The University of Central Arkansas football team grabbed some individual honors Tuesday to go along with its Southland Conference championship and FCS playoff berth.
UCA players were named for five of the seven Southland individual awards given and had a league-high 20 players named to the All-Southland Conference teams, including 10 first-team selections.
Senior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was named the conference's player of the year, and senior linebacker/safety George Odum was the defensive player of the year. Junior Austin Cook was tabbed as the offensive lineman of the year, while redshirt freshman running back Kierre Crossley was the freshman of the year.
Fourth-year Coach Steve Campbell was named the Southland Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to a 10-1 record, including 9-0 in Southland play, and a No. 3 ranking in both national Football Championship Subdivision polls. The Bears earned the No. 4 overall seed in the FCS playoffs and will face either Central Connecticut State or New Hampshire in a second-round game Dec. 2 at Estes Stadium in Conway.
Hildebrand finished the regular season as the most efficient passer in the nation with a 181.3 rating and was 15th in the nation in passing yards (2,768). Hildebrand, who threw 27 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions this season, is now second in career passing yards at UCA, as well as pass completions (560), pass attempts (887) and total offense (7,988 yards).
Odum, the Bears' leading tackler in each of the past two seasons, has moved into fourth place in career tackles (338) at UCA, including 30 tackles for loss and 6 1/2 sacks. Odum's 106 tackles this season were the second most in the conference.
Crossley led the Bears in rushing with 770 yards on 146 carries with 4 touchdowns, while also catching 11 passes for 128 yards. Cook, a pre-med major and All-Southland academic selection, helped the Bears' offense average 37.6 points and 468.2 yards per game this season -- both second in the conference.
The Bears' first-team all-Southland selections included Hildebrand, Cook, Odum, senior wide receiver Brandon Cox, senior offensive linemen Gilberto Garcia and Cade Camp, senior defensive ends Chris Chambers and Chris Terrell, senior defensive tackle Eric Jackson, and senior cornerback Tremon Smith.
Sophomore running back Carlos Blackman and sophomore safety Juan Jackson were both second-team selections, and another eight UCA players were honorable mentions.
All-Southland Conference football teams
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
POS.;CL.;NAME;SCHOOL
QB;Sr.;Hayden Hildebrand;Central Arkansas
RB;Sr.;Corey Avery;Sam Houston State
RB;Jr.;David Hamm;McNeese State
TE/HB;So.;Lawayne Ross;McNeese State
WR;Sr.;Brandon Cox;Central Arkansas
WR;Jr.;Davion Davis;Sam Houston State
WR;So.;Nathan Stewart;Sam Houston State
OL;Jr.;John Cook;Central Arkansas
OL;Sr.;Gilberto Garcia;Central Arkansas
OL;Sr.;Cade Camp;Central Arkansas
OL;Jr.;Mitchell Watanabe;Sam Houston State
OL;Jr.;Maea Teuhema;SE Louisiana
AP;Jr.;Davion Davis;Sam Houston State
PK;Jr.;Gunnar Raborn;McNeese State
P;Gr.;Joe Zema;Incarnate Word
DEFENSE
POS.;CL.;NAME;SCHOOL
DL;Sr.;Chris Chambers;Central Arkansas
DL;So.;Chris Terrell;Central Arkansas
DL;Sr.;Eric Jackson;Central Arkansas
DL;Sr.;P.J. Hall;Sam Houston State
LB;Sr.;Garrett Dolan;Houston Baptist
LB;Sr.;Sione Teuhema;SE Louisiana
LB;Sr.;Justin Johnson;Sam Houston State
DB;Sr.;Tremon Smith;Central Arkansas
DB;Sr.;George Odum;Central Arkansas
DB;Sr.;Max Lyons;SE Louisiana
DB;Sr.;Dominique Hill;McNeese State
DB;Jr.;Raphael Lewis;Houston Baptist
KR;So.;Desmond Hite;Incarnate Word
PR;Jr.;Davion Davis;Sam Houston State
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
POS.;CL.;NAME;SCHOOL
QB;Sr.;Jeremiah Briscoe;Sam Houston State
RB;So.;Carlos Blackman;Central Arkansas
RB;So.;Kyran Irvin;Nicholls State
TE/HB;Sr.;Ragan Henderson;Sam Houston State
WR;Sr.;Yedidiah Louis;Sam Houston State
WR;Jr.;Damion Jeanpiere;Nicholls State
WR;So.;Tamrick Pace;Stephen F. Austin
OL;Jr.;Ryan Hanley;Nicholls State
OL;Jr.;Chris Zirkle;NW (La.) State
OL;Jr.;Chandler Arceneaux;Nicholls State
OL;Gr.;Andy Dodd;McNeese State
OL;So.;Eric David;Sam Houston State
AP;So.;Desmond Hite;Incarnate Word
PK;Jr.;Lorran Fonseca;Nicholls State
P;Sr.;Christian Guzman;Houston Baptist
DEFENSE
POS.;CL.;NAME;SCHOOL
DL;So.;Sully Laiche;Nicholls State
DL;Sr.;John Franklin;Stephen F. Austin
DL;Jr.;Kenny Dotson;Nicholls State
DL;Jr.;Chris Stewart;Sam Houston State
LB;Sr.;Sam Denmark;Abilene Christian
LB;Sr.;Ashari Goins;McNeese State
LB;So.;Allen Pittman;Nicholls State
DB;So.;Juan Jackson;Central Arkansas
DB;Jr.;Nate Jones;Lamar
DB;So.;Alize Ward;Stephen F. Austin
DB;Jr.;Corey Abraham;Nicholls State
DB;Jr.;Ahmani Martin;Nicholls State
KR;So.;Juwan Petit-Frere;SE Louisiana
PR;Sr.;Max Lyons;SE Louisiana
Sports on 11/22/2017