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Nov. 17, 2009
IUP senior Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was named to the All-PSAC West first team at both cornerback and as the return specialist to highlight a list of eight Crimson Hawk players selected to the all-conference squad by the division head coaches. Joining Owusu-Ansah on the first team are junior tailback Tobias Robinson and senior linebacker James Carson. Voted to the second team were senior offensive linemen Joe Tonga and Nate Tucker, junior wide receiver Mychal Skinner, junior kicker Craig Burgess and redshirt freshman nose tackle Carl Thornton. Owusu-Ansah is the All-PSAC West first team return specialist and moves up to first team cornerback after being on the second team last year. He ranks ninth in the nation in kickoff return average at 29.7 and 16th in punt return average at 12.5 while scoring five touchdowns, tied for the most in the country in all divisions. He had punt returns for touchdowns of versus California (53 yards), Edinboro (70) and Lock Haven (55) while scoring on kickoff returns versus Southern Connecticut State (89) and Edinboro (78). In his career, Owusu-Ansah scored a total of nine touchdowns, including four punt returns, three kickoff returns and one interception and one fumble return. Owusu-Ansah holds school records for punt return yards (788), punt return average (11.4) and kickoff return yards (1,282) and is third in kickoff return average (26.2). On defense he made 27 tackles and had two interceptions and broke up four other passes despite opponent's throwing away from his side of the field for the majority of the season. Owusu-Ansah broke onto the national scene a year ago when he intercepted eight passes, including seven over the final four games of the season. Robinson is on the first team for the second straight season. He ranks fourth in the PSAC and tied for 48th in the nation in rushing with an average of 82.4 yards per game while tying for the team lead with five touchdowns. He had four 100-yard games and was the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 169 yards in a win over Millersville. Last year Robinson was the nation's eighth-leading rusher at 120.3 yards per game and scored 13 touchdowns. He will enter his senior season in 2010 ranked ninth in school history with 2,179 yards and has six touchdown runs of 77 yards or more. Carson, who was on the All-PSAC West second team last year, led the Crimson Hawks in tackles this season with 74 and is tied for 19th in the PSAC with an average of 6.7 per game. He also paced the team with 10 tackles for loss, tied for the lead with 4.5 sacks and intercepted a pass. In his career, Carson had a total of 172 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and four interceptions. Tonga and Tucker were senior anchors of a young IUP offensive line, manning the left side of the Crimson Hawk front wall with Tonga at guard and Tucker at tackle. Tonga was in the first and only season at IUP after transferring from Florida State while Tucker made the transition from the defensive to offensive line after he came to IUP from Connecticut. Skinner led the Crimson Hawks with 35 receptions and 458 yards while scoring three touchdowns through the air. He had eight catches in consecutive games versus Millersville and Mercyhurst, scoring touchdowns in both games, while adding a touchdown catch on a season-long 60-yard grab versus Clarion. Skinner ranks 11th in school history with 103 receptions and 10th with 1,689 yards and tied for 10th with 13 touchdowns. Burgess converted 9 of 11 field goal attempts and all 32 extra point tries during the 2009 season to lead the Crimson Hawks with 59 points and earn all-conference honors for the second time. It marked the second straight season that he made 100 percent of his PATs, having converted 46 a year ago, and will bring a streak of 91 in a row into his senior season. His final field goal of the season was a 41-yarder with five seconds remaining in the game to give IUP a 34-32 victory over Kutztown and put Burgess atop the school record book with his 31st career field goal in 41 attempts. Earlier in the season he set another record by making 11 consecutive field goals. Burgess has made 108 of 109 extra point attempts in his three seasons at IUP and made a school-record nine versus both Millersville and Clarion in 2008. He ranks third in school history in points by kicking with 201 and is 10th in overall scoring regardless of position. Thornton moved into the starting lineup at the outset of his first season on the active roster and finished the year with 44 tackles, four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries. He ranked fifth on the team in tackles and is tied for fourth in the PSAC in fumble recoveries. He had two tackles for loss versus Clarion and a solo sack versus Millersville. |
