Courtesy of Atlantic University Sport
Thursday, November 11, 2010
2010 Atlantic University Sport Football Major Awards Announced
November 11, 2010 (HALIFAX, NS) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2010 football major award winners as selected by the conference's four head coaches following regular season play.
Receiver and kick returner Jahmeek Taylor of the CIS No. 9-ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies is the 2010 Atlantic University Sport Most Outstanding Player. Taylor, a third-year student from Mississauga, ON, had a conference leading seven touchdowns in eight games this season for the first-place Huskies and his 1,439 all-purpose yards led the league by 376.
He caught 21 passes for 332 yards receiving, added 246 yards rushing on 26 carries and set a new SMU record for punt return yardage in a single-season with 711, the second highest total in league history.
Taylor, the 2008 AUS Rookie of the Year, was also named an AUS all-star at inside receiver and as a kick returner on earlier this week.
Erik Glavic (2007), Steve Panella (2004) and Les Mullings (2003) are the most recent Huskies to be named the conference's Player of the Year. Glavic and former Mount Allison star Eric Lapointe are the most recent Atlantic conference players to take home the Hec Crighton Trophy as the outstanding player in CIS. Lapointe won the award both in 1996 and 1998 while Glavic was the 2007 recipient.
For the second time in his university career, StFX linebacker Henoc Muamba has been selected as the AUS Defensive Player of the Year.
Henoc, a native of Mississauga, ON, is in his fourth year of eligibility and was also named the top defensive player in the conference in 2008.
Muamba was selected to play in the 2010 CIS East-West Bowl this past off-season and has been an Atlantic conference all-star at linebacker in each of the past three seasons.
In September, he was ranked 11th by the CFL’s Scouting Bureau among the top 15 eligible prospects for the 2011 CFL Canadian Draft. He was one of nine CIS athletes to be named on the Top 15 prospects list, and the lone AUS player to be ranked.
This season, Muamba, a two-time CIS all-Canadian, finished second in the Atlantic conference with 63.5 tackles, including 3.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss. He also returned an interception for 16 yards, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and became StFX's all-time leader in career tackles this year, with 149.5 in his four years with the X-Men program
"There is no question Henoc is a phenomenal athlete, but it’s been his work ethic and study of the game that have turned him into a complete football player," says StFX head coach Gary Waterman.
Muamba will represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the Presidents’ Trophy. StFX's Henoc Muamba (2008) and Adam MacDonald (2002, '01) are the most recent StFX players to be named the AUS Defensive Player of the Year while MacDonald is also the most recent Atlantic conference winner of Presidents Trophy, which he was awarded in 2002.
Receiver Jordan Catterall of the StFX X-Men is the 2010 Atlantic University Sport football Rookie of the Year.
A first-year student from Oakville, ON, Jordan has had an immediate impact with the StFX offence, catching 18 passes this season for 266 yards and three touchdowns. All three of his majors came in StFX’s only win of the season, a 37-26 Homecoming victory over the Mount Allison Mounties in week four.
Catterall has also contributed on special teams, returning 10 kickoffs for 155 yards. His 77.2 all-purpose yards per game average ranked him fourth in the conference this season.
"Jordan came in and had a phenomenal rookie season," says StFX head coach Gary Waterman. "He was fourth in our conference in all-purpose yards as a true freshman out of high school and the sky is the limit for this young man."
Current StFX defensive lineman Nate Annan is the most recent StFX player to be named the Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year (2009) and StFX's Jeremy Steeves (2001) is the most recent winner of the Peter Gorman Trophy as the top Rookie in CIS football.
The Atlantic University Sport Outstanding Lineman of the Year is fifth-year Acadia defensive lineman Adrian Saturley.
Saturley, a 6'3", 250-pound native of Terence Bay, N.S., was named a 2009 and 2010 AUS all-star at defensive end, and finishes his five years with the Axemen program as the AUS career leader in sacks with 21.0, passing former Acadia star Kyle Markin's career total of 17.5.
Despite missing the final game of the regular season due to injury, his total of 9.5 sacks in seven games was the most of any player in Canadian Interuniversity Sport this season.
He finished the year with 27.5 tackles and led the Atlantic conference in tackles for a loss (11.0) and fumbles forced with three and recorded at least a half sack in all seven regular season games in which he appeared this year. He also returned an interception 60-yards for a touchdown versus Saint Mary’s in week four.
"Adrian has been a starter at Acadia for a long time and the teams in this conference are going to be happy to see him leave,” says Axemen head coach Jeff Cummins. “He has produced every year as a pass rusher and the statistics show it. I am very proud of him both in the classroom and on the field as he has been an academic all-Canadian the past three seasons and an all-conference player for the last two. We are going to miss Adrian but he will continue to be successful long after he leaves Acadia."
Saturley will represent the conference as the nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy which was last brought back to the AUFC in 1997 when StFX's Mike Kushnir was named the CIS's top lineman. The last Acadia player to be named AUS Lineman of the Year was offensive lineman Adam Rogers, who took home the award in 2006 and 2007.
Mount Allison head coach Kelly Jeffrey led the Mounties to a second place finish this season and has been selected by his peers as the Atlantic conference Coach of the Year.
