Wednesday, November 25, 2009
- by B.B. Branton
In late July, the UTC football team was voted to finish last in the Southern Conference for 2009 by a vote of the conference coaches.
What a difference four months makes as Tuesday, first year Mocs coach Russ Huesman was voted Southern Conference co-coach of the year and senior defensive end Josh Beard was selected as the defensive player of the year.
Huesman, who led the Mocs to a 6-5 overall record and 4-4 in league play, shares the coaching award with Jerry Moore of league champion Appalachian State.
The Mocs were 1-11 in 2008 and 0-8 in league play.
Beard is tied for the national lead with 12 quarterback sacks and had 62 tackles on the season.
Other Mocs to receive football honors were Joshua Williams (DE) and running back Chris Awuah were were selected to the SoCon All-Freshman team.
Williams had seven sacks on the season, while Awuah led the Mocs with 453 rushing yards and had four rushing touchdowns.
Mocs who earned first team All-Southern Conference were Buster Skrine (Jr., defensive back), Craig Camay (Sr., place kicker) and Beard.
Camay tied for the league lead in field goals made (16), while Skrine had two interceptions.
Second team honors went to Chris Harr (Jr., offensive line), Blue Cooper (Sr., wide receiver) and Joe Thornton (Sr., linebacker).
Cooper had 84 catches for 824 yards, Thornton led the Mocs with 95 tackles (sixth in the SoCon) and Harr was the leader on the offensive line which did not allow a sack the final four games of the season.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net