Mike Person was a happy guy even before landing AFCA All-America honors Tuesday.
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Person, Cunningham Land All-America Honors
12/8/2010 7:32:13 AM | Football
Pair of Bobcat standouts get post-season honors season rolling on Tuesday
Mike Person's 2010 season may have ended sooner than he hoped, but his senior campaign received an exclamation mark Tuesday when the American Football Coaches Association named the Montana State senior an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America, the AFCA announced today.
The 6-5, 295 Glendive product joins Bobcat kicker Jason Cunningham as Montana State's two representatives on the 25-player AFCA FCS All-America team, chosen by a panel of coaches throughout the Football Championship Subdivision. Cunningham and Person are two of five Big Sky Conference representatives on the team.
Person helped lead Montana State to the program's first Big Sky Championship since 2005, and played an enormous role in binding together an offensive line besieged with injuries throughout the season. Person didn't allow a sack in 2010, and helped pace an MSU offense that led the Big Sky in passing yards, total offense, and scoring offense.
Cunningham, a 6-1, 175 lb kicker from Amarillo, Tex., posted a historic junior season. He set MSU's career and single-season field goal records, finishing 20-of-24 on field goals with 106 points. His 47 career field goals is 10th in Big Sky Conference history entering his senior season. Cunningham finished second in the FCS in field goals per game and 14th in scoring, and unofficially led the nation with 26 touchbacks. Cunningham is one of only six juniors elected this season.
2010 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' All-America Team
Offense
Pos Name Ht. Wt. Cl. School Coach Hometown (High School)
WR--Raymond Webber, 6-3, 220, Sr., Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Monte Coleman, St. Louis, Mo. (Miller)
WR--Tysson Poots, 6-3, 220, Sr., Southern Utah, Ed Lamb, Las Vegas, Nev. (Coronado)
TE-- Dean Rogers, 6-3, 250, Sr., UC Davis, Bob Biggs, Visalla, Calif. (Redwood)
OL--Ben Ijalana, 6-4, 320, Sr., Villanova, Andy Talley, Hainesport, N.J. (Rancocas Valley)
OL--Corey Konycki, 6-5, 315, Sr., Robert Morris, Joe Walton, Hunlock Creek, Pa. (Wyoming Seminary)
OL--Johnny Culbreath, 6-6, 280, Sr., South Carolina St., Buddy Pough, Monroe, Ga. (Monroe Area)
OL--David Arkin, 6-5, 302, Sr., Missouri St., Terry Allen, Wichita, Kan. (Kapaun)
OL-- Mike Person, 6-5, 295, Sr., Montana St., Rob Ash, Glendive, Mont. (Dawson County)
QB--Jeremy Moses, 6-0, 195, Sr., Stephen F. Austin, J.C. Harper, Baytown, Texas (Lee)
RB--Nate Eachus, 5-10, 216, Jr., Colgate, Dick Biddle, Drums, Pa. (Hazleton Area)
RB--Taiwan Jones, 6-1, 200, Jr., Eastern Washington, Beau Baldwin, Antioch, Calif. (Deer Valley)
Defense
Pos Name Ht. Wt. Cl. School Coach Hometown (High School)
DL--Martin Parker, 6-3, 283, Sr., Richmond, Latrell Scott, New Haven, Conn. (Hyde Leadership)
DL--Jabari Fletcher, 6-3, 265, Sr., Appalachian St., Jerry Moore, Atlanta, Ga. (Grady)
DL--Dain Taylor, 6-3, 251, Sr., Drake, Chris Creighton, Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Mountain Vista)
DL--Kenneth Charles, 6-3, 266, Sr., Stephen F. Austin, J.C. Harper, Missouri City, Texas (Hightower)
LB--Tyler Holmes, 6-0, 220, Jr., Massachusetts, Kevin Morris, Blacksburg, Va. (Blacksburg)
LB--J.C. Sherritt*, 5-10, 220, Sr., Eastern Washington, Beau Baldwin, Pullman, Wash. (Pullman)
LB--Eric McBride, 6-2, 231, Sr., Richmond, Latrell Scott, Richmond, Va. (L.C. Bird)
DB--Mark LeGree*, 6-0, 200, Sr., Appalachian St., Jerry Moore, Columbus, Ga. (Pacelli Catholic)
DB--Dino Vasso, 5-9, 175, Sr., New Hampshire, Sean McDonnell, Crum Lynne, Pa. (Ridley)
DB--James Vercammen, 5-10, 192, Sr., Dayton, Rick Chamberlin, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Groves)
DB--Trumaine Johnson, 6-3, 197, Jr., Montana, Robin Pflugrad, Stockton, Calif. (Edison)
Specialists
Pos Name Ht. Wt. Cl. School Coach Hometown (High School)
P--David Miller, 6-0, 183, Sr., William & Mary, Jimmye Laycock, Centreville, Va. (Westfield)
PK--Jason Cunningham, 6-1, 175, Jr., Montana St., Rob Ash, Amarillo, Texas (Tascosa)
AP--Tavoy Moore, 5-7, 195, Jr., Idaho St., John Zamberlin, Long Beach, Calif. (Gahr)
*-2009 All-American
Team Background: The AFCA?has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. 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 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, the Division I-A and Division I-AA teams were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)?and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS),?respectively. In 2006, the AFCA started selecting an NAIA-only team.