Jeffrey, now in his third year at the helm of the Mounties' program, led the team to a 4-4 regular season record in 2010 and their first home playoff game since 1998. Their four wins this season were also the most for the program since that 1998 season when they finished in first place with a record of 6-2.
“Kelly's leadership, vision, hard work and his relentless commitment to doing things the right way have all been critical ingredients to the re-emergence of football at Mount Allison. We are very pleased that he has earned this well-deserved recognition,” said Mount Allison Director of Athletics Pierre Arsenault. “Not only has Kelly helped our program find success this season, he has established a foundation and an environment for sustainable success at Mount Allison. Coach Jeffrey represents the value system that Mount Allison Athletics is built upon and we are proud to have him as the leader of our football program”.
Coach Jeffrey is no stranger to Mount Allison after having been the quarterbacks coach, an offensive co-ordinator, and the special teams co-ordinator with the Mounties in 2006 and 2007.
He came to Mount Allison after being the head coach and offensive co-ordinator at Mayville State University (MSU) in North Dakota for four years (2002-2005). Before MSU in 2001, Jeffrey coached quarterbacks at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and at the University of San Diego (1998-2000). He also coached running backs at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD (1996-1997) and wide receivers at North Dakota’s Dickinson State University (1994-1995)
Jeffrey has his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Dickinson State University, and his Master’s degree in health, physical education and recreation from Northern State University in Aberdeen.
Kwame Osei (Toronto, ON) of the StFX X-Men is the Atlantic University Sport Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner and is the conference nominee for the Russ Jackson Award.
Named after CFL quarterback Russ Jackson, the award recognizes a Canadian university football player who excels on the field, in academics, and in community service.
Kwame, a co-chair of the StFX Varsity Council in 2009 and 2010, has been very active on campus since arriving at StFX.
He produced and helped co-ordinate the “StFX Athletes for Charity Event”. This event features StFX varsity athletes from every sports team participating in various activities such as a women’s touch football game, a women’s three point shootout contest, a men’s volleyball game, co-ed relay races by the varsity coaches, and a very popular men’s slam dunk contest. All proceeds from this event have been donated directly to the Alzheimer’s Society, Nova Scotia Kid Sport, and The Antigonish Recreation Project.
In 2010 Osei helped co-ordinate and participated in the “StFX Run Against Racism”, a campus event to promote awareness of problems arriving from racism in today’s society. In 2009-10 he volunteered 40 hours to the after school program “Fit For Life”, which is focused on promoting healthy active living to Antigonish boys and girls in grades three to six.
Kwame has volunteered for the “StFX Halloween Safe Cross Program”, a yearly event in which StFX athletes help local children cross the streets on Halloween night to keep them safe. He also gave a presentation to elementary students in Toronto about growing up in Rexdale, and overcoming the odds and obstacles that urban youth generally are faced with.
He is a founding member of “X-Change”, a male group on campus that is focused on taking initiatives against violence towards women. The group consists of five members, all of which are student leaders from different aspects of the campus community.
Kwame has been recognized numerous times for the impressive work he’s done while at StFX. He has received the “StFX Alumni Recognition Award” and the “StFX Athletics Community Excellence Award” and has been the captain of the football team the past two seasons.
“It is nice to see how much he has matured as a person,” said StFX head coach Gary Waterman. “Kwame’s development and maturation is what coming to a university such as StFX is all about
Larry Stewart of the Acadia Axemen is the recipient of the Phil Hughes Award as the Atlantic conference's Volunteer Coach of the Year.
Stewart is in his second year as a member of the Axemen coaching staff as an assistant offensive line coach.
A native of Smiths Falls, Ontario, Larry is a graduate of Saint Mary’s University where he played for the Huskies from 1978-82. Coach Stewart was an assistant offensive line coach for StFX in 1987 and a training camp guest coach in 1997. He then returned to his alma mater, the Huskies, to assist the offensive line coach from 1998-2004.
Larry currently resides in Wolfville with his wife Suzanne, an Acadia graduate who works at Acadia and his daughter Emily Anne who recently graduated from Acadia.
"Larry is a man who has accomplished everything he needs to accomplish in the game of football as a player and coach and yet his passion is such that he can’t stay away,” says Acadia head coach Jeff Cummins. "His passion is infectious and can be felt throughout our program, from the staff to the players, to our equipment guys and therapy staff. Everyone recognizes and feeds off Coach Larry’s energy. We are a better program because he is in it."
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All Atlantic University Sport major award winners automatically become finalists for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) awards to be handed out during Vanier Cup week in Laval, QC.
The 2010 Subway Loney Bowl is taking place this weekend in Halifax, N.S.
The Saint Mary's Huskies (5-3) host the Acadia Axemen (4-4, 1-0 playoffs) to battle for the Jewett Trophy, Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm live on EastLink Television. Saturday’s EastLink broadcast will feature a 30-minute pre-game show beginning at 12:30pm.
The winner will advance to the Uteck Bowl the following weekend, hosted this year by the 2010 Canada West champions (Either the Alberta Golden Bears or the Calgary Dinos).
Tickets for the 2010 Subway Loney Bowl are on sale now at the Saint Mary’s Tower front desk.