November 21, 2015
ASC FOOTBALL: MARSHALL, Texas (11/20/15) - It was a championship year for the East Texas Baptist University football team and now they are receiving individual awards for that team accomplishment. ETBU has 18 players that earned an American Southwest Conference award as five were named to the first team. Head coach Joshua Eargle was then awarded the "Coach of the Year" and Bryce Hale was named to the Outstanding Sportsmen "Team of the Year."
"It's very rewarding as a coach to see so many Tigers receive recognition for their hard work. For ETBU to be represented with nine All ASC first or second team selections is just further proof of how far these young men have come on the football field, and to also have eight more Tigers receive honorable mention speaks to the bright future ahead of us a program," says Eargle.
In his third year at ETBU, Eargle has taken his team from three wins in 2013 to winning an ASC Championship this year. He guided ETBU to a 7-3 record with a 4-1 record in the ASC and received their first national ranking since 2004. Heading into the final week of play, ETBU was 23rd in the D3football.com poll, receiving votes in the AFCA national poll, and 10th in the NCAA regional poll. ETBU had their first winning season and defeated their first nationally ranked opponent (#8 Hardin-Simmons) in 10 years.
Eargle says, "I was always told by my mentors to surround myself with extraordinary people. Anytime you receive an award of this magnitude, it really speaks to what a great staff we have here at ETBU. These coaches pour so much more into our young me than just football. It's exciting for me to just be a part of what is happening right now at ETBU and in our football program. Great days are ahead for this university."
Earning All-ASC first-team were offensive players Kendall Roberson, Tyler Bates, Josh Warbington, and Tyler Scott and on defense was C.J. Johnson.
Roberson receives his second straight first-team award in the ASC. He leads the NCAA Division III with 24 rushing touchdowns and is third in overall rushing with 1,626 yards and fourth in rushing yards per game (162.6). He led the ASC in rushing touchdowns, rushing yards, and scoring (15.2 ppg). He broke the ETBU and ASC single game rushing record with 420 yards vs. Belhaven and then recorded a second single game record for the program carrying the ball 50 times vs. Hardin-Simmons. He finishes his career with 30 rushing touchdowns which is first all-time at ETBU. He is second in yards per carry (6.7), fourth in yards (2,255), and fifth in attempts (335). In two years he has seven games with over 100 yards rushing with one 200-yard game and one 400-yard game. His 420-yard rushing game is eighth all-time in NCAA.
Bates ends his career with fourth All-ASC award and second straight first-team recognition. In 2013 he was All-ASC second team as a wide receiver and for special teams. Last year he made the first team as a wide receiver. He has been one of the top receivers in the nation this year and at one point led the nation in receiving touchdowns. He finished the year with 11 touchdowns caught and 1,251 yards which is a new ETBU single season record for yards receiving. He averaged 125.1 yards per game receiving and 7.4 yards per catch. In the NCAA he was seventh in yards receiving and yards per game. For his career, he rewrote the record book for receiving at ETBU. He holds the program records for receptions (256), yards (3,454), touchdowns (33), and punt return yards (508). In in a single season he holds the record for receptions (84 in 2014), receiving yards (1,251 in 2015) and single game records for touchdowns caught with four (2015 vs. Texas College) and receptions (17 in 2013 vs. Howard Payne). He is second in punt return attempts (41) and return yards per punt (12.4), third in kick return yards per return (25.1), fourth in kick return yards (904), and sixth in kick return attempts (36). In 15 games he has 100 receiving yards or more with three of them 200 yards or more. This year he recorded 274 yards receiving vs. Texas College which was just three yards shy of breaking the ETBU single game record set in 2004. He has been named an ASC Player of the Week three times and on the D3football.com team of the week, once.
Warbington earns his first All-ASC first-team award and it is the second year in a row being named All-ASC as he was second-team last year. His legacy at quarterback will be felt for a long time as he has his name in almost every passing record for ETBU. He finished the year throwing for 2,180 yards and 17 touchdowns with a 157.5 passing efficiency completing 64.1 percent of his passes. He led the ASC in passing average per game (242.2) and was third in efficiency. In three games this year he threw for over 300 yards and had one 400-yard game. In his career, he has 11 games in which he threw for over 300 yards in which six of those were 400 yards or more. In program history he owns eight of the top 10 passing games overall. For his career he finishes with and owns the ETBU passing records of 7,636 yards passing, 552 completions on 857 attempts, 62 touchdowns and a 64.4 completion percentage. He owns to single game records for pass completions (37), twice, and passing touchdowns of five, twice. In a single season he has the records for completions (249 in 2014), passing yards (3,580 in 2014), passing touchdowns (30 in 2014), completion percentage (64.1 in 2015), and efficiency rating (157.5 in 2015). He has helped the ETBU offense rewrite 19 records combined in single game and season the past three years. He has been the ASC player of the week three times and was a Gagliardi Trophy semi-finalist in 2014.
In his first year at ETBU, Johnson gained All-ASC first-team status. He finished second on the team in tackling with 55 tackles and led the team with 13 tackles for loss for 68 yards. He was twice named the ASC defensive player of the week and also made it on the D3football.com team of the week once. He had a career day vs. then #8 Hardin-Simmons University with a career-high 12 tackles, three sacks, and four tackles-for-loss. In the win over Texas College, he came away with his first-ever pick-6 going 75 yards. He totaled 6.5 sacks on the year and one forced fumble.
Scott rounds out the five players being named to the first-team. He made the team as an offensive tackle and was a part of one of the top offenses in the ASC and helped make holes and protect three of the top players in the nation in Roberson, Bates, and Warbington. The ETBU offense broke three records this year overall and Scott was a major part of that. He was on the offensive line that blocked for Roberson?s 420-yard game vs. Belhaven University.
Earning All-ASC second-team status is Tony Jones (offensive line), Xavier Davis (defensive line), Caleb Taylor (linebacker), and Sam Williams (defensive back). Jones helped to protect and block some of the best players in NCAA Division III and was also a part of Roberson's 420-yard rushing day vs. Belhaven. Davis finished the year with 35 tackles as 12.5 were for a loss for 50 yards. He also had seven sacks and two forced fumbles. He was also on the D3football.com team of the week, too. Taylor was third on the team in tackling with 47 tackles and produced 3.5 tackles-for-loss. He had a season high eight tackles vs. Southwestern and seven vs. Hardin-Simmons. Williams led the team with four interceptions for 157 yards and one touchdown. He had 39 tackles with five passes defended. He had his first pick-6 vs. Texas Lutheran going 96 yards for the score.
ETBU had eight players gain honorable mention status. On offense they are Cody Gandy (TE), Torrence Leonard (OL), Bryston Parker (C), Jourdan McNeill (RB), Ryan Travis (K), and Dominic Haggerty (RS) while on defense it is Marcus Harris (DB), and Jarrell Williams (DB).
ETBU loses just nine seniors and returns a majority of their championship team for 2016.