SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Headlined by Offensive Player of the Year DeAndre Presley and Coach of the Year Jerry Moore, Appalachian State University dominated the Southern Conference football coaches' 2010 all-conference teams and specialty awards, which were announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.
In addition to Presley, Appalachian's sixth SoCon Offensive Player of the Year in the last seven seasons, and Moore, who extended his record number of SoCon Coach-of-the-Year awards to eight, 13 Mountaineers garnered all-conference recognition. Offensive tackle Daniel Kilgore, defensive end Jabari Fletcher, linebacker D.J. Smith, defensive back Mark LeGree and place kicker Jason Vitaris joined Presley on the first team while running back/return specialist Travaris Cadet, offensive linemen Orry Frye and Brett Irvin, tight end Ben Jorden, wide receiver Brian Quick and defensive back Ed Gainey received second-team honors. ASU's all-conference honors totaled 14, as Cadet was named second-team all-SoCon as both a running back and return specialist.
Additionally, defensive back Patrick Blalock, who arrived at Appalachian in August as a walk-on, is a member of the SoCon's all-freshman team.
In his first season as ASU's starting quarterback and one year removed from spending most of the 2009 campaign playing wide receiver, Presley earned recognition as the SoCon's top offensive player after accounting for 2,976 yards of total offense (2,223 passing, 753 rushing) and 29 touchdowns (18 passing, 11 rushing) during the regular season. He ranks among the nation's top 15 in points responsible for (180 — t-eighth), passing efficiency (148.26 — ninth) and total offense (13th) while being the only player in the SoCon to finish among the conference's top five performers in both passing (third) and rushing (fourth).
Presley joins Armanti Edwards (2008 and '09), Kevin Richardson (2006), Richie Williams (2005) and DaVon Fowlkes (2004) as Mountaineers to win the award in the last seven seasons and the only ASU honorees since the SoCon coaches began voting for honors in 1990.
Moore led Appalachian to a sixth-straight SoCon championship with a 7-1 record in league play (9-2 overall), matching Georgia Southern's SoCon record for consecutive conference titles (GSU won six SoCon crowns in a row from 1997-2002).
In being named the SoCon Coach of the Year for the eighth time, Moore not only extends his own conference record (no other coach has ever received the honor more than three times) but also becomes only the second coach to ever win the award three-straight years, joining his predecessor at ASU, Sparky Woods, who was the SoCon Coach of the Year from 1985-87.
ASU's 14 total all-conference accolades were twice as many as the next-closest competitors, Georgia Southern and Chattanooga, which both boast seven all-SoCon honorees.
Appalachian, the No. 1 seed in the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Championship, opens postseason play on Dec. 4 versus the winner of this Saturday's opening-round matchup between Coastal Carolina and Western Illinois. Kickoff for ASU's playoff opener is set for noon. Tickets are available online by clicking HERE, by phone at (828) 262-2079 or in person at the ASU athletics ticket office, located in the Holmes Center. Online purchases can be made 24 hours a day while tickets can be bought by phone or in person from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday (ticket office is closed on Thursday and Friday of this week for Thanksgiving).
MEDIA HONORS - Nov. 24, 2010
Like the coaches, the SoCon media tabbed DeAndre Presley as the league's Offensive Player of the Year on Wednesday.
In recognizing Presley as the SoCon's Roy M. "Legs" Hawley Offensive Player of the Year, the league's media have bestowed the honor on Mountaineers a total of eight times and six times in the last seven years. Previous ASU winners were Rick Beasley (1979), John Settle (1986), DaVon Fowlkes (2004), Richie Williams (2005), Kevin Richardson (2006) and Armanti Edwards (2008 and '09).
The media tabbed 12 Mountaineers for a total of 13 all-conference honors, including nine first-teamers: Presley, offensive linemen Daniel Kilgore, Brett Irvin and Pat Mills, tight end Ben Jorden, defensive end Jabari Fletcher, linebacker D.J. Smith, defensive back Mark LeGree and place kicker Jason Vitaris. Running back/return specialist Travaris Cadet, wide receiver Brian Quick and linebacker Justin Wray received second-team accolades from the media, with Cadet earning the recognition as both a running back and returner.
ASU's 13 media all-conference performers were more than twice as many as any other team with Chattanooga, Elon, Furman, Georgia Southern and Samford all placing six players on the media teams.
