Seven North Carolina players earned national recognition this week as the American Football Coaches Association released its 2025 Division II All-America Team.
Three made the first team: Livingstone’s Kenyon Garner, Wingate’s Jaylen Himes and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Tye Roberson. Second-teamers included Johnson C. Smith’s Jamari Mason and Deandre Proctor, Catawba’s Avery Swinton and UNC Pembroke’s Isi Etute.
First-Team All-Americans
WR Jaylen Himes, Wingate
Freshman | Statesville, NC (Providence Day School)
Himes delivered one of the most productive freshman seasons in Division II football, catching 66 passes for 1,185 yards and 11 touchdowns. He led the South Atlantic Conference in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and yards per game (99.5), earning SAC Freshman of the Year honors in the process.
DL Kenyon Garner, Livingstone
Sophomore | Okeechobee, FL (James S. Rickards HS)
Garner was cited by the AFCA as the top defender in Division II after a dominant season for Livingstone. He led all of D2 football with 28 tackles for loss and finished among the national leaders with 15 sacks. Garner was named CIAA Defensive Player of the Year and earned the Willie Davis Defensive Player of the Year award from BOXTOROW.
AP Tye Roberson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Senior | Laurens, SC (Laurens HS)
Roberson set a Lenoir-Rhyne program record by averaging 41.9 yards per kick return. He returned three kickoffs for touchdowns, including a 98-yard return against Anderson and a 95-yarder versus Catawba. Lenoir-Rhyne notes Roberson is the 97th All-American in school history.
Second-Team All-Americans
WR DeAndre Proctor, Johnson C. Smith
Senior | Elizabeth City, NC (Northeastern HS)
Proctor led both Johnson C. Smith and the CIAA with 78 receptions for 1,007 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 83.9 receiving yards per game.
OL Jamari Mason, Johnson C. Smith
Junior | Carrollton, GA (Carrollton HS)
The CIAA Lineman of the Year anchored an offense that averaged 394 yards per game, ranking among the conference leaders in both rushing and passing.
OL Avery Swinton, Catawba
Senior | Jacksonville, FL (Creekside HS)
The South Atlantic Conference Jacobs Blocking Trophy winner and Gene Upshaw Award finalist helped power Catawba’s resurgence. The Indians won seven games and led the SAC in total offense at 459.5 yards per game. Swinton is a two-time all-conference selection.
DL Isi Etute, UNC Pembroke
Redshirt Junior | Norfolk, VA (Frank W. Cox HS)
The Conference Carolinas Defensive Player of the Year led the league with 15 tackles for loss and five sacks, finishing the season with 50 tackles. Etute becomes UNC Pembroke’s third AFCA All-American.
2025 AFCA Division II All-America Team
| D2 All-Americans | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Team-Offense | |||||||
| Pos | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| QB | Gavin Sukup | 6-1 | 188 | Sr. | UIndy | Chris Keevers | Seward, Neb. (Seward) |
| RB | Curtis Allen | 6-2 | 215 | Sr. | Virginia Union | Alvin Parker | Petersburg, Va. (Prince George) |
| RB | Jeffery Jones | 5-9 | 175 | Fr. | New Mexico Highlands | Kurt Taufa’asau | St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) |
| WR | Hogan Wasson | 5-10 | 180 | R-So. | Central Missouri | Josh Lamberson | Colleyville, Tex. (Colleyville) |
| WR | Jaylen Himes | 5-9 | 177 | Fr. | Wingate | Rashaan Jordan | Statesville, N.C. (Providence Day) |
| WR | TJ Chukwurah | 5-11 | 190 | R-Jr. | Black Hills St. | Josh Breske | Arlington, Tex. (Juan Seguin) |
| TE | Luke Dehnicke | 6-3 | 205 | R-Fr. | Minnesota-Duluth | Curt Wiese | Andover, Minn. (Andover) |
| OL | Slade Edwards | 6-2 | 290 | R-Sr. | Central Washington | Chris Fisk | Yelm, Wash. (Yelm) |
| OL | *Montriel Lee | 6-2 | 285 | Sr. | Central Oklahoma | Adam Dorrel | Del City, Okla. (Del City) |
| OL | Joe Cooper | 6-7 | 320 | R-Sr. | Slippery Rock | Shawn Lutz | East Berlin, Pa. (Bermudian Springs) |
| OL | Ryne Buttz | 6-4 | 302 | Sr. | UIndy | Chris Keevers | Decatur, Ill. (Mount Zion) |
| OL | Tim Anderson | 6-6 | 305 | Sr. | Ferris St. | Tony Annese | Rochester, Mich. (Adams) |
| First Team-Defense | |||||||
| Pos | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| DL | Clayton Power | 6-2 | 283 | Sr. | Northwest Missouri St. | John McMenamin | Stilwell, Kan. (Blue Valley) |
| DL | Kenyon Garner | 6-4 | 230 | So. | Livingstone | Sean Gilbert | Okeechobee, Fla. (James S. Rickards) |
