Foursome singled out for LSC football preseason honors

Contact: Stan Wagnon, (972) 234-0033

Foursome singled out for LSC football preseason honors

RICHARDSON, Texas -- Four Lone Star Conference football standouts were honored Tuesday as the league’s Preseason Players of the Year heading into the 2005 season.

Central Oklahoma quarterback Justin Allgood was named LSC North Division Offensive Player of the Year, while Southwestern Oklahoma defensive end Terry Joiner claimed the division’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Tarleton State running back Derrick Ross registered South Division Offensive Player of the Year acclaim, while Abilene Christian defensive back Danieal Manning earned that division’s Defensive Player of the Year honor.

The league’s preseason awards were selected by a vote of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.

UCO’s Allgood, a 6-2, 200-pound senior from The Colony, Texas, received 10 of 16 votes and was named the LSC North’s top returning offensive star after passing for 2,556 yards and 16 touchdowns last year in an 8-2 campaign for the Bronchos. He completed 63.5 percent of his passes while posting the school’s second-best passing season, earning second team All-LSC North honors.

Allgood, who came off the bench for two games last year before taking over the starting role, passed for 220-plus yards in each of his eight starts and became the first player in UCO’s 99-year football history to pass for 300 yards in three consecutive contests, doing so against Angelo State, Tarleton State and Southwestern Oklahoma.

Southwestern’s Joiner, a 6-2, 240-pound senior from Seattle, Wash., tallied seven votes to gain recognition as the North’s top defensive player entering the season. The distinction comes after a stellar junior campaign in which he led the LSC with 11 sacks and 18 tackles for losses. He was a first team All-LSC North selection.

It’s no surprise that Tarleton’s Ross racked up 17 of 21 votes to enter the new season as the top offensive player in the South Division. Afterall, he led the LSC last year with a school-record 1,560 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns in just 10 games. His rushing total was the best by an LSC back in 14 seasons, and the 134 points that he scored was the most by an LSC player since 1986.

Ross, a 6-0, 225-pound senior from Huntsville, Texas, is a former junior college All-American who earned first team All-LSC North Division and second team All-Southwest Region honors in leading Tarleton to a 7-4 mark a year ago.

The vote for defensive honors in the LSC South Division was the most closely contested, with ACU’s Manning showing up on 13 ballots to edge Texas A&M-Kingsville linebacker Deandrae Fillmore by five votes. All Manning did last year was earn first team All-LSC South Division honors, LSC South Defensive Back of the Year acclaim and consensus All-Southwest Region and All-America status.

Manning, a 5-11, 205-pound junior from Corsicana, Texas, burst onto the LSC scene in 2003 with six interceptions as a freshman. He added just two picks last year but managed to score on four returns -- two punts, a kickoff and a 44-yard fumble return in the closing minutes that lifted ACU to a 29-25 win over rival Angelo State.

These four players will lead their teams on the field in late August when the 2005 football season is set to begin. The LSC has 13 teams ready to compete this fall, with each team playing a maximum of 11 regular-season games and a total of nine conference contests. The first permissible playing date is Thursday, Aug. 25.

Other LSC players to watch this fall, according to voters, will be East Central running back King Bennett (3 votes), Southeastern Oklahoma defensive back Norman Dawson (3 votes), Eastern New Mexico wideout Derrick Hunter (1 vote) and TAMUK’s Fillmore. Each of those players finished as runner-up for their respective preseason awards.

Stan Wagnon
Assistant Commissioner/Media Relations
Lone Star Conference
1221 W. Campbell, Suite 245
Richardson, TX 75080
Office (972) 234-0033
Website www.lonestarconference.org