Sports
Ohio Lands 11 All-MAC Selections
By: Thomas Garverick
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Things as of late have not gone their way, but that hasn’t taken away what the Ohio Bobcats (8-4, 5-3) have accomplished this year.
The Bobcats tied with Western Michigan for the most selections in the Mid-American Conference with 12. RS senior linebacker Quentin Poling was a First Team Defense selection.
The second team was filled with Bobcats. For Second Team All-MAC Offense, there were six total Ohio players. Sophomore quarterback Nathan Rourke, senior center Jake Pruehs, redshirt junior guard Joe Anderson, redshirt junior tackle Joe Lowery, redshirt junior wide receiver Papi White and redshirt junior running back A.J. Ouellette.
White was also named to Third Team All-MAC for his ability on special teams as a punt returner.
On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt senior linebacker Chad Moore and redshirt sophomore safety Javon Hagan were named Second Team All-MAC Defense.
Joining White on the Third Team was redshirt senior cornerback Bradd Ellis and redshirt sophomore placekicker Louie Zervos.
For Poling, he cemented his legacy as one of the best defenders to wear the green and white.
He led the team with 102 total tackles — 47 of them being solo stops. He owns the solo stops record at Ohio with 209 for his career.
He also led the team in tackles for loss (12.5) and sacks (5.5) this year.
Rourke made quite the introduction in the MAC this year. He set the single-season record for most rushing touchdowns (21) by a player in Ohio history.
He nearly had 3,000 total yards of offense, 2,018 of it via the air on 149-274 attempts and added another 882 yards on the ground. Those 882 yards are the best by any signal caller in Division I
Ouellette needs 20 yards in the team’s final game of the season to break 1,000 yards. He’s done that on just 184 carries (5.32 YPC) and had seven rushing touchdowns. Ouellete broke the century mark four times this season.
Despite missing four games, White led the recieving corps in yards (525) and yards per reception (16.4). He also averaged 6.9 yards per punt return with a long of 20.
What else can you say about Pruehs, Anderson and Lowery. They started every single game to help anchor the Bobcats offense into the record books. The Bobcats’ offense set school records in total points scored (467), points per game (38.9) and rushing touchdowns (40) while also running for nearly a total of 3,000 yards.
Hagan was right behind Poling in a couple defensive categories. He ranked second on the team with 76 tackles and 39 solo stops. He also forced two turnovers — a fumble and an interception.
Trickling behind Hagan was Moore, who was third on the squad with 74 tackles and 37 solo stops. What seperated him from the rest of his guys in the secondary was turnovers. He led the team with three interceptions.
Ellis broke the Ohio record for most pass breaks up in a season (20). He took both of his interceptions back the other way for touchdowns.
Zervos kept doing his thing. He wasn’t called upon too much this year, but made the most of his opportunities. He went 15-18 on field goals and missed one PAT on 57 attempts.
The Bobcats conclude their season hoping to end their two-game skid on Dec. 22 in the 2017 Bahamas Bowl when they face off with Alabama-Birmingham on ESPN.