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Nov. 13, 2008
IUP senior inside linebacker Terrence Jackson has been named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, heading a group of 12 Crimson Hawks named to the all-conference team. Jackson was joined on the All-PSAC West first team defense by Anthony Guerra, Rob Plowman and Andre Henderson. First team offensive players were Tobias Robinson, Jim O'Rourke and Ken Witter. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was the first team as a return specialist and a second team defensive back. Also on the second team were Mike Wojcik, James Carson, Donta Green and Craig Burgess. Jackson (Media/Penncrest) is on the all-conference team for the fourth time in as many seasons, including three first team appearances, and was the 2005 PSAC West Rookie of the Year. He is the first IUP player to receive top defensive honors in the division since cornerback Joey Flora received the award in 2001. Jackson led IUP in tackles for the third consecutive season with 69 and was 11th in the league with an average of 7.7 tackles per game. He added 11 tackles for loss, including two sacks, and broke up three passes. He had a season-high 10 tackles versus Slippery Rock and Gannon. Jackson played in 40 of 42 games during his career and moved into the starting lineup early in his freshman season. He posted totals of 271 tackles, 38 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks while intercepting five passes. He spearheaded an IUP defense that led the PSAC and ranked in the top five in the nation in scoring (11.4), rushing (76.1) and total (235.7) defense and was second in the conference in passing defense (159.6). The Crimson Hawks allowed only 3.5 yards per play and opponents reached the 20-point mark only twice in 10 games. Robinson (Lebanon/Cedar Crest) bounced back from a broken leg that sidelined him for the entire 2007 season by rushing for 1,203 yards, leading the PSAC and ranking ninth in the nation with an average of 120.3 yards per game. A sophomore, he is the ninth running back in IUP history to post a 1,000-yard season and scored 13 rushing touchdowns, including scoring runs of 89, 84, 79 and 77 this season. Robinson had six 100-yard games and rushed for 229 yards versus Clarion, tied for the fifth-highest total in school history, and had 215 versus Kutztown. No IUP runner has had two 200-yard games in one season since James Suber had four in 1996. Robinson added 34 receiving yards and 98 kickoff return yards and ranked second in the conference and 23rd nationally with 133.5 all-purpose yards per game. Witter (Norristown/Norristown) finished his career as one of the most productive wide receivers in IUP history. With 66 receptions for 773 yards and seven touchdowns this season, Witter stands third in the Crimson Hawk record book with 153 catches, eighth with 1,935 yards and tied for sixth with 17 touchdowns. He has two of the three highest single-season reception totals ever at IUP, having caught 67 last year to rank behind only Len Pesotini, who had 74 in 1975. Witter burst onto the scene near the end of his junior season last year, catching 40 passes for 488 yards and eight touchdowns in the final four games of the season, including two playoff games. In IUP's loss to Shepherd, Witter had 13 catches for 176 yards and tied a school record with four touchdown grabs and earned first team all-conference honors for the first time in his career. Guerra (Belle Vernon/Belle Vernon) overcame an early season finger injury that forced him to miss the opening two games of the season to anchor the interior of the IUP defensive line. The senior defensive tackle had 22 tackles, seven tackles for loss and three sacks while mostly drawing double teams. Guerra also recovered a pair of fumbles. In his career, Guerra played in 36 games and made 145 tackles, 35 of which came behind the line of scrimmage, and 12.5 sacks. He was also all-conference second team in 2006 and first team a year ago. Plowman (Apollo/Kiski Area) is also a three-time all-conference player and is on the first team for the second time. The senior rush linebacker was second on the team in tackles for loss with 12 and led the Crimson Hawks with five sacks, giving him a total of 23 quarterback takedowns in his four-year career. Plowman had 48 tackles on the year, including 13 in the final two games of the season. Plowman played in all 42 games at IUP after transferring from West Virginia and had 199 tackles and 55 tackles for loss. Henderson (Erie/Strong Vincent) returned to the IUP roster after missing the past two seasons and made an immediate impact from his free safety position. A sophomore, Henderson played in eight games before missing the final two contests with an ankle injury and made 59 tackles, second on the team, and ranked 14th in the PSAC with 7.4 per game. He intercepted two passes and broke up two others to average 1.0 passes defensed per game, tied for fourth in the conference. Henderson had three straight games with double figures in tackles, including 18 versus California that was just two shy of the school record. He had 79 tackles as a freshman in 2005, including a 17-tackle game versus Edinboro. Owusu-Ansah (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) came up one shy of the school record for interceptions in a season with eight to lead the PSAC and rank second in the nation. He is tied for first in the country with an average of 0.80 interceptions per game. Owusu-Ansah had seven picks in the final four games of the season, including three versus Gannon and two each versus Mercyhurst and Kutztown. The three interceptions versus Gannon marked the first time an IUP player had accomplished that feat since Reece Brown did so in a playoff victory over Virginia Union in 1991. Owusu-Ansah added a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown in the opener at C.W. Post and had 222 return yards for the season to set a school record. Adding in his 10 breakups, Owusu-Ansah averaged 1.8 passes defensed per game, the fourth-highest mark in the nation. In the return game, Owusu-Ansah was fourth in the conference and 25th nationally with an average of 12.1 yards per punt return and placed fifth in the league and 38th in the country with an average of 24.5 yards per kickoff return. O'Rourke (Coraopolis/West Allegheny), a junior guard and Wojcik (New Kensington/Valley), a senior tackle, provided a veteran presence on an offensive line that helped IUP produce one of the top offensive seasons in school history. O'Rourke entered the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2006 and has split time between guard and center, starting all 22 games over the past two seasons. He is on the all-conference first team for the second straight year. Wojcik has also started every game the last two years as the starting right tackle and a year ago was on the field for 910 snaps from scrimmage, the most on the team. Behind O'Rourke and Wojcik, the Crimson Hawks averaged 38.5 points and 442.1 yards of total offense per game, with both figures ranking second in school history. IUP put up 30 or more points in seven of its 10 games and twice scored better than 60 points. In addition, the line led by O'Rourke and Wojcik allowed quarterback Andrew Krewatch to be sacked only eight times all year. Carson (Erie/Cathedral Prep), a junior inside linebacker, and Green (Pittsburgh/Westinghouse), a senior drop linebacker, are both on the all-conference team for the first time. Carson had 36 tackles, five tackles for loss and a sack this season and made two interceptions versus Gannon. He also had an interception last season in the playoff win over West Chester. In his three-year career, Carson has played in 30 of 32 games and has 98 tackles and five sacks. Green led the Crimson Hawks in tackles for loss with 13, had a total of 50 stops on the year and recorded two sacks. He had a career-high 11 tackles with three behind the line of scrimmage versus both C.W. Post and Edinboro and returned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown versus Lock Haven. Green played three seasons at IUP after transferring from Bethany and made 91 tackles in 28 career games. Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Medina) led the PSAC and was 13th in the nation in scoring with 94 points and paced the conference and was fourth in the country in field goals made with 16. He was second in the PSAC in field goal percentage at 72.7 percent. The 16 field goals were just two shy of the IUP single-season record set by Mike Geary in 1993 and matched by Jon Ruff two years later. Burgess tied the school mark with four field goals versus Gannon and set a record with nine extra points in a game, doing so versus Millersville and Clarion. His 46 made PATs is the school record for most makes in a season without a miss. Burgess is 22 of 30 in field goals and 76 of 77 in extra points in his two seasons, ranking sixth in IUP history for made field goals and tied for sixth in successful PATs. |
