Ten Mountaineers Receive All-Sun Belt Football Recognition

BOONE, N.C. — App State Football had 10 players receive All-Sun Belt Conference recognition from the league Thursday.
 
App State linebacker Colton Phares made the second team, while the third team included defensive lineman Kevin Abrams-Verwayne, defensive back Ethan Johnson, running back Rashod Dubinion, tight end Izayah Cummings and kicker Dominic De Freitas.
 
Offensive lineman Jayden Ramsey, offensive lineman Will Flowers, defensive lineman Rondo Porter and defensive back Emory Floyd received honorable mention.
 
Phares led the Mountaineers' defense with 89 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He ended the regular season as one of three FBS defenders in the country with at least 85 tackles, 9.0 TFLs and three interceptions, along with Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez and Central Michigan's Jordan Kwiatkowski.
 
Abrams-Verwayne made the most of his seventh collegiate season by leading App State in sacks (five) and forced fumbles (four) while ranking third on the team in TFLs (6.5) from his edge position. Johnson tied for second among FBS players and led the Sun Belt with 13 passes broken up from his starting cornerback spot.
 
Dealing with nagging injuries late in the year, Dubinion finished the season as the Sun Belt's No. 6 rusher with 868 yards (72.3 per game) after ranking as the nation's No. 5 rusher through the first six games.  Before suffering a season-ending injury in Game 8, Cummings ranked third among FBS tight ends in catches per game and fifth in yards per game. He completed the year with 37 catches for 374 yards and one touchdown.
 
De Freitas tied App State's single-season record with 20 field goals made, connecting on 20 of 25 attempts and all 32 extra points en route to 92 points as a true freshman.
 
Ramsey started 11 of 12 games at left tackle, showing his toughness and leadership while battling injuries throughout the second half of the season, and Flowers started all 12 games at center. Porter had 41 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, two sacks and four pass deflections from his interior lineman spot, and Floyd had one interception to go along with 55 tackles from his cornerback position.

2025 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year
Alonza Barnett III, James Madison (RS Jr., QB – Whitsett, N.C.)
 
Offensive Player of the Year
Colton Joseph, Old Dominion (RS So., QB – Newport Beach, Calif.)
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Trent Hendrick, James Madison (Sr., LB – Richmond, Va.)
 
Special Teams Player of the Year
Evan Crenshaw, Troy (RS Jr., P – Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
 
Newcomer of the Year
Camden Brown, Georgia Southern (Sr., WR – Monroe, La.)
 
Freshman of the Year
Sahir West, James Madison (RS Fr., DL – Baltimore, Md.)
 
Coach of the Year
Bob Chesney, James Madison
 
All-Sun Belt First Team Offense
QB – Alonza Barnett III, James Madison (RS Jr., QB – Whitsett, N.C.)
RB – Wayne Knight, James Madison (RS Jr., RB – Smyrna, Del.)
RB – Kentrel Bullock, South Alabama (Sr., RB – Columbia, Miss.)
OL – Caleb Cook, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., OL – Brunswick, Ga.)
OL – Pat McMurtrie, James Madison (Gr., OL – Verona, N.J.)
OL – Jax Harrington, Louisiana (RS Sr., OL – Erath, La.)
OL – Zach Barlev, Old Dominion (Sr., OL – Bolingbrook, Ill.)
OL – Dorion Strawn, Texas State (RS Sr., OL – Ennis, Texas)
TE – Toby Payne, Marshall (RS Jr., TE – Poca, W.Va.)
WR – Camden Brown, Georgia Southern (Sr., WR – Monroe, La.)
WR – Ted Hurst, Georgia State (Sr., WR – Savannah, Ga.)
WR – Beau Sparks, Texas State (Jr., WR – El Paso, Texas)
 
All-Sun Belt First Team Defense
DL – Demarcus Hendricks, Arkansas State (RS Sr., DL – San Antonio, Texas)
DL – MJ Stroud, Georgia Southern (RS Jr., DL – Covington, Ga.)
DL – J'Mond Tapp, Southern Miss (RS Jr., DL – Donaldsonville, La.)
DL – Donnie Smith, Troy (Jr., DL – Greenville, Miss.)
LB – Trent Hendrick, James Madison (Sr., LB – Richmond, Va.)
LB – Jaden Dugger, Louisiana (Sr., LB – Pittsburgh, Pa.)
LB – Chris Jones, Southern Miss (So., LB – Byram, Miss.)
LB – Jordan Stringer, Troy (Sr., LB – Augusta, Ga.)
DB – Boogie Trotter, Marshall (Sr., DB – Nashville, Tenn.)
DB – Nehemiah Chandler, South Alabama (RS Fr., DB – Jacksonville, Fla.)
DB – Josh Moten, Southern Miss (RS Sr., DB – Waldorf, Md.)
DB – Devin Lafayette, Troy (Sr., DB – Brunswick, Ga.)
 
