For the first time in seven seasons, a Gateway school has swept the league's top three specialty awards as QB Eric Sanders and LB Brannon Carter of UNI have earned this year's Gateway's top player honors. Panther head coach Mark Farley, meanwhile, earns Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year award honors for the second time in his career.
Although Sanders shared first-team QB honors with SIU's Nick Hill (both received an equal number of first-place and second-place votes), the senior signal-caller from UNI had a decisive edge in the Offensive Player of the Year balloting. Entering this week's game, Sanders had led the Panthers to 35 wins in his four-year career as a starter.
Carter, meanwhile, is the first Panther defender since Adam Vogt to win the league's top defensive honor. He leads the league with five interceptions and is third for the Panthers with 78 tackles. UNI led all of FCS in scoring defense in the regular season.
A finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the nation's top FCS coach, Mark Farley is this year's Gateway Coach of the Year. The Panthers, ranked No. 1 in the FCS and the top seed in this year's playoffs, became the first team in Gateway history to complete a regular season with a perfect 11-0 slate.
Each team was represented on the first- or second-team units, with the league's two playoff teams (UNI and Southern Illinois) garnering the most selections. UNI had nine first-team picks and five additional second-team picks, while Southern Illinois had six first-teamers and seven second-teamers. Youngstown State (10) and Western Illinois (9) also had a significant number of honorees on the league's top two units.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: QB Eric Sanders
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LB Brannon Carter
GATEWAY COACH OF THE YEAR: Mark Farley, UNI
2007 Gateway Balloting
Offensive Player of the Year - Top 3
Pts. -- Player, School
45 -- QB Eric Sanders, UNI
33 -- QB Nick Hill, Southern Illinois
27 -- RB Herb Donaldson, Western Illinois
Defensive Player of the Year - Top 4
Pts. -- Player, School
38 -- LB Brannon Carter, UNI
23 -- LB Jason Williams, Western Illinois
23 -- LB James Terry, Youngstown State
21 -- LB Kye Stewart, Illinois State
2007 all-Gateway Football Conference Team
(selected by coaches, sports information directors and media panel)
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB -- Nick Hill, SIU, 6-3, 210, Sr., DuQuoin (Ill.) High / Western Kentucky
QB -- Eric Sanders, UNI, 6-1, 200, Sr., Oelwein (Iowa) High
RB -- Herb Donaldson, WIU, 5-11, 225, Jr., St. Louis (Mo.) CBC High
RB -- Corey Lewis, UNI, 6-0, 197, Jr., St. Paul (Neb.) High
FB -- Javid Milton, WIU, 5-10, 240, Jr., Houston (Texas) Westfield High
WR -- Johnny Gray, UNI, 5-9, 185, Jr., Deerfield Beach (Fla.) High
WR -- Ferlando Williams, YSU, 6-0, 195, Jr., Warner Robins (Ga.) Northside High / Georgia Military
TE -- Clay Harbor, MSU, 6-4, 230, So., Dwight (Ill.) High
OL -- Barret Anderson, UNI, 6-3, 315, Sr., Rochester (Minn.) Mayo High
OL -- Brandon Keith, UNI, 6-6, 331, Sr., McAlester (Okla.) High
OL -- Darren Marquez, SIU, 6-4, 280, Sr., New Orleans (La.) St. Augustine High
OL -- Chad Rinehart, UNI, 6-5, 308, Sr., Boone (Iowa) High
OL -- Brad Samsa, YSU, 6-3, 280, Jr., Warren (Ohio) Howland High
OL -- Isaiah Wiggins, ILS, 6-3, 290, Sr., Chicago (Ill.) Prosser High
PK -- Taylor Rowan, WIU, 6-0, 185, Jr., Melbourne (Fla.) High
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL -- James Cloud, SIU, 6-2, 215, Jr., Hackensack (N.J.) High / Coffeyville Community College
DL -- Josh Galloway, WIU, 6-3, 250, Jr., Reno (Nev.) High / Glendale Community College
