ROCK HILL, S.C. – Coming off its first year as a member of the South Atlantic Conference, the Emory & Henry College Football Team has seen eight of its players named to the All-SAC Mountain Division Teams. The awards are voted on by the coaches in the league and were released by the conference office on Thursday.
E&H placed five players on the All-SAC Mountain Division First Team and received three second-team nods. Additionally, the Wasps gleaned one of the four major awards.
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Leading the way on the first team is senior running back Grayson Overstreet (Moneta, Va.) who rushed for 639 yards and five touchdowns over the course of the year to earn his third overall all-conference nod. Overstreet had a pair of 100-yard rushing games including a season-best 156 yards for two touchdowns against Catawba.
Junior wide receiver Tmahdae Penn (Martinsville, Va.) notched 32 catches for 588 yards and five scores on his way to a third all-league performance. His best outing was at Bluefield, catching seven passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior offensive lineman Ricky Dodson (Front Royal, Va.) was part of a front five that helped produce 118 rushing yards per game and a scoring offense of 23.8 points per game.
On the defensive side of the ball, fifth-year linebacker Ivan Phillips (Kingsport, Tenn.) makes it a third all-league nod after leading the team in tackles for four-straight seasons with 96 total stops including 56 solo. He also had 11.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Fifth-year defensive lineman Donovan Pinnix (Eden, N.C.) grabs his third all-conference selection with 49 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. He had at least five tackles in six games with a season-high of nine coming at Limestone.
The second-team offense featured fifth-year lineman Preston Robertson (Mocksville, N.C.) and freshman running back Justin Hill (Dallas, N.C.). Hill was second on the team with two touchdowns and 412 yards, averaging a team-best 4.2 yards per carry. Hill was also selected as the SAC Mountain Division Offensive Freshman of the Year.
On defense, junior safety Addison Knicely (Mount Crawford, Va.) finished third on the team and first among defensive backs in tackles with 78 stops on the year. He also recovered a pair of fumbles, picked off two passes, broke up seven additional attempts through the air and blocked a kick.
As a team, Emory & Henry posted a 6-5 record with a 4-5 mark in South Atlantic Conference play. The Wasps finished fourth in the Mountain Division and eighth overall in the league after being picked 11th in the preseason poll. E&H highlighted the year with a 17-10 overtime win at Wingate on September 24 for its first league victory and nearly knocked off two-time conference champion and then-No. 9 nationally-ranked Newberry in a double-overtime thriller at home on September 17. The Wasps also established themselves as the top small college football team in Southwest Virginia, defeating Bluefield on the road (41-33) and handing the University of Virginia's College at Wise a 34-14 contest in "Southwest Virginia Bowl V" on October 8 at Fred Selfe Stadium.
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