| DL | Michael Shimek | 6-1 | 246 | Sr. | Ashland | Doug Geiser | North Canton, Ohio (Hoover) |
| DL | Ean Rhea | 6-2 | 235 | Jr. | Emory & Henry | Quintin Hunter | Glade Spring, Va. (Patrick Henry) |
| LB | Landon Boss | 6-1 | 230 | Jr. | Emporia St. | Garin Higgins | Osage City, Kan. (Osage City) |
| LB | Ja’Kobe Clinton | 6-2 | 230 | R-Sr. | West Florida | Kaleb Nobles | Sanford, Fla. (Seminole) |
| LB | Clark Griffin | 5-9 | 185 | Sr. | Harding | Paul Simmons | Mountain Brook, Ala. (Mountain Brook) |
| DB | Jordan Rogers | 5-10 | 188 | R-Sr. | Pittsburg St. | Tom Anthony | Bellmead, Tex. (La Vega) |
| DB | Xavier Walton | 5-10 | 200 | Jr. | Angelo St. | Jeff Girsch | San Antonio, Tex. (Harlan) |
| DB | Darnell Stephens | 6-1 | 186 | Gr. | Fort Valley St. | Marlon Watson | Conyers, Ga. (Rockdale County) |
| DB | Justin Payoute | 5-7 | 170 | Sr. | Ferris St. | Tony Annese | Miami Gardens, Fla. (Champagnat Catholic) |
| First Team-Special Teams | |||||||
| Pos | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| PK | Manaki Watanabe | 6-0 | 182 | R-Fr. | Ashland | Doug Geiser | Novi, Mich. (South Lyon East) |
| P | Brodie Eisenbraun | 6-2 | 195 | R-Sr. | Chadron St. | Jay Long | Sturgis, S.D. (Brown) |
| AP | Tye Roberson | 5-8 | 185 | Sr. | Lenoir-Rhyne | Doug Socha | Laurens, S.C. (Laurens) |
| LS | Graham Carter | 5-11 | 195 | Sr. | Missouri S&T | Andy Ball | Liberty, Mo. (North) |
| Second Team-Offense | |||||||
| Pos | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| QB | Jack Strand | 6-5 | 240 | Sr. | MSU Moorhead | Steve Laqua | Bloomer, Wis. (Bloomer) |
| RB | Andrew Miller | 6-1 | 225 | Jr. | Harding | Paul Simmons | Searcy, Ark. (Harding Academy) |
| RB | JayJay Jordan | 5-11 | 180 | Jr. | Slippery Rock | Shawn Lutz | Reading, Pa. (Berks Catholic) |
| WR | *Reggie Retzlaff | 6-3 | 215 | R-Sr. | Colorado St.-Pueblo | Philip Vigil | Corona, Calif. (Centennial) |
| WR | Deandre Proctor | 6-3 | 210 | Sr. | Johnson C. Smith | Maurice Flowers | Elizabeth City, N.C. (Northeastern) |
| WR | Gage Florence | 5-10 | 185 | Sr. | MSU Moorhead | Steve Laqua | Sawyer, N.D. (Velva) |
| TE | Eddie Burgess | 6-4 | 240 | Sr. | Upper Iowa | Jason Hoskins | Montezuma, Iowa (Montezuma) |
| OL | Kaleb McCullough | 6-2 | 282 | So. | Northwest Missouri St. | John McMenamin | Humboldt, Iowa (Humboldt) |
| OL | Jamari Mason | 6-1 | 310 | Jr. | Johnson C. Smith | Maurice Flowers | Carrollton, Ga. (Carrollton) |
| OL | Daniel Porisch | 6-2 | 295 | Sr. | Northern St. | Mike Schmidt | Edina, Minn. (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) |
| OL | Ryan Schernecke | 6-8 | 330 | R-Sr. | Kutztown | Jim Clements | Hatboro, Pa. (Upper Moreland) |
| OL | Avery Swinton | 6-2 | 285 | Sr. | Catawba | Tyler Haines | Jacksonville, Fla. (Creekside) |
| Second Team-Defense | |||||||
| Pos | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| DL | Owen Seaver | 6-3 | 275 | Gr. | Angelo St. | Jeff Girsch | Lampasas, Tex. (Lampasas) |
| DL | *Ricky Freymond | 6-5 | 265 | R-Sr. | Western Colorado | Jas Bains | Chino, Calif. (Ontario Christian) |
| DL | Tyler King | 6-5 | 250 | R-So. | Central Washington | Chris Fisk | Happy Valley, Ore. (Clackamas) |
| DL | Isi Etute | 6-4 | 225 | R-Jr. | UNC Pembroke | Mark Hall | Norfolk, Va. (Frank W. Cox) |
| LB | Tristan Exline | 6-1 | 215 | Jr. | UT Permian Basin | Kris McCullough | China Spring, Tex. (China Spring) |
| LB | Brandon Hile | 6-2 | 225 | Sr. | Kutztown | Jim Clements | Winfield, Pa. (Selinsgrove) |
| LB | Logan O’Brien | 6-4 | 225 | R-Sr. | Chadron St. | Jay Long | Kearney, Neb. (Catholic) |
| DB | Rance Conner | 5-11 | 190 | Sr. | Valdosta St. | Graham Craig | Miami, Fla. (Washington) |
| DB | Kalen Frazier | 6-0 | 196 | Sr. | Indiana (Pa.) | Paul Tortorella | New Castle, Del. (Kennett Square) |
| DB | Klayton Batten | 5-10 | 185 | Gr. | Shepherd | Ernie McCook | Waldorf, Md. (St. Charles) |
| DB | Shawn Collins | 6-2 | 220 | Sr. | Emory & Henry | Quintin Hunter | Salem, Va. (Salem) |
| Second Team-Special Teams | |||||||
| Pos | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| PK | Ty Quintois | 5-11 | 170 | Jr. | East Stroudsburg | Jimmy Terwilliger | Harleysville, Pa. (Souderton Area) |
| P | Mo Foketi | 6-1 | 200 | So. | Northeastern St. | Darrin Chiaverini | College Station, Tex. (A&M Consolidated) |
| AP | Deontae Williams | 6-0 | 180 | So. | California (Pa.) | Gary Dunn | Pittsburgh, Pa. (Woodland Hills) |
| LS | Josh Hildebrand | 6-3 | 240 | R-Fr. | Colorado Mines | Bob Stitt | Cecil, Ala. (Montgomery Catholic) |
