FOOTBALL
UCA’s Woodard league’s defensive player of year
Central Arkansas’ Jonathan Woodard led the Southland Conference in sacks and tackles for loss, and now the junior defensive end is collecting postseason honors.
Woodard shook off an early season hamstring injury to record 10 sacks and 18 1/2 tackles for loss and was named Tuesday as the Southland Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. He also was named a first-team All-Southland selection for the third time.
Woodard was named earlier this week as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given every year to the top defensive player in the FCS.
“He was a dominant player for us,” UCA Coach Steve Campbell said in a news release. “From the quarter point [of the season] on, he really made his presence felt.”
UCA senior offensive tackle Cole Caruthers was named as the league’s offensive lineman of the year and to the All-Southland first-team offense after being named to the second team in 2012 and 2013.
Woodard and Caruthers were joined on the first team by wide receiver Dezmin Lewis and kick returner Jatavious Wilson. Lewis finished his career second on UCA’s career lists for receptions (197) and third in receiving yards (2,618) and receiving touchdowns (24). He caught 64 passes for 945 yards and 9 touchdowns this season and has been invited to the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game.
Offensive lineman C.J. Simon was a second-team pick, while the Bears had seven honorable mention selections.
Former UCA Coach Clint Conque was named coach of the year after guiding Stephen F. Austin to an 8-4 record and a spot in the FCS playoffs. Stephen F. Austin quarterback Zach Conque, Clint Conque’s son and a Little Rock Catholic graduate, was named as the league’s newcomer of the year.