Players on the All-Ohio Athletic Conference Team
BEREA, OHIO — Baldwin-Wallace College senior football defensive end Ryan Lewis (Holland/ Springfield) is this year's Ohio Athletic Conference Paul Hoernemann Award winner, symbolic of the OAC's Most Valuable Defensive Lineman. Lewis, a first-team All-OAC selection, is one of six Yellow Jackets who have been named to this year's All-OAC squad.
Joining Lewis on the All-OAC first-team are senior middle linebacker Joe George (Massillon/ Perry) and sophomore All-American punter Kevin Soflkiancs (Middleburg Heights/ Midpark). Senior outside linebacker Justin Princehorn (Massillon/ Washington) was a second-team All-OAC choice. Senior fullback Bryan Pickens (New London/ Norwalk St. Paul) and senior defensive tackle Matt Davis (Mineral Ridge) are honorable mention selections.
In addition, all six B-W players are strong students who each have a better than 3.0 grdae point average.
For Lewis, the Hornemann Award caps an outstanding career. His All-OAC accolade marks the third straight year that he has been named to the team, including as a second-team pick in 2003 and again in 2004. This season, Lewis was third on the team in tackles with 55, led the OAC in quarterback sacks with 12 and led the Yellow Jackets with 16 tackles for losses of 85 yards. For his career, Lewis had 167 total tackles, including 28 QB sacks and 46 stops for lost yardage. His 12 sacks this season and his 28 sacks for a career are second all-time at B-W. A year ago, Lewis also was a third-team All-North Region pick. In the classroom, Lewis carries a 3.1 grade point average.
George ended his career as a two-time All-OAC selection and as B-W's all-time leading tackler with 334 in his career. He also is just the second player in B-W history to have two 100-tackle seasons during a career, including having a team-leading 111 stops this fall. The four-year starter had seven sacks and 15 tackles for lost yardage. George was a second-team All-OAC choice a year ago. He also earned OAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for an 11-tackle performance in a 17-14 win against John Carroll University on Nov. 12. In the classroom, George carries a 3.6 grade average and is a candidate for ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-America honors.
Soflkiancs again was one of the top punters in Division III football as he averaged 39.8 yards per punt in 53 attempts. He also is a repeat first-team All-OAC selection. A year ago, he was a first-team All-OAC and first-team All-North Region pick who was then named as the North Region Special Teams Player of the Year and as a first-team Division III All-American. In addition this season, Soflkiancs had 11 punts land inside the 20-yard line and his long punt was 66 yards. Soflkiancs is a two-time OAC Special Teams Player of the Week this season and a four-time choice the past two years. In the classroom, Soflkiancs carries a 3.5 grade point average.
Princehorn earned All-OAC accolades for the third time in his career and the second time as a second-team choice. He joins George as two of the best linebackers to ever play at B-W. Princehorn was second on the team this season with 77 total tackles and ended his career third all-time at B-W with 260 total stops, including five sacks, 28.5 tackles for lost yardage and six interceptions. He had a career-high 104 tackles as a sophomore in 2003. A year ago, Princehorn was a first-team All-OAC pick and B-W's Ray E. Watts Most Valuable Defensive Player. In the classroom, Princehorn carries a 3.3 grade point average.
Pickens ended a solid four-year career at fullback. He was a key member of the offense who could block, run the football and catch it out of the backfield. Pickens had his finest season as a collegian this year as he ran the ball 43 times for 143 yards and one touchdown and caught a team-leading 22 passes for 149 yards and two TD. Pickens carries a 3.712 grade average in the classroom and is a candidate for ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-America honors.
Davis joined Pickens on the honorable mention squad and also had his finest season as a collegian. He was fourth on the team in total tackles with 51, including three quarterback sacks and 5.5 tackles for lost yardage. In the classroom, Davis carries a 3.4 grade average and is a candidate for ESPN THE MAGAZINE Academic All-America honors.
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