The South Atlantic Conference Announces 2023 Football All-Conference Teams and Major Award Winners

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference football major awards and all-conference selections were released today.

In addition to the All-SAC first team and All-Mountain and All-Piedmont Divisional second teams, the conference's major awards were announced.

Capturing SAC Offensive Player of the Year honors was Limestone's Dustin Noller. The Offensive Freshman of the Year was Wingate's Brooks Bentley. On the defensive side of the ball, Wingate's Marquise Fleming was named Defensive Player of the Year and Carson-Newman's Mekhi Brown was named Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Mars Hill's Leondre Andreas was named the Jacobs Blocking Trophy award winner and Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Mike Jacobs took home Ken Sparks Coach of the Year honors. The SAC Ken Sparks Coach of the Year Award is named in honor of long-time Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks, the winningest coach in SAC football history.

Noller, a senior quarterback from Rock Hill, S.C., led the Saints to an 8-3 overall record and a spot in the NCAA Division II postseason. He threw for over 2,700 yards this season and averages a league-leading 270 yards per game through the air. He threw for 24 touchdowns and ran for three more, finishing the year with 27 total trips to the endzone. He completed 208 of his 317 passes for 65.6 percent.

Bentley, a freshman quarterback from Venice, Fla., led the Bulldogs to a 7-1 record since taking over as the starter. He threw 1,851 yards for the year with 13 touchdowns. He also rushed for 141 yards and four more touchdowns. Over his final five games of the season, Bentley averaged 260 passing yards per game. He was named SAC WePlayed Sports Offensive Player of the Week and National Offensive Player of the Week this season.

Fleming, a junior defensive end from Charlotte, N.C., compiled 63 tackles, including 33 solo tackles and a nation-leading 14 sacks. He had 23.5 tackles for loss and forced three fumbles during the season.

Brown, a freshman linebacker from Wauchula, Fla., was named SAC WePlayed Sports Defensive Player of the Week twice this season. He finished the year with 71 total tackles, including 29 solo tackles, 8.5 sacks, and 13 tackles for loss. He had three fumble recoveries, two interceptions including one that was returned for a touchdown, and a blocked kick.

Andreas, a senior offensive lineman from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, led the Lions to an 8-2 overall record. As one of the top offensive linemen in the league, Andreas helped the Lions average 371.3 offensive yards per game. Mars Hill averaged over 200 yards through the air and 167.9 yards on the ground.

In his third season at the helm of the Lenoir-Rhyne football team, Jacobs led the Bears to the 2023 SAC Football Championship with a 10-1 overall record. The Bears rank second in the league in total offense (4,707 yards), first in scoring (419), and first in points per game (38.1). They finished the regular season ranked No. 11 nationally. 

Lenoir-Rhyne led the way with 13 all-conference selections, while Mars Hill had 12 all-conference selections, followed by Emory & Henry and Wingate with 10 all-conference selections each. Tusculum had nine all-conference selections and Catawba and Limestone each had seven all-conference picks. Barton had six all-conference selections, while Newberry had five selections, and rounding out the all-conference picks were Carson-Newman with four, UVA Wise with two, and Erskine with one.

