LB Boomer Grigsby of Illinois State; QB Joel Sambursky of Southern Illinois; and Jerry Kill of Southern Illinois highlight the 2004 Gateway Football All-Conference Team, as announced by the league office on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Grigsby is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year; while Sambursky and Kill took home Offensive Player and Coach of the Year plaudits for the league champion Southern Illinois Salukis.
LB Boomer Grigsby of Illinois State has made history by becoming the first player in Gateway history to earn Player of the Year honors three-straight seasons. Grigsby, a three-time finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, is the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the third time.
QB Joel Sambursky, meanwhile, becomes the third Saluki to win the league’s Offensive Player of the Year honor. Jerry Kill - a finalist for Eddie Robinson national coach of the year honors - took the Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year award for league champion Southern Illinois. It’s Kill’s second-straight league Coach of the Year honor.
Sambursky, who earned second-team all-Gateway in 2003, leads the Gateway and ranks 2nd in the nation in pass efficiency (163.04). He topped the league with 19 TD passes, against just five interceptions. The junior signal-caller has started 36-straight games at QB. He threw for 2,224 yards in 2004 and is Southern Illinois’ career leader in TD passes, completion percentage and total offense. He is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the nation’s top I-AA offensive player.
Grigsby achieved the Gateway, NCAA and Illinois State career tackle records and set the Gateway standard for tackles in a career with his 566th career tally against No. 1 Southern Illinois on Nov. 6. He then set the Redbird standard against UNI on Nov. 13 with his 580th career tackle. He led the Gateway in tackles all season with 129 tallies in 2004, with a game season-high of 21 tackles against Indiana State. His 12.9 tackles per game ranked second nationally.
Kill, meanwhile, becomes the first league coach to win back-to-back Gateway honors in five seasons (Todd Berry, Illinois State). He joins a host of Gateway coaches who have won two Gateway coach of the year plaudits, including current Gateway mentor Don Patterson of Western Illinois.
2004 all-Gateway Team
(selected by coaches, sports information directors and media panel)
FIRST TEAM
QB -- Joel Sambursky, Southern Illinois, Jr.
RB -- Terrance Freeney, UNI, Jr.
RB -- Travis Glasford, Western Illinois, Jr.
FB -- Demetrius Ison, Youngstown State, So.
WR -- Steven Rush, SMS, Sr.
WR -- Brent Little, Southern Illinois, Jr.
TE -- Mike Roberts, Youngstown State, Sr.
OL -- Buster Ashley, Western Kentucky, Sr.
OL -- Stafford Davis, Illinois State, Jr.
OL -- Fred Layne, Western Illinois, Sr.
OL -- Elmer McDaniel, Southern Illinois, Sr.
OL -- Luke Stigler, UNI, Sr.
PK -- Jon Scifres, SMS, Jr.
DL -- Ryan Arnold, UNI, Sr.
DL -- Linton Brown, Southern Illinois, Jr.
DL -- Kyle Mitchell, Indiana State, Jr.
DL -- Steve Watson, SMS, Sr.
LB -- Boomer Grigsby, Illinois State, Sr.
LB -- Charles Thompson, Western Kentucky, Jr.
LB -- Deonté Smith, Western Kentucky, Sr.
LB -- Royal Whitaker, Southern Illinois, Jr.
DB -- Darren Barnett, SMS, Jr.
DB -- Mike Bracken, Youngstown State, Sr.
DB -- Dre Dokes, UNI, So.
DB -- Alexis Moreland, Southern Illinois, Sr.
DB -- Antonio Thomas, Western Kentucky, Sr.
P -- Brian Claybourn, Western Kentucky, Sr.
RS -- James Norris, Western Illinois, Sr.
SECOND TEAM
QB -- Justin Haddix, Western Kentucky, So.
RB -- Brandon Jacobs, Southern Illinois, Sr.
RB -- Lerron Moore, Western Kentucky, Jr.
RB -- Arkee Whitlock, Southern Illinois, So.
FB -- Preston Portee, SMS, Sr.
WR -- Justin Surrency, UNI, Jr.
WR -- Sam Logan, Indiana State, So.
TE -- Chris Kupec, Southern Illinois, Jr.
OL -- Brian Akins, Southern Illinois, Sr.
OL -- Brad Durham, SMS, Sr.
OL -- Fred Freitag, Indiana State, Sr.
OL -- Erik Losey, Western Kentucky, Jr.
OL -- Matt Miller, Southern Illinois, Sr.
PK -- Craig Coffin, Southern Illinois, So.
DL -- Billy Beard, Southern Illinois, Sr.
DL -- Josh Chrestman, Illinois State, Sr.
DL -- Jeff Jones, Southern Illinois, Jr.
DL -- Joe Woolridge, Western Kentucky, Jr.
LB -- Orlando "Doc’ Gooden, Indiana State, Jr.
LB -- Wyatt Green, Western Illinois, Jr.
LB -- Brett Koebcke, UNI, Jr.
LB -- Jeremiah Wright, Youngstown State, So.
DB -- Jamarquis Jordan, Southern Illinois, Jr.
DB -- Frank Johnson, Southern Illinois, Jr.
DB -- Jovon Lewis, SMS, Sr.
DB -- Michael Woods, Western Illinois, Sr.
P -- Ryan Hoffman, Illinois State, Jr.
RS -- Steven Rush, SMS, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Illinois State: QB Yance Vaughan; FB Mike Larson; OL Jeremy Melville •
Indiana State: QB Phillip Johnson; PK Kyle Hooper; LB LaDrelle Bryant •
UNI: FB Reggie Brown; TE Andy Thorn; P Cory Henke •
Southern Illinois: CB Yemi Akisanya; CB Brandon Bruner; DE Andrew Franklin; •
SMS: TE Matt Buchholz; OT Travis Brown; CB Torre Endsley; RB Cody Pratt; P Jon Scifres •
Western Illinois: WR Reggie Gray; PK Justin Langan; WR James Norris; DL Pat Ryan •
Western Kentucky: OL Ryan Thomas; LB Brandon Smith; DB Marion Rumph; RS Dennis Mitchell •
Youngstown State: DL Brandon Brown; CB Jason Perry; WR Kyle Smith
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: QB Joel Sambursky, Southern Illinois
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LB Boomer Grigsby, Illinois State
‘BRUCE CRADDOCK’ GATEWAY COACH OF THE YEAR: Jerry Kill, Southern Illinois