Ten Eagles earn All-Region Football Honors

Ten Eagles earn All-Region Football Honors

November 30, 2006

SEARCY, Ark. -- Ten North Carolina Central University Eagles have been voted to the 2006 Daktronics All-Southeast Region football team, selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). NCCU's 10 honorees, including seven on the First-Team, were more than any other school in the region.

Senior center Robert Duncan (Winston-Salem, NC) and junior kicker Brandon Gilbert (Graham, NC) are repeat members of the All-Region First Team, while senior tight end Kenneth Broadway (Chapel Hill, NC), senior wide receiver Charles Futrell (Fayetteville, NC), senior offensive lineman Sam Funches (Lawnside, NJ), junior corner back Craig Amos (Winston-Salem, NC) and senior safety Andre George (Columbia, MD) also earned First-Team recognition and will move on to the national All-America ballot.

NCCU freshman quarterback Stadford Brown (Washington, DC), senior defensive lineman Greg Peterson (Beulaville, NC) and senior linebacker Naim Abdul-Malik (Queens, NY) claimed All-Region Second Team honors.

Duncan was a repeat selection on the All-CIAA First Team and was named CIAA Offensive Lineman of the Week three times during his senior campaign. As the Eagles' starting center and team captain, his average grade was 92.4 percent and averaged four pancake blocks and less than 1 missed assignment per game, while not allowing a sack all season. Duncan was selected to Street & Smith's 2006 Division II Preseason All-America Team, one of only four offensive linemen in the country to earn the honor.

Gilbert was a repeat selection on the All-CIAA First Team and was chosen CIAA Special Teams Player of the Week four times in 2006. He made a game-winning, career-long 51-yard field goal as time expired to provide NCCU with a 17-14 win in the CIAA Championship Game (Nov. 11).

Gilbert, who led the CIAA in scoring with 81 points (48-48 PATs, 11-16 FGs), set an NCCU single-season record with 48 extra-point kicks, ranks second in career-scoring at NCCU (225 points), and has made more extra point kicks (123) in his three seasons than any other kicker in Eagles history, including 80 in-a-row. Gilbert also punted 59 times for 2,068 yards (35.1 avg.), placing 23 attempts inside the 20-yard line with only two touch-backs.

Broadway, an All-CIAA pick at tight end, was the team's third-leading receiver with 26 catches for 401 yards (15.4 yards per reception) and three touchdowns. He recorded two or more receptions in nine of 12 games this season. In his best outing, Broadway caught season-best four passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns at Bowie State (Sept. 30).

Futrell was named All-CIAA First Team and selected CIAA Receiver of the Week twice. He topped the CIAA with 909 receiving yards (75.8 yards per game) and placed second in receptions with 51 and touchdown catches with eight. Futrell caught a career-best nine passes for 131 yards in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs against Delta State (Nov. 25), while also recording four catches for a career-high 140 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown reception, at Division I-AA Southern University (Sept. 23).

Funches was voted to the All-CIAA First Team and was named CIAA Offensive Lineman of the Week four times in 2006. He has started every game at left tackle with an average grade of 90.0 percent. Funches has also averaged two pancake blocks per game, less than one missed assignment per game, and allowed only one sack all season.

Amos, an All-CIAA First Team and three-time CIAA Defensive Back of the Week honoree, tied for the conference lead with seven interceptions (9th in NCAA) and 16 passes defended (7th in NCAA). He is one of only eight Eagles in the 83-year football tradition of NCCU to intercept seven passes or more in a single season, and his 178 interception return yards are the second-most in school history (222 return yards by Tony Lindsey in 1988). Amos returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including a 96-yard score at Southern University (Sept. 23), the fourth-longest in school history. Amos ends his junior campaign tied for 10th on the school's all-time interceptions list with 12 career picks.

George, a First-Team All-CIAA selection at safety, tied for the league lead with seven interceptions, including one returned for a 60-yard touchdown at Fayetteville State (Oct. 14) and finished tied for sixth in the CIAA with 12 passes defended (7 interceptions, 5 pass break-ups). He amassed a season-high six tackles (3 solo), an interception that led to a touchdown, and a pass break-up during the CIAA Championship Game against Elizabeth City State (Nov. 11).

Brown, the 2006 CIAA Offensive Player of the Year and CIAA Rookie of the Year, was selected CIAA Rookie of the Week six times and CIAA Offensive Back of the Week once. He topped the CIAA in passing yards per game (214.8), total passing yards (2,322), passing touchdowns (26), and passing efficiency (141.5). Brown's 26 passing touchdowns is a new single-season school record and a new CIAA standard for freshmen. He threw for a season-best 291 yards and four touchdowns at Bowie State (Sept. 30).