2023 ALL-SAC FOOTBALL 

ALL-SAC OFFENSE

QB –  Dustin Noller, Limestone

RB –   Jordan Terrell, Barton

RB –   Tre Stewart, Limestone

RB –   Dwayne McGee, Lenoir-Rhyne

WR – Jelani Baker, Limestone

WR – Bo Pryor, Catawba

WR – Kameron Johnson, Barton

OL –   Leondre Andreas, Mars Hill

OL –   Alex Buschow, Barton

OL –   Shane Wells, Lenoir-Rhyne

OL –   JJ Martin, Limestone

OL –   Porfirio Acosta, Wingate

TE –   Beau DeBerry, Mars Hill

PK –   Caleb Bonesteel, Wingate

LS –    Blake Arnoult, Newberry

RS –   DeAree Rogers, Lenoir-Rhyne

ALL-SAC  DEFENSE

DL –   Marquise Fleming, Wingate

DL –   Andre Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne

DL –   Dajavon White, Tusculum

DL –   Damipi Lamboni, Mars Hill

LB –   Landon Honeycutt, Mars Hill

LB –   Jon Ross Maye, Lenoir-Rhyne

LB –   Shane Perry, Barton

LB –   Chandler Matthews, Limestone

DB –  Tre Morrison, Wingate

DB –  Monroe Sanderson, Mars Hill

DB –  Major Williams, Carson-Newman

DB –  Ryan Dolce, Tusculum

P –     Ethan Muncy, Emory & Henry

ALL- MOUNTAIN OFFENSE

QB –  JR Martin, Mars Hill

RB –   Jon Gullette, Mars Hill

RB –   Jaevon Gillespie, UVA Wise

RB –   J'Quan Anderson, Emory & Henry

WR – Malik Laurent, Mars Hill

WR – Tyler Burke, Tusculum

WR – Cam Peoples, Emory & Henry

OL –   Justin Bullock, Mars Hill

OL –   Ben Shellenback, Tusculum

OL –   Noah Sage, Emory & Henry

OL –   Christian Jones, Carson-Newman

OL –   Ethan Blank, UVA Wise

TE –   Will Shellenback, Tusculum

PK –   Trace Butcher, Emory & Henry

LS –   Josh Curray, Tusculum

RS –   Cam Peoples, Emory & Henry

ALL- MOUNTAIN DEFENSE

DL –   Boris Lewis, Mars Hill

DL –   Jacorey Long, Carson-Newman

DL –   Andre Crawley, Jr., Emory & Henry

DL –   Ean Rhea, Emory & Henry

LB –   Kaleb Lundy, Emory & Henry

LB –   Wesley Scott, Tusculum

LB –   Dexter Fitzpatrick, Mars Hill

LB –   Mekhi Brown, Carson-Newman

DB –  Addison Knicely, Emory & Henry

DB –  Tristan Rankin, Mars Hill

DB –  Ty'Korian Brown, Tusculum

DB –   Jermaine Witherspoon, Tusculum

P -       Dylan Beauford, Erskine

ALL- PIEDMONT OFFENSE

QB – Preston Brown, Catawba

RB –   Dwayne Wright, Newberry

RB –   Marquece Williams, Catawba

WR – Tremel Jones, Wingate

WR – Deondre Lester, Lenoir-Rhyne

WR – Drew Dixon, Limestone

OL –   Xavier Jennings, Lenoir-Rhyne

OL –   Blake Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne

OL –   Kody Varn, Newberry

OL –   Cameron Ivy-Young, Catawba

OL –   Blake Martin, Wingate

TE –   John Godwin, Lenoir-Rhyne

PK –   Bryson Sims, Catawba

LS –    Carson Keaton, Lenoir-Rhyne

RS –   Bo Pryor, Catawba

ALL- PIEDMONT DEFENSE

DL –   Daniel Morrison, Wingate

DL –   Devante Gambrell, Newberry

DL –   Damon Early, Limestone

DL –   Bryan Bordeaux, Wingate

LB –   Dontorian Best, Wingate 

LB –   AJ Valentine, Newberry

LB –   Percy King, Lenoir-Rhyne

LB –   Matt Smith, Barton

DB –  C'Darius Kelley, Lenoir-Rhyne

DB –  Dequan Mosley, Wingate

DB –  Deno Wardlow, Catawba

DB –  James Ussery, Lenoir-Rhyne

P –     Bear Huggins, Barton

Offensive Freshman of the Year
Brooks Bentley, Wingate

Offensive Player of the Year
Dustin Noller, Limestone

Defensive Freshman of the Year
Mekhi Brown, Carson-Newman

Defensive Player of the Year
Marquise Fleming, Wingate

Jacobs Blocking Trophy
Leondre Andreas, Mars Hill

Ken Sparks Coach of the Year
Mike Jacobs, Lenoir-Rhyne