Grambling State DE Christian Anthony and Univ. Arkansas-Pine Bluff KR Mareo Howard highlight the list of six SWAC players named to the Sports Network FCS All-America football team.
Anthony and Howard each earned first-team All-America. Anthony’s GSU teammate, PR Kiare Thompson, earned second-team All-America. WR Juamorris Stewart and FS Jason House of Southern, and SS Anthony Beck of Prairie View A&M all earned third-team honors.
Anthony, the SWAC’s Defensive Player of the Year, led the SWAC in solo tackles (55) as he tied for sixth in the conference with 76 tackles. Anthony was third in the conference in sacks (8.0), second in tackles for loss (15.0), and was the only defensive linemen in the country with five interceptions, two of them returned for touchdowns. He also led the SWAC in forced fumbles (five) and fumbles recovered (three).
Howard led the SWAC and the nation in kickoff returns with a 31.0-yard average on 13 attempts. He scored one touchdown on a 95-yard kickoff return vs. Grambling on Nov. 7, the longest kickoff return in the SWAC in 2009.
Thompson led the SWAC and ranked third in the nation in punt returns, averaging 19.38 yards per return on 21 attempts. His longest return of 45 yards vs. Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 31 was the third-longest in the conference this season.
Stewart led the SWAC in receptions (80), receiving yards (1,022) and touchdowns (11) this past season. Nationally, he ranked eighth in receptions per game (7.36), ninth in receiving yards per game (93.45), and tied for ninth in touchdown receptions.
House led the nation in interceptions with 10, including a streak of eight consecutive games with at least one pick in games 2-9. House, who also led the nation with 230 interception return yards, ended the season with a two-interception game at Texas Southern on Dec. 5, returning one 40 yards for a touchdown. House’s interception total is the most in the SWAC since Alabama State’s Antwan Hill picked off 10 passes in 2002.
Beck, a four-year starter at safety, Beck capped off an impressive career at Prairie View as he holds the school record for interceptions returned for touchdowns (3) in addition to picking off 11 passes and tallying over 160 tackles.
