The Central States Football League (CSFL) announced the 2016 All-CSFL selections and the SAGU football team was represented well. SAGU had five picks for 1st team All-CSFL, five picks for 2nd team All-CSFL and eight honorable mentions.
Linebacker Ethan Eastwood, defensive lineman Matt Lighter, defensive back Carl Morgan, junior offensive lineman Devon Petty and sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Carr were all picked for the first-team honor. Out of SAGU’s five 1st team recipients, three were repeats from last year and four have received the honor before.
Second Team recipients include junior running back JP Lowery, sophomore offensive lineman Dayne Maclin, freshman linebacker Cody Page, sophomore defensive back Matt Williams and kicker Chadd Dearen.
“Overall I was very pleased with the results,” said Head Coach Frank Tristan. “I think a lot of our players got the respect of the opposing coaches and that is always good to see. It’s great to see players you care about get accolades for their performance.”
Ethan Eastwood is from Maypearl, Texas. He was named 2nd team All-CSFL last year and 1st team All-CSFL his sophomore year. For much of the season, Eastwood led the league in tackling. He averaged over 12 tackles a game and had 126 tackles for the season, setting SAGU’s tackle record for a season. He also ended the season ranked no. five in the NAIA for tackles per game.
Matt Lighter is a junior from Katy, Texas. He is a 1st team repeat from 2015. Lighter had 13.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. He also had 47 tackles with a season high of 11 tackles against Arizona Christian. Lighter has three national rankings in the NAIA. He ranks no. 34 in tackles for loss per game, no. 35 in fumbles forced per game and no. 46 in total tackles for loss.
“To earn back-to-back first team all-conference in a league where there are a lot of great defensive linemen is a great honor. He worked extremely hard this year and it has paid off,” says Tristan.
Carl Morgan is a junior from Shreveport, Louisiana. In his seven games played, Morgan had four interceptions. He also had 40 tackles for the year, averaging over five tackles per game. This season, Morgan set the school record for all-time career interceptions with 14.
“For only playing seven games, and getting more tackles than he did last year, it obviously shows he is playing at a high level,” said Coach Tristan. “We are really excited for his senior year.”
“Devon Petty is another back-to-back first team selection. He played with great intensity and great consistency this year,” remarks Tristan.
Petty is a junior from Waco, Texas. In 2016, Petty had 55 knock-down blocks and graded at 85% for the season. Petty is a two-year starter for the Lions.
Jeremy Carr is a sophomore from Austin, Texas. This year he had five receptions for touchdowns. Carr had 37 catches for 655 yards total, averaging 3.7 catches for 65.5 yards per game.
“The year was full of adversity for SAGU, and Carr dealt with it exceptionally well,” said Tristan. “He was third in the conference for receiving yards for the year. Despite having three different quarterbacks through the season, he had consistent timing with all of them.”
SAGU had eight football players make honorable mention: junior running back Ricky Bickham, wide receivers Bryant Dotson, Toras Hill and Chaz Moncriffe, offensive lineman Javier Lopez and defensive linemen Paul Ellis, Darnell Martin, and Jamal Fears.