Nov. 25, 2009
Jones, Savage Earn First-Team Honors; Seven Guins Receive Accolades
St. Louis, Mo. -- Youngstown State senior wide receiver Donald Jones and senior defensive tackle Mychal Savage earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors, the league announced on Wednesday. Junior guard Eric Rodemoyer and senior cornerback Lenny Wicks earned second-team accolades while senior quarterback Brandon Summers, junior free safety Andre Elliott and junior wide receiver Dominique Barnes were honorable-mention selections.
Savage is a three-time first-team all-conference selection after earning honors in 2006, 2007 and 2009. He is the second defensive player in school history to be named first-team all-league three times joining - James Terry (2005-07) and Dwyte Smiley (1997-99).
Jones caught a school-record 77 passes en route to being just the second wide receiver in school history (Ferlando Williams in 2007) named to the MVFC's first-team all-conference squad. Jones finished with 790 yards and six touchdowns during his senior campaign.
YSU had an offensive linemen named all-conference for the fifth consecutive year with Rodemoyer making the second team. Wicks is the first YSU corner since 2006 (Jason Perry and Codera Jackson) to earn all-league accolades.
Senior quarterback Brandon Summers ended his career as a two-time honorable-mention all-league selection. This year he set the school record for single-season completions. Barnes and Elliott both had outstanding junior seasons and will get a crack at first or second team honors their senior campaigns. Barnes has a reception in 23 consecutive games - seven shy of the school mark - while Elliott has 152 career tackles in his two seasons with the program.
YSU has had at least seven players earn all-conference honors in five of the past six years.
Player Biography Sketches of MVFC All-Conference Performers
#81 WR Donald Jones, 6-2, 210, Sr., Plainfield, N.J. (Plainfield)
Set school single-season record with 77 receptions…tied school single-game mark with 11 against Missouri State and Southern Illinois…had 790 yards receiving and caught six touchdown passes…had a season-high 130 yards against Missouri State…had 64 catches during league play for 653 and four touchdowns…averaged 81.6 yards per game in league play…was second in the conference in receptions and yards per game as well as touchdowns…averaged seven receptions per game.
#96 DE Mychal Savage, 6-2, 310, Sr., Hartsdale, N.Y. (New Rochelle)
Started all 11 games in 2009 and 44 in his career…posted 37 total tackles, including team-high eight for losses…had 4.5 sacks for 25 yards in losses…had a season-high six stops at UNI …29 stops came in MVFC play…played 577 snaps, by far the most on the defensive line…three times named as the team’s Defensive Lineman of the Game…first-team All-MVFC in 2006 and 2007…one of only two active defensive players named to MVFC’s Silver Anniversary Team.
#64 OG Eric Rodemoyer, 6-4, 280, Jr., Sharon, Pa. (Kennedy Catholic)
Started final 10 games along the offensive line…had nine starts at left guard and one at left tackle…played 665 snaps, second-most on the line…had best season average of the entire offensive line grading out at 80 percent on average…named team’s Offensive Lineman of the Game five times…played at least 60 snaps in every game with high of 75 versus Missouri State…best performance was 86 percent grade at Northeastern…YSU averaged 216.2 yards passing per game, the most since 1985.
#32 DB Lenny Wicks, 5-10, 190, Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa. (Carrick)
Started final nine games at cornerback after missing first two because of injury…ranked third on the team with 57 total tackles, including 36 solo stops…55 of his 57 tackles came in MVFC play…had a season-high 11 tackles against Illinois State, including nine solos…had nine at UNI…had interceptions against Missouri State and Indiana State…forced a fumble against WIU…had a team-high five pass breakups…had seven-or-more tackles five times…returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown at NDSU…returned nine punts for 88 yards and three kickoffs for 76.
#29 WR Dominiqiue Barnes,5-11, 180, Jr., Southfield, Mich. (Southfield)
Started all 11 games and led the team and the MVFC with eight touchdown receptions…caught 60 passes for 702 yards…season high was nine grabs against Missouri State while season high in yards was 122 versus Illinois State…caught seven-or-more passes in five games…in conference play had 48 receptions for 615 yards and MVFC high six touchdowns…averaged 69.3 yards per game for the year and 76.9 yards in conference play…caught TD passes in seven games, including two in season finale at North Dakota State.
#6 QB Brandon Summers, 6-2, 200, Sr., Southfield, Mich. (Southfield)
Set school single-season record with 219 completions (341 attempts) and a 64.2 completion percentage…had 17 touchdown passes, 12 of which came during conference play…averaged 228.1 yards per game in conference play and 211.7 for the entire year…tied single-game school record with four TD passes against Austin Peay…had a season-best 346 yards against Illinois State…had 30 completions at SIU…rankings second in the league in passing yards per game, passing efficiency and touchdowns and third in total offense.
#2 FS Andre Elliott, 6-2, 190, Jr., Maple Heights, Ohio (Maple Heights)
Started all 11 games and has started 21 straight games...ranked second on the team with 63 total tackles, 35 of which were solos...was one of just two players on the team to record two sacks...had three tackles for losses, seven pass breakups and a quarterback hurry...had at least seven tackles in six games...posted a season-best 10 stops against South Dakota State...had nine against NDSU...credited with 46 tackles in conference action...returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown against Northeastern...had sacks against Austin Peay and Southern Illinois...blocked a punt against Austin Peay.