Eagles Lead Way with Seven Named SoCon All-Freshman

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern Football led the way in the inaugural Southern Conference All-Freshman team selections, landing seven on the teams. The league head coaches selected 11 rookies on offense and defense each and three specialists.

The seven selections from Georgia Southern were most by any SoCon team. Appalachian State, Western Carolina and Furman were next with four picks each. One of the youngest teams in the nation, Georgia Southern finished the year 6-5 overall (4-4 SoCon) despite having 22 different true- and redshirt-freshmen start a game this season.

The Eagles were represented by: running back Adam Urbano (Calhoun/Calhoun), linebackers Dion Dubose (Dacula/Norcross) and J.B. Shippy (Gaffney, S.C./Gaffney), defensive backs Derek Heyden (Atlanta/Marist) and K.R. Snipes (Opelika, AL/Opelika), punter Charlie Edwards (Tifton/Tift County) and place kicker Adrian Mora (Dalton/Dalton). Georgia Southern’s five selections on offense and defense are all true-freshmen.

Urbano finished second on the team rushing for 304 yards and seven touchdowns while playing in just nine games (missed final two games due to injury). He averaged 5.8 yards per carry as three of his seven TDs came in overtime (including two game winners – Western Carolina and The Citadel). In league play, Urbano was tied for eighth in scoring among the SoCon individual leaders (6.0 ppg, scoring six TDs in six games). He rushed for two touchdowns in the wins at Chattanooga and The Citadel.

By the end of the season Dubose worked his way into the starting line-up at middle linebacker. On the year he made 32 tackles (28 in SoCon play), 4.0 for a loss and 2.0 sacks. During the season-finale win at 14th-ranked Furman, Dubose made a career-high 10 tackles and two sacks. He would earn the SoCon ‘Defensive Player of the Week’ award for his effort. Dubose started four times while playing in every game.

Heyden also played in all 11 games, making seven starts at safety. He recorded 36 tackles on the year, including a season-high eight against Wofford followed by seven the next week at Chattanooga.

Shippy was one of three true-freshmen to start on defense in the season-opener at then top-ranked Georgia. Overall he made nine starts while playing in all 11 games. He finished the year with 41 tackles, 5.5 for a loss and 2.0 sacks. Shippy recovered two fumbles and had three quarterback hurries. He made a season-high six tackles in consecutive weeks against Northeastern and Elon.

Like Dubose, Snipes saw an increase in playing time as the season went on. He made two starts while playing in 10 games. Snipes recorded 25 tackles (2.0 for a loss), three pass break-ups and one interception. That picked off pass came at a crucial time, stopping a Furman drive on fourth down late in the game as the Eagles went on the road and defeated the 14th-ranked Paladins 17-10. During the final four weeks Snipes recorded 23 of his 25 tackles, including a season-high eight at The Citadel.

Mora took over the place kicking duties in week four and never looked back. On his first collegiate field goal attempt he connected from 41 yards out, and would eventually hit 10-of-12 on the season. Mora made all 31 extra point attempts as well. The redshirt-freshman ranked fifth in scoring in league-only games (7.6 points per game/second among the kickers), first in field goal percentage (.833) and tied for first in PAT kicking percentage (1.000). At Chattanooga, Mora nailed all seven extra point attempts. He finished the year having made a field goal in every game played, including a season-long 42-yarder in the season-finale win at Furman.

Edwards spent much of the year ranked first in punting but wound up finishing the year seventh among the SoCon leaders averaging 39.6 yards on 47 punts. His punt average ranks him ninth among the Georgia Southern season ‘Top 10’ leaders. The redshirt-freshman punter put 14 of his kicks inside the 20-yard line and booted eight that covered 50 or more yards, including a season-long 59-yard punt versus Elon.

2008 Southern Conference All-Freshman Football Team

All-Freshman Offense

Ben Jorden, Appalachian State

Brian Quick, Appalachian State

Asheton Jordan, The Citadel

David Hendrix, Furman

Tersoo Uhaa, Furman

Adam Urbano, Georgia Southern

Riley Hawkins, Samford

Dustin Taliaferro, Samford

Zack Jaynes, Western Carolina

Quan Warley, Western Carolina

Eric Breitenstein, Wofford

All-Freshman Defense

Ed Gainey, Appalachian State

Lanston Tanyi, Appalachian State

Demontrelle Smith, The Citadel

Joshua Jones, Elon

Jordan Griffin, Furman

Ryan Steed, Furman

Dion Dubose, Georgia Southern

Derek Heyden, Georgia Southern

J.B. Shippy, Georgia Southern

K.R. Snipes, Georgia Southern

John Julien, Western Carolina

All-Freshman Specialists

Charlie Edwards, Georgia Southern

Adrian Mora, Georgia Southern

Blake Cain, Western Carolina

Category: Football

Published on Tuesday, 25 November 2008 00:23