular season. He also had four interceptions, which tied for second in the SCAC, and he returned two of those for touchdowns. He was the SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Week in a Week 2 victory against Huntingdon (Ala.) College when he recorded a school-record 19 tackles (13 solo) with two tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble, and a pass break-up.
Lartigue, a 5-10, 170-pound junior from Southaven, Miss., tied for the league lead in receptions with 75 and posted a SCAC-high 942 yards receiving (104.7 yards per game) - which tied for the 12th most yards in a SCAC single-season. He also had nine receiving TDs, which tied for the most in the SCAC in 2011.
To view the entire 2011 D3football.com All-Region teams, click here.
