- DIVISION II -

Wingate’s Marquise Fleming Repeats as D2 All-American; Four NC Players Honored

JCSU’s Benari Black also first-team; Catawba’s LJ Turner and UNCP’s Jo Hayes make second-team

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AFCA D2 All-American football players from North Carolina: Wingate’s Marquise Fleming, UNC Pembroke’s Jo Hayes, Catawba’s LJ Turner and Johnson C. Smith’s Benari Black. Photos courtesy Wingate, UNCP, Catawba athletics. Benari Black photo by Eric Lusk | NC Football News

Wingate defensive end Marquise Fleming has earned Division II All-America honors for the second consecutive year, leading a group of four North Carolina players named to the 2024 AFCA D2 Coaches All-America Teams. Johnson C. Smith senior linebacker Benari Black joined Fleming on the first-team list, while Catawba junior running back L.J. Turner and UNC Pembroke graduate wide receiver Jo Hayes earned second-team recognition.

Fleming, a graduate student from Charlotte (Olympic HS), recently won the Gene Upshaw Award as the nation’s top lineman. He earned Super Region 2 Defensive Player of the Year honors, South Atlantic Conference Defensive MVP recognition and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.

His 2024 resume included 58 tackles, 19.5 tackles-for-loss, eight sacks, 14 quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Fleming is currently college football’s active leader in career tackles-for-loss (71.5) and career sacks (38).

Black, who prepped at West Charlotte (which is playing for a state title this weekend), was voted the CIAA’s Defensive Player of the Year. He led the conference in tackles (114), the only player to finish with more than 100 stops. Black also had 14.5 tackles-for-loss, three sacks, one fumble recovery and three pass break-ups.

Turner, from Palm Bay, Fla. (Heritage HS), had a breakout season for Catawba. He rushed for 1,224 yards (tops in the SAC) and 13 touchdowns despite only playing in eight games. He averaged 153 yards per game and seven yards per attempt. Turner, who announced in November that he intended to enter the transfer portal, is Catawba’s 10th AFCA All-American and the first since Kyle Kitchens in 2015-17.

Hayes, from Peanut City, Va. (Norcom HS), broke UNC Pembroke’s single-season record for most touchdown catches (17). He was the Mountain East leader in that category as well as total receiving yards (1,025) and receiving yards per game (93.2). Hayes joins punter Isaac Parks (2018) as UNCP’s only AFCA All-America selections.

Like Fleming, the other three North Carolina standouts – Black, Turner and Hayes – were first-team all-conference and made D2 All-Super Region teams.

2024 AFCA Division II Football All-Americans

First Team-Offense
Pos	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
QB	*Zach Zebrowski	6-2	208	R-Sr.	Central Missouri	Josh Lamberson	Woodbury, Minn. (East Ridge)
RB	Chavon Wright	5-8	200	R-Jr.	Charleston (W.Va.)	Quinn Sanders	Opa Locka, Fla. (Cedar Grove)
RB	#Jada Byers	5-7	185	Sr.	Virginia Union	Alvin Parker	Bridgeton, N.J. (St. Joseph’s)
WR	Reggie Retzlaff	6-3	212	Sr.	Colorado St.-Pueblo	Philip Vigil	Corona, Calif. (Centennial)
WR	Terrill Davis	6-0	180	Jr.	Central Oklahoma	Adam Dorrel	Choctaw, Okla. (Choctaw)
WR	Tyler Kahmann	6-3	206	Gr.	Emporia St. (Kan.)	Garin Higgins	Haysville, Kan. (Campus)
TE	Sam Pitz	6-6	245	Gr.	Minnesota-Duluth	Curt Wiese	Appleton, Wis. (West)
OL	Lawrence Hattar	6-5	335	Sr.	Ferris St. (Mich.)	Tony Annese	Livonia, Mich. (Churchill)
OL	Montriel Lee	6-2	300	Jr.	Central Oklahoma	Adam Dorrel	Del City, Okla. (Del City)
OL	Jake Dugger	6-3	300	Sr.	Harding (Ark.)	Paul Simmons	Searcy, Ark. (Harding Academy)
OL	Gabe Brown	6-4	320	Sr.	Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	Scott Wooster	Grand Rapids, Mich. (East Kentwood)
OL	Will Flowers	6-3	283	Gr.	Valdosta St. (Ga.)	Tremaine Jackson	LaGrange, Ga. (LaGrange)

First Team-Defense
Pos	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
DL	Trevon Lambert	6-3	205	Gr.	West Alabama	Brett Gilliland	Atmore, Ala. (Escambia County)
DL	Myles Menges	6-4	260	Sr.	Fort Hays St. (Kan.)	Chris Brown	Bushton, Kan. (Central Plains)
DL	Ricky Freymond	6-5	265	R-Jr.	Western Colorado	Jas Bains	Chino, Calif. (Ontario Christian)
DL	*Marquise Fleming	6-1	240	Gr.	Wingate (N.C.)	Rashaan Jordan	Charlotte, N.C. (Olympic)
LB	Benari Black	6-2	215	Sr.	Johnson C. Smith (N.C.)	Maurice Flowers	Charlotte, N.C. (North Meck)
LB	Clay Schulte	5-11	210	Sr.	Indianapolis (Ind.)	Chris Keevers	Oak Harbor, Ohio (Oak Harbor)
LB	Cam Hollobaugh	6-0	220	R-Jr.	Walsh (Ohio)	John Fankhauser	Warren, Ohio (JFK)
DB	Lashon Young	5-11	175	Fr.	Miles (Ala.)	Sam Shade	Sweet Water, Ala. (Sweet Water)
DB	Larry Elder	6-0	200	Gr.	Valdosta St. (Ga.)	Tremaine Jackson	Richmond, Va. (Fork Union Military)
DB	Josiah Johnson	5-11	210	Sr.	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	Todd Knight	Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Academy)
DB	Dion Kuinlan	5-10	190	Gr.	Assumption (Mass.)	Andy McKenzie	Bethpage, N.Y. (Plainedge)

