McMurry’s lands 15 players on All-Conference Football Team
Jake Mullin was named ASC Offensive Player of the Year, and 14 of his teammates joined him on the all-confernece team
Mullin, who was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, lived up to the expectation by throwing for 3,102 yards and 26 touchdowns over 10 games this season. He completed 65 percent of his passes in the regular season and earned first-team all-conference honors along with the individual award.
The Burleson native becomes the first McMurry players since quarterback Ty Sellers to win Offensive Player of the Year, which Sellers earned in 2005.
Joining Mullin offensively on the first team was senior tight end Delfonte Diamond and offensive guard Bertrick Ervin. Diamond was Mullin’s favorite target in the regular season leading the team with both 60 receptions and 843 yards to go along with six touchdown grabs. Ervin, the senior, anchored an offensive front that was honored twice by the BCSN National Team of the Week and helped the War Hawks boast the No. 1 passing offense in the nation through the regular season at 369.8 yards per contest.
Defensively, senior free safety Will Morris and junior defensive end Corey Hall landed first team all-conference honors. Morris, the Katy native, earned first-team honors for the third consecutive year while Hall adds his second all-conference award after earning second-team honors last season.
Morris had another all-around year in the secondary for McMurry scoring two defensive touchdowns in the regular season, he picked off four passes, forced three fumbles, recovered another and led the team in the regular season with 59 tackles.
Hall posted 12.5 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks and had 44 tackles in the regular season. He also intercepted a pass, blocked two kicks, forced three fumbles and recovered another in his junior campaign.
Senior linebackers Kerry Gamble and Nick Hernandez were named second-team all-conference along with junior corner D.J. Baiza. Gamble led all McMurry linebackers with 51 tackles while Hernandez recorded 44 along with 8.5 tackles for a loss.
Baiza had 39 tackles, four interceptions, seven pass breakups, a defensive touchdown and a fumble recovery defensively. He was also key to McMurry’s special teams unit blocking three kicks, and he averaged 14 yards per punt return with a touchdown in the regular season.
R.J. Long, Kiefer Price and Justin Johnson earned second-team all-conference honors on offense. Long led the ASC with 11 touchdown catches and added 672 yards receiving in the regular season. Price helped pave the way for the nation’s No. 1 passing offense on the line, and Johnson had 1,021 all-purpose yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 6.7 yards per touch at running back.
Earning honorable mention all-conference honors on offense was Eric Shaffer, Nolan Hankins, Greg Livingston and Jeret Smith. Shaffer caught 38 passes for 423 yards and two touchdowns while Hankins at left tackle protected the top passer in the conference in Mullin. Livingston averaged 25 yards per kick return on 21 attempts while Smith averaged 40.3 yards per kick return on nine attempts; each player returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
15 players on the all-conference team was the most for McMurry since the 1998 club landed 20 on the all-conference list.
No. 19-ranked McMurry will take on No. 11-ranked Trinity in San Antonio at Noon Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