DL -- James Ruffin, UNI, 6-4, 265, So., Burnsville (Minn.) High
DL -- Mychal Savage, YSU, 6-2, 300, Jr., Hartsdale (N.Y.) New Rochelle High / Hargrave Military
LB -- Brannon Carter, UNI, 6-3, 233, Sr., St. Charles (Mo.) Francis Howell North High
LB -- Kye Stewart, ILS, 6-0, 210, Sr., Nashville (Tenn.) Pearl-Cohn High
LB -- James Terry, YSU, 6-2, 235, Sr., Stafford (Va.) Fork Union / Woodbridge High
LB -- Jason Williams, WIU, 6-3, 225, Jr., Chicago (Ill.) DuSable High
DB -- Jesse Caesar, ILS, 5-10 190, Sr., Rockledge (Fla.) High
DB -- Clayton Johnson, SIU, 5-10, 190, Jr., Miami (Fla.) Central High
DB -- Patrick Stoudamire, WIU, 5-11, 190, So., Portland (Ore.) Centennial High
DB -- Clifford Waters, UNI, 6-0, 203, Sr., Kirkwood (Mo.) High
P -- Scott Ravanesi, SIU, 6-0, 195, So., Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North High
RS -- Craig Turner, SIU, 5-10, 195, Sr., Boutte (La.) Hahnville High
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB -- Tom Zetts, YSU, 6-1, 210, Sr., Boardman (Ohio) High
RB -- John Randle, SIU, 5-11, 195, Sr., Wichita (Kan.) Southeast High / University of Kansas
RB -- Rafael Rice, ILS, 5-11, 220, Sr., Los Alamitos (Calif.) Mater Dei [Santa Ana] / Fullerton JC
FB -- Rick Burgess, SIU, 6-0, 215, So., Palm Beach (Fla.) William T. Dwyer High
WR -- Justin Allen, SIU, 6-0, 195, Sr., Glenpool (Okla.) High / Northeast Oklahoma A&M
WR -- Jason Horton, ILS, 6-0, 185, Sr., Bolingbrook (Ill.) Neuqua Valley High
TE -- Derrick Bush, YSU, 6-4, 265, Jr., Circleville (Ohio) High
OL -- David Arkin, MSU, 6-5, 281, Fr., Wichita (Kan.) Kapaun High
OL -- Eric Hoffman, UNI, 6-5, 301, Sr., St. Cloud (Minn.) St. Cloud Tech High
OL -- Aaron Lockwood, SIU, 6-3, 305, Jr., Topeka (Kan.) Seaman High / Barton County Community College
OL -- Drew Sweeney, WIU, 6-4, 295, Sr., Rockford (Ill.) Guilford High
OL -- Josh Tanner, YSU, 6-2, 305, Sr., Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater High
PK -- Brian Palmer, YSU, 5-11, 175, Jr., Youngstown (Ohio) Mineral Ridge High
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL -- Myles Banford, YSU, 6-2, 237, Sr., Anaheim (Calif.) Fountain Valley High / Santa Ana CC
DL -- Mark Huygens, UNI, 6-6, 277, Jr., Sergeant Bluff (Iowa) High
DL -- Larry Luster, SIU, 6-0, 310, Sr., Springfield (Ill.) Sacred Heart Griffin High / Harper CC
DL -- Victor Visoky, WIU, 6-4, 255, Fr., Northbrook (Ill.) Glenbrook North High
LB -- Shonda Faulkner, INS, 6-1, 215, Sr., Poukeepsie (N.Y.) Hudson Valley High
LB -- De'Veon Harris, UNI, 6-1, 215, Jr., Pompano Beach (Fla.) Ely High
LB -- Brandin Jordan, SIU, 5-11, 215, So., Kenner (La.) John Curtis Christian High
LB -- Chauncey Mixon, SIU, 6-1, 215, So., Mobile (Ala.) Davidson High
DB -- Vince Gliatta, YSU, 6-1, 210, Sr., Canton (Ohio) Central Catholic High / Penn State Univ.
DB -- Robert Hodges, WIU, 6-1, 190, Jr., Bradenton (Fla.) Bayshore High
DB -- Darrell Lloyd, UNI, 6-0, 191, Jr., O'Fallon (Mo.) Fort Zumwalt High
DB -- Tom Nelson, ILS, 6-0, 200, Jr., Arlington Heights (Ill.) John Hersey High
P -- Nathan Stokes, MSU, 5-11, 181, Sr., Ozark (Mo.) High
RS -- Johnny Gray, UNI, 5-9, 185, Jr., Deerfield Beach (Fla.) High
HONORABLE MENTION
Illinois State: RB Geno Blow, QB Luke Drone, LB Bill Hronec, KR Jason Horton
Indiana State: OL Jack Byrne, P Chris Johansen, OL Zach Odle
Missouri State: DB Marcus Colbert, RB Gerald Davis, PK Nathan Stokes, SS Roger Wright
UNI: DL Jordan Lacy, FB Ryan Mahaffey, CB Adam Roberts
Southern Illinois: TE Ryan Kernes, LB Trevor Moe, OL Shawn Smith, WR Alan Turner
Western Illinois: LB Jerome Bennett, LB Travis Cherry, WR Carl Sims
Youngstown State: P Ben Nowicki, DL Torrance Nicholson, LB Jeremiah Wright