GWU's Johnston Named Big South Defender Of The Year, 13 Named All-Big South
November 21, 2006 | Football
CHARLOTTE - Brian Johnston was named Big South Conference
Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday morning, leading a parade
of 13 GWU players on the 2006 All-Conference team.
Johnston (San Diego, Calif. / Madison HS) had a career-best year in
2006, registering 77 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss and a
league-best 8.0 sacks. Johnston led all defensive linemen in the
league in tackles and recorded a career-high 23 quarterback
pressures in 11 starts.
The 6-foot-5, 280-pounder led the Bulldogs with two forced fumbles,
including one that led to a defensive score vs. VMI and one
recovery. Johnston, also a first-team All-Big South Conference
selection, led all defensive linemen for the second year in a row
in voting.
Johnston had two games with 10-or-more total tackles and eight
games with at least seven stops. He posted sacks in six different
games, including two games with multiple sacks. Johnston had three
sacks at Charleston Southern (Nov. 4) and had 11 tackles, three
tackles for loss, a sack and forced fumble vs. VMI (Oct. 28).
Now a two-time All-Conference selection, Johnston was second in the
Big South in TFL with 12.0 (53 yards) and his 77 tackles are a
career-high. Johnston received six first-place votes and 18 points,
edging out Charleston Southern's Jada Ross (six first-place votes
and 17 points). Coastal Carolina's Jamar Leath placed third in the
voting with four first-place votes and 11 points.
Gardner-Webb placed seven other student-athletes on the Big South's
first-team. Five Bulldogs earned second-team All-Big South
honors.
Joining Johnston on the first-team defense were linebacker Mario E.
Brown (Greenville, S.C. / J.L. Mann HS) and safety Daniel Cooke
(Charlotte, N.C. / Independence HS).
Brown led GWU and finished second in the league with a career-high
109 tackles (55 solo), and led GWU with three interceptions and
five pass break ups. The 6-foot-2, 234-pound sophomore also had 5.0
sacks and 12 tackles for loss on the season. He was named I-AA
National Player of the Week on Sept. 30 after setting a new Big
South record with 25 tackles at Southeastern Louisiana.
Cooke earned first-team All-Big South honors for the second year in
a row, recording 67 tackles (42 solo), two tackles for loss and an
interception in 11 starts at free safety. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound
sophomore has now made 166 total tackles in two seasons (22 starts)
for the Bulldogs.
GWU had three players earn first-team All-Big South honors on
offense, with receiver Duvaughn Flagler (Norcross, Ga. / Norcross
HS), tackle Demario Deese (Charlotte, N.C. / Independence HS) and
center Kris King (Elberton, Ga. / Elbert County HS) getting the
nod.
Flagler, a preseason All-America selection and now a two-time
All-Big South selection at receiver, caught a career-best 64 passes
to go with 740 yards and seven touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound
junior is only the fourth player in GWU history to come up with
consecutive 50-catch seasons, and has now pulled down 22 career
touchdown receptions in Boiling Springs - the third-highest total
ever at GWU.
Deese, a 6-foot-4, 325-pound sophomore, and King a 6-foot-3,
265-pound senior, were each on the Big South's preseason
All-Conference first team. Deese was a first-team choice last
season as a freshman, and King earned second-team honors as a
junior in 2005.
Gardner-Webb's success on special teams this season earned kicker
Hunter Smith (Greensboro, N.C. / W. Guilford HS) and punter Michael
Hanna (Lawrenceville, Ga. / Collins Hill HS) first-team All-Big
South honors.
Smith, a senior, becomes the first player in Big South Conference
history to earn All-Conference honors all four years of his career
- and was named first-team All-Conference for the first time in the
process. Smith hit all 26 of his PAT attempts and was a sparkling
9-of-11 on field goals (81.8 percent), including four makes in five
attempts from 40 yards or longer. He finished the season with 53
points, and wound up his career as the third-leading scorer in
Gardner-Webb football history with 228 points (37 field goals).
Smith made 11 career field goals of 40 yards or better, the highest
total in Big South history.
Hanna, a 6-foot-2, 223-pound sophomore, ranked No. 7 nationally and
led the Big South with an average of 43.5 yards per punt - the
second best clip in league history behind former GWU All-American
Graham Whitlock (2003). Hanna boomed 14 punts over 50 yards and
pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 15 times.
GWU had two men on the second-team All-Big South offense in
receivers Austin Gaines (Loganville, Ga. / Grayson HS) and Kory
Alston (Greensboro, N.C. / W. Guilford HS).
Gaines ended the season as the league's most dependable and
dangerous receiver, and finished with a career-best 48 catches for
690 yards and three touchdowns (14.4 yards per catch). The
6-foot-3, 186-pounder had a career-best nine catches twice in 2006,
including a 122-yard performance in his final game in a college
uniform. Gaines was also a second-team All-Big South choice in
2004.
