Fort Hays Quarterback Leads Picks
Fort Hays State quarterback Shawn Behr, who led NCAA Division II in passing, and rushing champions Richard Huntley of Winston-Salem State and Brad Olson of Lawrence headline The Associated Press Little All-America team announced Thursday.
Behr threw for 3,158 yards and 31 touchdowns, completed 60 percent and had only six passes intercepted during the regular season.
Huntley led Division II in rushing with 189 yards per game and scored 17 touchdowns. Olson was the leading rusher in Division III with 196 yards per game and scored 16 TDs.
Chris Perry of Adams State, James Roe of Norfolk State and Ben Fox of Hanover are the receivers on the team, which includes NCAA Divisions II and III plus the NAIA.
Perry made 88 catches for a Division II-best 1,719 yards and 21 touchdowns. Roe had 64 receptions for 1,248 yards and 15 TDs, and Fox was the top pass-catcher in Division III with 95 for 1,087 yards and 15 scores.
All-purpose back Steve Papin of Portland State averaged a Division II-best 218 yards per game with his running, receiving and kick returning.
The offensive linemen are Jermane Mayberry of Texas A&M-Kingsville, Mike Jones of Washington & Jefferson, Tony Ramirez of Northern Colorado, Jake Wiersma of Azusa-Pacific and Jon Thompson, one of three players on the squad from Division II champion North Alabama.
The other two representatives from North Alabama are defensive lineman Israel Raybon and linebacker Ronald McKinnon, who won the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II player of the year.
McKinnon, Thompson and defensive lineman Jeff Turnage of Indiana, Pa., made the team for the second straight year. Rounding out the defensive line are Steve Mellon of Carson-Newman and Vince Penningroth of Wartburg.
The other linebackers are John Mobley of Kutztown, Rick Sanger of Central, Iowa, and the late Greg Stokes of Angelo State. Stokes, the Lone Star Conference defensive lineman of the year, was killed in a car accident on Nov. 5, six days before his team’s final game.
The secondary features Chris Brown of Pittsburg State, Jerome Williams of Delta State and Conrad Hamilton of Eastern New Mexico.
Punter Jon Mason of West Texas A&M led Division II with a 45.5-yard average, and placekicker Jon Ruff of Indiana, Pa., made 18 of 23 field-goal attempts.
Everyone on the team is a senior except Ramirez and Olson. Ramirez is a junior and Olson a sophomore.