First Team-Special Teams
Pos	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
PK	Elijah Guyton	6-1	185	R-So.	West Alabama	Brett Gilliland	Cullman, Ala. (Fairview)
P	Blake Doud	6-5	215	R-Jr.	Colorado School of Mines	Pete Sterbick	Parker, Colo. (Legend)
AP	DeJuan Bell	5-9	160	Gr.	Fort Valley State (Ga.)	Shawn Gibbs	North Augusta, S.C. (North Augusta)

Second Team-Offense
Pos	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
QB	Trinidad Chambliss	6-1	200	Jr.	Ferris St. (Mich.)	Tony Annese	Grand Rapids, Mich. (Forest Hills Northern)
RB	Ronald Blackman	5-11	190	Jr.	Tiffin (Ohio)	Brett Ekkens	Gahanna, Ohio (Lincoln)
RB	LJ Turner	5-9	195	Jr.	Catawba (N.C.)	Tyler Haines	Palm Bay, Fla. (Heritage)
WR	Jo Hayes	5-10	175	Gr.	North Carolina-Pembroke	Mark Hall	Peanut City, Va. (Norcom)
WR	Brice Peters	5-11	190	Sr.	Bemidji St. (Minn.)	Brent Bolte	White Bear Lake, Minn. (White Bear Lake)
WR	*Max McLeod	6-3	200	R-Sr.	Colorado School of Mines	Pete Sterbick	Seattle, Wash. (Bainbridge)
TE	Henry Dryden	6-3	220	R-Jr.	South Dakota Mines	Charlie Flohr	Boise, Idaho (Boise)
OL	Donovan McCollister	6-3	280	R-Sr.	Charleston (W.Va.)	Quinn Sanders	Nelsonville, Ohio (York)
OL	Yoesph Carter	6-4	295	Gr.	Findlay (Ohio)	Kory Allen	Cincinnati, Ohio (Princeton)
OL	Marshall Foerner	6-7	305	Sr.	Minnesota St.	Todd Hoffner	Plano, Ill. (Marmion Academy)
OL	Jaheim Bassham	6-2	280	Sr.	California (Pa.)	Gary Dunn	Erie, Pa. (Cathedral Prep)
OL	*Gabe Clark	6-6	320	R-Sr.	Central Missouri	Josh Lamberson	Lawrence, Kan. (Free State)

Second Team-Defense
Pos	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
DL	Gage Price	6-3	285	Sr.	Harding (Ark.)	Paul Simmons	Hamburg, Ark. (Hamburg)
DL	Dawson Scott	6-4	250	Sr.	Southern Arkansas	Brad Smiley	Mexia, Tex. (Mexia)
DL	Jamair Diaz	6-1	235	So.	Glenville St. (W.Va.)	Mike Kellar	Passaic, N.J. (Passaic)
DL	Jake Fisher	6-5	260	Sr.	Northwest Missouri St.	Rich Wright	Smithville, Mo. (Smithville)
LB	*Micah Cretsinger	6-2	240	Sr.	Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.)	Ryan Brady	Jackson, Mich. (Jackson)
LB	Garrett Cox	5-11	230	R-Sr.	Indiana (Pa.)	Paul Tortorella	Avondale, Pa. (Kennett)
LB	Colin Stuhr	6-0	215	R-Jr.	Colorado Mesa	Miles Kochevar	Littleton, Colo. (Dakota Ridge)
DB	*Peyton Buckley	6-1	207	Sr.	Augustana (S.D.)	Jerry Olszewski	Rice Lake, Wis. (Rice Lake)
DB	*Melvin Smith Jr.	6-1	185	Sr.	Southern Arkansas	Brad Smiley	Bossier City, La. (Airline)
DB	*Tanner Volk	6-1	189	Sr.	Central Washington	Chris Fisk	Portland, Ore. (Aloha)
DB	Cameren Grodhaus	6-2	210	Gr.	Davenport (Mich.)	Sparky McEwen	Wellsville, Ohio (Southern Local)

Second Team-Special Teams
Pos	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
PK	Brandon Perez	6-1	205	So.	East Central (Okla.)	John Litrenta	Crandall, Tex. (Crandall)
P	Brenden Lach	6-1	185	Sr.	Michigan Tech	Dan Mettlach	South Lyon, Mich. (South Lyon)
AP	Virgil Lemons	6-0	190	Sr.	West Florida	Kaleb Nobles	Deerfield Beach, Fla. (Deerfield Beach)

Eric Lusk Publisher & Editor

Eric Lusk started NC Football News in 2023. He's an old newspaper guy with a fondness for underdogs, redemption stories and the triple-option offense. He's a proud graduate of Jesse O. Sanderson High School and UNC's School of Journalism. He's thankful for God's mercy, family and second chances.

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