Alston had his second 45-catch season in 2006, hauling in 45 balls
for 487 yards and four touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound
speedster finished with 26 career plays longer than 35 yards,
including an 80-yard punt return touchdown in the 2006 season
opener at Jacksonville. A three-time All-Big South choice, Alston
joined classmate Gaines as one of the top-10 receivers in GWU
history with his senior season effort.
Lineman Thurston Lee (Brundidge, Ala.) and linebacker Mike Pavelko
(Eden Prairie, Minn.) each made their first career appearances on
the All-Big South team in 2006, with Lee recording a career-best 48
tackles, eight tackles for loss and nine pressures as a senior.
Pavelko, a 6-foot-1, 236-pound sophomore, started all 11 games in
the Bulldogs' 4-3 scheme and registered a career-high 87 tackles in
2006.
Long snapper Matt Skeen (Snellville, Ga. / Shiloh HS) earned his
second All-Big South selection in a row for GWU. The 6-foot-2,
240-pound senior doubled as a tight end, but snapped for a team
that led the Big South in net punting average and made all 26 of
its PAT attempts.
Smith was Gardner-Webb's delegate on the All-Academic Team for the
Big South, after posting a 3.7 GPA with a major in Business
Administration. Rookie running back David Montgomery was the runner
up for the Big South's Freshman of the Year award after leading the
team in rushing.
Gardner-Webb has seen 88 student-athletes earn All-Big South honors
since joining the league in 2002 for football.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB - Tyler Thigpen, Sr., Coastal Carolina
RB - Rashad Jennings, Soph., Liberty
RB - Sean Mizzer, R-Sr., VMI
WR - Maurice Price, Jr., Charleston Southern
WR - Jerome Simpson, Jr., Coastal Carolina
WR - Duvaughn Flagler, Jr., Gardner-Webb
TE - Rodney Burgess, Sr., Coastal Carolina
OL - Brad Poston, Sr., Coastal Carolina
OL - Brian Kepple, Sr., Coastal Carolina
OL - Demario Deese, Soph., Gardner-Webb
OL - Stephen Sene, Sr., Liberty
OL - Kris King, Sr., Gardner-Webb
DEFENSE
DL - Brian Johnston, Jr., Gardner-Webb
DL - Sam Harper, Sr., Coastal Carolina
DL - Dennis Justiniani, Jr., Charleston Southern
DL - Eric Hall, Sr., VMI
LB - Jada Ross, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
LB - Jamar Leath, Sr., Coastal Carolina
LB - Manny Rojas, R-Sr., Liberty
LB - Mario E. Brown, Soph., Gardner-Webb
DB - Quinton Teal, Sr., Coastal Carolina
DB - C.J. Hirschman, Jr., Charleston Southern
DB - Daniel Cooke, Soph., Gardner-Webb
DB - Jamaal Walton, Sr., VMI
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Hunter Smith, Sr., Gardner-Webb
P - Michael Hanna, Soph., Gardner-Webb
LS - James Coble, Sr., Coastal Carolina
RS - Wynton Jackson, Jr., Liberty
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE
QB - Collin Drafts, Sr., Charleston Southern
RB - Zach Terrell, Soph., Liberty
RB - Aundres Perkins, Sr., Coastal Carolina
WR - Austin Gaines, Sr., Gardner-Webb
WR - Kory Alston, Sr., Gardner-Webb
WR - Brandon Turner, Jr., Liberty
TE - Chris Luck, Jr., Liberty
OL - Ricky Howell, Jr., Charleston Southern
OL - Robert Brown, Jr., VMI
OL - Eddie Pinigis, Jr., Liberty
OL - Jarrett Winfrey, Sr., Liberty
OL - Alex Bragg, R-Soph., Charleston Southern
DEFENSE
DL - Thurston Lee, Sr., Gardner-Webb
DL - Steve Ackley, Jr., Liberty
DL - Jason Horn, Sr., Liberty
DL - Ronnie Mason, Soph., Coastal Carolina
LB - Stevie Ray Lloyd, Jr., Liberty
LB - Josh Mitchell, Jr., Charleston Southern
LB - Jonna Lee, Jr., Charleston Southern
LB - Mike Pavelko, Soph., Gardner-Webb
DB - Dewitt Myers, Sr., Coastal Carolina
DB - E.L. Estes, Jr., Liberty
DB - Ryan Greiser, Soph., Liberty
DB - Okeba Rollinson, R-Soph., Charleston Southern
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Barrett Way, Jr., VMI
P - Adam Peters, Sr., VMI
LS - Matt Skeen, Sr., Gardner-Webb
RS - C.J. Hirschman, Jr., Charleston Southern
ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Nick Ellis, K/P, Jr., Charleston Southern
Josh Hoke, K, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Hunter Smith, K, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Ryan Greiser, DB, Soph., Liberty
Jacob Rochester, LB, Soph., VMI
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tyler Thigpen, QB, Sr., Coastal Carolina
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brian Johnston, DE, Jr., Gardner-Webb
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Tim Maypray, Slotback, VMI
COACH OF THE YEAR
Danny Rocco, Liberty
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Josh Hoke, K, Sr., Coastal Carolina
