Eight Eagles garner all-region accolades from Don Hansen’s Football Gazette
BROOKVILLE, Ill. – Carson-Newman has placed three players on the Don Hansen Football Gazette all-region first team and five on the all-region third team, the Don Hansen Football Committee announced Wednesday.
Running back Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.) and offensive linemen Derek Evans (Alcoa, Tenn.) and Dan Gallman (Naples, Fla.) each made the first team offense.
Running back Montavious Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.), wide receiver/return specialist TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.) and kicker Carson Wise (Blacksburg, Va.) each made the third team offense. Linebacker Sha'Heem Stupart and safety Xavier McFadden (Rock Hill, S.C.) made the third team defense.
Damian Baker, became the fourth Carson-Newman player to make it the Harlon Hill final round, and the second in as many years. Baker previously earned first team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and second team honors from the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association.
Baker became the first Eagle to earn an All-America honor from the AFCA since center Kevin Day was on his way to a Rimmington Trophy and consensus All-America honors following the Eagles' trip to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2012. Damian Baker finished the regular season ranked in the top 25 in the nation in five rushing categories and as the SAC Offensive Player of the Year and a first team all-SAC selection.
He closed out the regular season slate with 1,403 rushing yards to rank No. 11 in Division II, while his 116.9 rushing yards per game was good for No. 20 in the country. Baker piled up 7.16 yards per carry to rank No. 9 in the nation and his 18 rushing touchdowns are No. 11 in D-II. The tailback averaged 9.8 points per game to finish at No. 20 in the nation to help the Eagles rank No. 5 in the country as a team with 43.3 points per outing.
He turned in six 100-yard rushing games this season, including 249 yards on the ground vs. Mars Hill on Sept. 26 – the seventh highest single game tally in Carson-Newman historyWith his 1,403 rushing yards, Baker has the eighth highest single-season total in Carson-Newman history and his 18 rushing touchdowns are the seventh highest single-season total in school history. On top of that his 114 points scored this year are tied for sixth all-time in school history.
Derek Evans has been lauded as the top center in Division II with the Rimington Award, in addition to his Don Hansen All-Region accolade.
Evans becomes the second Eagle in four years to bring home the hardware, joining consensus All-America center Kevin Day, who won the award in 2012.
Evans did something no other Carson-Newman offensive lineman has done since the C-N sports information department began tracking offensive linemen stats in 2012. Evans is the first C-N offensive lineman with a perfect gradeout on Mike Turner's 80-point scale. Evans did that three times this season (Shorter, Newberry and North Greenville).
The senior center led Carson-Newman in knockdowns with 16 this season and is second all-time with 42.
Evans has cleared the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in all three of his seasons as a starter for Carson-Newman. The Eagles rushed for 570 yards in the regular season finale – the fifth highest single-game tally in Carson-Newman football history – behind Evans blocking. Carson-Newman cracked 60 points three times and 600 yards of total offense four times behind Evans' road-grading capabilities. He has also blocked for two Harlon Hill Trophy finalists in Andy Hibbett and Damian Baker in his career.
Dan Gallman was second on the team in overall grade and knockdowns this season. Gallman has cleared the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in all three of his seasons as a starter for Carson-Newman. The Eagles rushed for 570 yards in the regular season finale – the fifth highest single-game tally in Carson-Newman football history – behind Gallman's blocking. He also has the best beard on the team. His nickname is the Washing Machine.
Montavious Taylor tallied 648 yards on the ground and six touchdowns. He averaged 62.2 yards per game. Taylor crested the 100-yard mark three times with 113 yards and a pair of scores at Mars Hill, 145 yards on 21 carries at Wingate, and 109 yards and a touchdown in the first round of the NCAA playoffs at Valdosta State.
TraShaun Ward's 877 yards receiving this year are the second most by a Sparks-era wideout and the eighth most all-time. His 45 receptions are the seventh most all-time and the most ever for a wide receiver in the Sparks era. For his career, his 85 receptions rank seventh all-time and his 1,533 yards receiving are also seventh all-time.
Ward also exits Carson-Newman as the all-time leader in kickoff return yards (2,561) and kickoff returns (115). He returned kickoffs in all 46 games of his Carson-Newman career. In the Eagles playoff loss to Valdosta State, Ward snagged eight passes for 214 yards and two scores. The 214-yard day is the third best single-game receiving total by an Eagle and the first time a wideout has caught 200 yards worth of passes by a Sparks-coached team. It had been more than 13,000 days since Carson-Newman last had a 200-yard receiver.
Carson Wise snagged second team all-SAC honors in a year where he was named SAC Special Teams Player of the Week on three occasions in addition to his second team all-region honor. Wise is the first Carson-Newman player since fellow kicker Curt Duncan in 2012 to earn three SAC special teams player of the week accolades.
He does so after tying Duncan's school record for points in a game by a kicker with 17 in the Eagles' finale with Tusculum.
Wise drilled three field goals and converted all eight of his extra point attempts in the Eagles' 65-32 stomping of Tusculum in the regular season finale.
Wise nailed a career long 42-yard field goal before the half let out Saturday and also hit from 25 and 30 yards on the day.
Wise has already inserted himself into C-N's record books this season. His 104 points this year are the second most in school history for a kicker. Curt Duncan set that mark in 2013 with 109. His 65 made PATs are third most all-time and his 13 made field goals are fourth.
Xavier McFadden earned first team All-SAC honors at safety. He was second on the team in tackles with 65 stops, including a team-best 43 solo tackles.
McFadden has made at least eight stops in a game four times this season and has gone over 10 tackles on three occasions.
McFadden made a career high 12 tackles in the Eagles' overtime win over Wingate.
The junior from Rock Hill, S.C. grabbed his only interception of the season in the Eagles' 48-45 heart-stopper over North Greenville. He also has a forced fumble this year.
Sha'Heem Stupart is Carson-Newman's leading tackler with 84 tackles this season. That total is the fifth highest in the league. Stupart has led C-N in tackles on five occasions this season and has produced a team-best four 10-tackle games.
Stupart's career high of 11 tackles happened three times (Catawba, Newberry and at then No. 21 Wingate).
He picked off a pass for the first time in his career against Shorter.
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