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, giving us the current 25-player team. The return specialist position was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006.
Top Teams: Eastern Kentucky has been represented a total of 23 times by 21 players on the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team since 1979. The Colonels are followed by Appalachian State (22/16), Montana (19/19), Delaware (18/15), Furman (16/15), Northern Iowa (16/13), Georgia Southern (16/12), Lehigh (14/14), Grambling State (14/13), Stephen F. Austin (14/13), Eastern Washington (13/12), Jackson State (13/12), Youngstown State (13/12), New Hampshire (13/11), Holy Cross (12/11), Massachusetts (12/11), Weber State (12/11), Western Illinois (12/11), McNeese State (12/10) and Northwestern State (12/9) among current FCS schools.
Top Conference: The Colonial Athletic Association (formerly Atlantic 10) (114 appearances/105 players) is tops among all FCS?conferences on the AFCA FCS Coaches All-America Team since 1979. Following the CAA is the Southern (100 appearances/87 players), Missouri Valley Football (formerly Gateway) (75/69), Big Sky (70/69), Ohio Valley (61/57), Southland (58/54), Southwestern Athletic (50/48), Patriot (44/43), Mid-Eastern Athletic (30/28), Ivy League (28/28), Northeast (15/13), Pioneer (13/13), Great West (10/9), Big South (6/6) and Metro Atlantic Athletic (5/4). These totals reflect FCS?selections only from current conference members. Several schools had additional players chosen when they played in divisions other than FCS.
2010 Conference-by-Conference Breakdown: Big Sky – 6; Colonial Athletic – 6; Great West – 2; Pioneer 2; Southern – 2; Southland – 2; Mid-Eastern Athletic – 1; Missouri Valley Football – 1; Northeast – 1; Patriot – 1; SWAC – 1.
Consecutive Years: Eastern Kentucky leads all schools, having had at least one player named to the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team in each of the first 15 years a FCS team was chosen (1979-93).
Double-Five: For the first time since the AFCA has been selecting an FCS All-America team, five schools have two representatives each on this year's squad. Appalachian State's Jabari Fletcher (DL) and Mark LeGree (DB), Eastern Washington's J.C. Sherritt (LB) and Taiwan Jones (RB), Montana State's Mike Person (OL) and Jason Cunningham (PK), Richmond's Martin Parker (DL) and Eric McBride (LB) and Stephen F Austin's Jeremy Moses (QB) and Kenneth Charles (DL) were all named to the 2010 FCS All-America Team.
Last year, three schools had two representatives each on the squad. Richmond's Matt McCracken (OL) and Justin Rogers (DB), Eastern Washington's Matt Nichols (QB) and J.C. Sherritt (LB) and Appalachian State's Jacque Roman (LB) and Mark LeGree (DB) were all named to the 2009 FCS All-America Team.
Repeat After Me: Eastern Washington's J.C. Sherritt and Appalachian State's Mark LeGree have been elected to the AFCA All-American team for the second consecutive year.
Linebackers Gary Reasons of Northwestern State (La.) (1981-83) and Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State (1994-96) are the only three-time AFCA All-Americans in the FCS.
Yearly Leaders: Grambling (1979-DL Joe Gordon, LB Aldrich Allen and DB Robert Salters) and Jackson State (1996-QB?Grailyn Pratt, LB Otha Evans and DB?Sean Woodson) are the only schools to have more than two players named to the AFCA?FCS?Coaches' All-America Team in one year.
One Player, Two Schools:?Punter Mark Bounds is the only player to earn Coaches' All-America honors at two different schools. He was named to the AFCA?College Division I?team in 1990 while playing for West Texas A&M. He transferred to Texas Tech after West Texas dropped football and earned FBS All-America honors as a Red Raider in 1991.
Class Distinction:?This year's AFCA?FCS Coaches' All-America Team is made up of 19 seniors and six juniors.
For more information on the AFCA?and its programs log on to the AFCA's website at www.afca.com.
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