Peterson, a First-Team All-CIAA defensive lineman, ranks seventh in the NCAA with 19.5 tackles for a loss, led the team with 7.5 sacks, and finished with 48 total tackles. He recorded a season-high eight tackles (four solo), including 3.0 hits for a loss, against Shaw (Sept. 3), and amassed six tackles (four solo), including a season-best 3.5 tackles for a loss with a sack and a fumble recovery at Livingstone (Oct. 28).

Abdul-Malik, named to the All-CIAA First Team as a linebacker, led the team and placed sixth in the conference with 85 total takedowns, including a team-best 39 solo hits. He also added seven tackles for a loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, two pass break-ups, a recovered fumble and an interception. Abdul-Malik recorded a season-best 11 tackles, including 1.5 hits for a loss with a sack, against NAIA power Langston (Oct. 21), collected 10 tackles (7 solo) at NCAA Division I-AA foe Southern University (Sept. 23), amassed nine tackles in the CIAA Championship Game against Elizabeth City State (Nov. 11), and tallied 10 tackles in the second round of the NCAA playoffs against Delta State (Nov. 25).

As a team, NCCU repeated as CIAA Champions, posted a perfect regular season for the first time in the school's 83-year gridiron history, won 11 games for the first time in school history, earned the No. 1 ranking in the Southeast Region, finished as the No. 4 ranked team in the NCAA Division II (AFCA), and is currently the top-ranked team in black college football.

The All-Region team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition.

The All-America team will be released on Dec. 13.

2006 Daktronics All-Southeast Region Football Team An asterisk denotes
the voting leader at each position.
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Yr.
TE Kenneth Broadway* North Carolina Central Sr.
WR Cedric Jones* Valdosta State Fr.
WR Charles Futrell North Carolina Central Sr.
OL Heath Benedict* Newberry Jr.
OL Robert Duncan* North Carolina Central Sr.
OL JoJo Bates North Alabama Sr.
OL Travis Mikel-Allen Delta State Jr.
OL Sam Funches North Carolina Central Sr.
QB Scott Eyster Delta State Sr.
RB Nathaniel Queen* Bowie State Sr.
RB Matt Moore North Greenville So.
AP Anthony Merritt* North Alabama Sr.
K Brandon Gilbert* North Carolina Central Jr.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Yr.
DL Alton Pettway* Albany State Sr.
DL Alex Hall Saint Augustine's Jr.
DL Andre Bernardi North Greenville So.
LB Kevin Jones* Saint Augustine's Sr.
LB Michael Eubanks Delta State Jr.
LB Emanuel Plummer Elizabeth City State Sr.
LB Sevohn Greer Harding Jr.
LB John Perkins West Georgia Sr.
LB Ed Wilson Johnson C. Smith Sr.
CB Craig Amos* North Carolina Central Jr.
CB Robert Towns Harding Sr.
S Andre George* North Carolina Central Sr.
S Sherard Reynolds* Valdosta State So.
P Kevin Dodson* Elizabeth City State Sr.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Yr.
TE Chris Conklin Wingate Jr.
WR Tymere Zimmerman Newberry Sr.
WR Marquis Belton Johnson C. Smith Sr.
WR Dan Brooks Wingate Sr.
WR Chris Carter Elizabeth City State Sr.
OL Brandon Manshack Wingate Sr.
OL Michael Bujnak Tusculum Sr.
OL Ross Conn Harding So.
OL Carlton Perry Fayetteville State Sr.
OL Andrew Ross Henderson State Sr.
QB Stadford Brown North Carolina Central Fr.
QB Josh Stepp Newberry Sr.
RB Alex Haynes Newberry Jr.
RB Kyle Wess Harding Sr.
AP De'Audra Dix Johnson C. Smith Jr.
K Adrian Escalona North Greenville Jr.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Yr.
DL Greg Peterson North Carolina Central Sr.
DL Kenwin Cummings Wingate Jr.
DL Justin Currie Harding Sr.
DL Maceo Thomas Elizabeth City State Sr.
LB Naim Abdul-Malik North Carolina Central Sr.
LB Will Newell Newberry So.
CB David Jones Wingate Sr.
CB De'Audra Dix Johnson C. Smith Jr.
CB Quincy Skinner Arkansas Tech Sr.
S Derrell Mills Newberry So.
S Jamarcus Wiggins Delta State Jr.
P John Gregory Tusculum Fr.