Idaho State punter David Harrington was named to the Walter Camp All-America Team.
Walter Camp Team Includes Eight From Sky
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OGDEN, Utah (Dec. 23, 2011) - Eight Big Sky Conference players from six institutions have been selected to the prestigious Walter Camp Football Championship Subdivision All-America Team, which was released Friday.
The Big Sky led all conferences in selections. Five players from the Southern Conference were tabbed, and the Missouri Valley placed three on the 25-player squad.
The team was selected by the head coaches and sports information directors of the Football Championship Subdivision schools and certified by the accounting and auditing firm, Marcum LLP.
Montana cornerback Trumaine Johnson and Idaho State punter David Harrington were two of the four repeat selections. Georgia Southern defensive lineman Brent Russell and New Hampshire linebacker Matt Evans were the others.
Johnson, a 6-foot-3 senior from Stockton, Calif., was named All-Big Sky Conference three times, and has been selected a First Team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association, and the Associated Press.
Harrington, a senior from Marina, Calif., has been tabbed First Team All-America by the AFCA, AP, and The Sports Network. Harrington led the nation in punting with an average of 48.7 yards per kick.
Three players from Eastern Washington, including senior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, were selected. Mitchell, one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, threw for 4,009 yards and 33 touchdowns while leading the Eagles’ to a 6-5 season. The senior from Katy, Texas, was named the Big Sky Offensive MVP, and has been named a First Team All-American by the AFCA and the AP. If he wins the Payton, he will also be on the Sports Network’s All-America First Team.
Junior wide receiver Nicholas Edwards and senior center Chris Powers were the other Eagles named to the squad. Powers, who missed time with an injury this season, was an All-American in 2010. He was the Big Sky’s All-Conference center. Edwards caught 19 touchdown passes, one shy of the Big Sky single-season record.
Weber State senior guard J.C. Oram, Portland State kicker Zach Brown, and Sacramento State defensive end Zack Nash were also selected to the Walter Camp Team.
Brown, a junior from Keizer, Ore., leads the nation in field goals per game at 2.18. He has been named a First Team All-America by the AFCA, the AP and The Sports Network.
Oram, a four-year starter from Marriott-Slaterville, Utah, has been named a First Team All-America by the AFCA and the AP.
Nash, who recorded 10.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss, was also named First Team by the Associated Press and the AFCA.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American Football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting All-America teams for the Football Bowl and Championship subdivisions.