All-Sun Belt First Team Special Teams
K – Lorcan Quinn, Marshall (Fr., K – Donaghmore, Ireland)
P – Evan Crenshaw, Troy (RS Jr., P – Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)
RS – Chauncy Cobb, Arkansas State (RS So., RS – Clewiston, Fla.)
AP – Wayne Knight, James Madison (RS Jr., AP – Smyrna, Del.)
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team Offense
QB – Colton Joseph, Old Dominion (RS So., QB – Newport Beach, Calif.)
RB – OJ Arnold, Georgia Southern (Sr., RB – Quitman, Ga.)
RB – Lincoln Pare, Texas State (RS Sr., RB – Germantown, Tenn.)
OL – Pichon Wimbley, Georgia Southern (Sr., OL – Newnan, Ga.)
OL – Zach Greenberg, James Madison (RS Sr., OL – Livingston, N.J.)
OL – Riley Robell, James Madison (RS So., OL – Harrisburg, Pa.)
OL – Ryan Joyce, Old Dominion (RS Sr., OL – Stockton, N.J.)
OL – Eli Russ, Troy (Sr., OL – Ardmore, Okla.)
TE – Ethan Conner, Troy (RS Sr., TE – Columbus, Miss.)
WR – Corey Rucker, Arkansas State (RS Sr., WR – Bentonia, Miss.)
WR – Demarcus Lacey, Marshall (Sr., WR – Birmingham, Ala.)
WR – Devin Voisin, South Alabama (Gr., WR – Crestview, Fla.)
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team Defense
DL – Cody Sigler, Arkansas State (RS Jr., DL – New Hope, Ala.)
DL – Immanuel Bush, James Madison (RS Sr., DL – Lancaster, S.C.)
DL – Sahir West, James Madison (RS Fr., DL – Baltimore, Md.)
DL – Jordan Lawson, Louisiana (RS Sr., DL – Brandon, Miss.)
LB – Colton Phares, App State (RS So., LB – Beaufort, S.C.)
LB – Blayne Myrick, South Alabama (RS Jr., LB – Fairhope, Ala.)
LB – Treylin Payne, Texas State (Sr., LB – San Antonio, Texas)
DB – Xamarion Gordon, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., DB – Houston, Texas)
DB – Justin Eaglin, James Madison (RS Jr., DB – Spring Lake, N.C.)
DB – Jacob Thomas, James Madison (Sr., DB – Ashburn, Va.)
DB – Jerome Carter, Old Dominion (So., DB – Lake City, Fla.)
DB – Jaquez White, Troy (Jr., DB – Blackshear, Ga.)
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team Special Teams
K – Tyler Robles, Texas State (RS So., K – Encinitas, Calif.)
P – Nathan Totten, Marshall (RS So., P – Ashland, Ky.)
RS – Jaylen Jenkins, Texas State (RS Jr., RS – Dallas, Texas)
AP – Beau Sparks, Texas State (Jr., AP – El Paso, Texas)
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team Offense
QB – Brad Jackson, Texas State (RS Fr., QB – San Antonio, Texas)
RB – Rashod Dubinion, App State (Sr., RB – Ellenwood, Ga.)
RB – Bill Davis, Louisiana (RS So., RB – LaPlace, La.)
OL – Johnnie Brown III, Georgia Southern (RS Jr., OL – Lilburn, Ga.)
OL – Carter Sweazie, James Madison (RS Jr., OL – Ashburn, Va.)
OL – Jalen Slappy, Marshall (RS Jr., OL – Columbus, Ohio)
OL – Kenton Jerido, South Alabama (RS Jr., OL – Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
OL – Matt Henry, Troy (Sr., OL – Auckland, New Zealand)
TE – Izayah Cummings, App State (RS Sr., TE – Louisville, Ky.)
WR – Landon Ellis, James Madison (Jr., WR – Orange, Va.)
WR – Tre' Brown III, Old Dominion (RS So., WR – Savannah, Ga.)
WR – Chris Dawn Jr., Texas State (Jr., WR – Dallas, Texas)
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team Defense
DL – Kevin Abrams-Verwayne, App State (RS Sr., DL – Marietta, Ga.)
DL – Ethan Hassler, Arkansas State (RS Sr., DL – Collierville, Tenn.)
DL – Ezekiel Durham-Campbell, Coastal Carolina (RS Jr., DL – Atlanta, Ga.)
DL – Aiden Gobaira, James Madison (RS Jr., DL – Fairfax, Va.)
DL – Kris Trinidad, Old Dominion (RS Sr., DL – Richmond, Va.)
LB – Noah Flemmings, ULM (Jr., LB – Austin, Texas)
LB – Jeremy Mack Jr., Old Dominion (RS Sr., LB – Clinton, Miss.)
LB – Michael Montgomery, Southern Miss (Jr., LB – Seattle, Wash.)
DB – Ethan Johnson, App State (Sr., DB – Huntersville, N.C.)
DB – DJ Barksdale, James Madison (Jr., DB – Rock Hill, S.C.)
DB – Elijah Culp, James Madison (RS Sr., DB – Charlotte, N.C.)
DB – Ian Foster, Southern Miss (RS So., DB – Brundidge, Ala.)
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team Special Teams
K – Dominic De Freitas, App State (Fr., K – Nappanee, Ind.)
P – Alex Smith, Georgia Southern (Jr., P – Melbourne, Australia)
RS – Dalen Cobb, Georgia Southern (Sr., RS – Washington, Ga.)
AP – Chauncy Cobb, Arkansas State (RS So., AP – Clewiston, Fla.)
 
All-Sun Belt Honorable Mentions (App State Selections)
OL – Jayden Ramsey (RS Sr., OL – Anderson, S.C.)
OL – Will Flowers (RS Sr., OL – LaGrange, Ga.)
DL – Rondo Porter (RS Jr., DL – Columbia, S.C.)
DB – Emory Floyd (RS Jr., DB – Marietta, Ga.)