Five Samford football players named to All-SoCon Team

SPARTANBURG, S.C.—Five members of the Samford football team were named to the Southern Conference’s Coaches All-Conference teams when the league released its postseason awards on Tuesday.

Three Samford players were named first-team All-Conference, and two others were named second-team All-Conference. Junior running back Chris Evans, senior center Jon Weber and junior linebacker Bryce Smith were all named first-team All-Conference, while junior defensive lineman John Michael Clay and junior punter Bob Hooper were named to the league’s second team.

The SoCon Offensive Player of the Year was Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Ewards. The Defensive Player of the Year went to Chattanooga defensive lineman Josh Beard, while Western Carolina running back Michael Johnson was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. Appalachian State offensive lineman Mario Acitelli won the Jacobs Blocking Award. ASU head coach Jerry Moore and Chattanooga’s Russ Huesman were named Co-Coaches of the Year. 

Evans led the SoCon in rushing, averaging 104.7 yards per game. He rushed for 1,152 yards for the season, making him the first player in Samford history to rush for over 1,000 yards in three-straight seasons. Evans also became Samford’s all-time leader in career rushing yards this season, finishing his junior season with 3,469 career rushing yards.

Weber has been Samford’s starting center for the past three years. He has been the leader of an offensive line that has helped produce Samford’s all-time leading rusher over the past three seasons.

Smith, despite missing one game due to injury, tallied 102 tackles, an average of 10.2 tackles per game, the third-highest average in the SoCon. Smith averaged 6.7 solo tackles per game, the highest average in the nation. Smith also led the Bulldogs in interceptions with four, and he had 11.0 tackled for a loss, tied for the second-highest total on the team.

Clay led the Bulldogs, and ranked sixth in the SoCon, with 6.0 sacks. He tied with Smith for second on the team in tackles for a loss with 11.0 for the season. Clay ranked fifth on the team in total tackles with 37, including 24 solo stops. Clay also had five quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one blocked kick on the season.

Hooper ranked second in the SoCon in punting average, with an average of 41.5 yards per punt. Hooper had a long punt of 59 yards on the season. Also, he placed 25 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line and he produced three touchbacks and six fair catches.

The SoCon also released its All-Freshman team, with three Samford players being named to that team. Offensive linemen George Allers and Charlie Sanford, and place-kicker Cameron Yaw were named to the All-Freshman team.

Allers and Sanford both had strong seasons as key members of the Samford offensive line. Yaw led the team in scoring with 59 points. He made 12-of-18 field-goal attempts, and he was perfect on 23 extra-point attempts.
(courtesy: Samford Sports Information)