Wingate football won a conference championship this past weekend and swept three of the South Atlantic’s top individual awards on Thursday.
Defensive end Marquise Fleming repeated as the D2 league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Offensive lineman Erwil Anthony nabbed the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, while first-year head coach Rashaan Jordan won Ken Sparks Coach of the Year.
Other top individual awards went to Limestone quarterback Dustin Noller (Offensive Player of the Year), Barton linebacker E’Lla Boykin (Defensive Freshman of the Year) and Carson-Newman’s Turk Daniels (Offensive Freshman of the Year).
Fleming continues a trend of Wingate players being voted the conference’s top defender. The Bulldogs have claimed defensive MVP honors five times in the past eight seasons, including DJ Horne (2022), Cardell Rawlings (2018) and Ray Edwards (2016).
Fleming is only the third player in conference history to earn the award back-to-back. Fleming, from Charlotte (Olympic HS), holds the D2 lead in tackles-for-loss this season with 19.5. He also has posted eight sacks, 14 quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles.
Fleming ranks second-best in SAC history in career sacks with 37. He needs just one more to tie the league mark. His 71.5 career tackles-for-loss ranks fourth in the conference all-time.
Wingate also has been a consistent winner of the offensive lineman award in recent seasons. Anthony, from Kannapolis (A.L. Brown HS), is the third Bulldog player to be named the Jacobs Blocking Trophy recipient in the past four seasons. Evan Surgeon won it in 2022, with Andrew Strickland taking the prize in 2021.
Jordan, Wingate’s long-time defensive coordinator, assumed command of the program in the off-season when Joe Reich moved into administration. He piloted the Bulldogs to their third outright conference title, a top-20 ranking (Wingate was voted 14th and 17th this week) and the No. 2 seed for the upcoming D2 playoffs.
Wingate put 16 players in all on the SAC’s All-Conference and All-Piedmont Division teams. Lenoir-Rhyne had nine all-conference players total, followed by Mars Hill with six, Catawba with five, and Barton with three.
Barton’s Boykin, from Mount Olive (Southern Wayne HS), collected 53 tackles this season to earn the top freshman defensive award. He totaled 3.5 tackles-for-loss, picked off one pass and had a QB sack in his Bulldogs debut. He had a season-high 13 stops against Carson-Newman.
Here is the complete list of SAC all-conference players:
All-South Atlantic Offense
- QB – Dustin Noller, Limestone
- RB – LJ Turner, Catawba
- RB – Kevin Lalin, Limestone
- RB – Jordan Jackson, Emory & Henry
- WR – DJ Black, Limestone
- WR – Cam Abshire, Emory & Henry
- WR – Songa Yates III, Lenoir-Rhyne
- OL – Erwil Anthony, Wingate
- OL – Avery Swinton, Catawba
- OL – Porfirio Acosta, Wingate
- OL – Kanyon James, Catawba
- OL – Deshaun Sharp, Emory & Henry
- TE – Tre Williams, Limestone
- PK – Bryce Earley, Newberry
- LS – Carson Keaton, Lenoir-Rhyne
- RS – Songa Yates III, Lenoir-Rhyne
All-South Atlantic Defense
- DL – Marquise Fleming, Wingate
- DL – Andre Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne
- DL – Daniel Morrison, Wingate
- DL – Kai Russell, Wingate
- LB – Dontorian Best, Wingate
- LB – Dexter Fitzpatrick, Mars Hill
- LB – Luke Janack, Limestone
- LB – Kaleb Lundy, Emory & Henry
- DB – Tristan Rankin, Mars Hill
- DB – Major Williams, Carson-Newman
- DB – Nic Cheeley, Lenoir-Rhyne
- DB – Jarrell Harrison, Emory & Henry
- P – Stefaan Forbes, Tusculum
All-Mountain Division Offense
- QB – JR Martin, Mars Hill
- RB – Jayden Sullins, Carson-Newman
- RB – Jon Gullette, Mars Hill
- RB – Ian Scammell, Virginia-Wise
- WR – Cam Peoples, Emory & Henry
- WR – Seth Fischbach, Virginia-Wise
- WR – Jalon Warthen-Carr, Anderson
- OL – Turk Daniels, Carson-Newman
- OL – Christian Jones, Carson-Newman
- OL – Adrian Gumm, Tusculum
- OL – Noah Sage, Emory & Henry
- OL – Kamron Burris, Anderson
- TE – Beau DeBerry, Mars Hill
- PK – Trace Butcher, Emory & Henry
- LS – Andrew Bradshaw, Carson-Newman
- RS – Cam Peoples, Emory & Henry
All-Mountain Division Defense
- DL – Elijah Harper, Emory & Henry
- DL – Ean Rhea, Emory & Henry
- DL – Sakarri Morrison, Mars Hill
- DL – Jacorey Long, Carson-Newman
- LB – Christian Hicks, Carson-Newman
- LB – Jerrod Woods, Anderson
- LB – Mekhi Brown, Carson-Newman
- LB – Josiah Jeffery, Anderson
- DB – Jacob Robinson, Emory & Henry
- DB – Shawn Collins, Emory & Henry
- DB – Addison Knicely, Emory & Henry
- DB – Chendrick Cann, Emory & Henry
- P – Grayson Campbell, Carson-Newman
All-Piedmont Division Offense
- QB – Brooks Bentley, Wingate
- RB – O’Brien Barnett, Wingate
- RB – Dwayne Wright, Newberry
- RB – Jackson Parrish, Barton
- WR – Jalen Jones, Limestone
- WR – Evan McCray, Wingate
- WR – Adonis McDaniel, Lenoir-Rhyne
- OL – Dallas Foard, Catawba
- OL – Damari Joyner, Newberry
- OL – Christopher Wehnert, Lenoir-Rhyne
- OL – Luke Bond, Limestone
- OL – Cooper Trnavsky, Newberry
- TE – Kobe Christian, Catawba
- PK – Caleb Bonesteel, Wingate
- LS – Everett McLaughlin, Wingate
- RS – Jake Snapp, Wingate
All-Piedmont Division Defense
- DL – Colby Taylor, Newberry
- DL – Maddox Aprile, Lenoir-Rhyne
- DL – Darius Randolph, Wingate
- DL – JT Black, Lenoir-Rhyne
- LB – Jaelin Willis, Lenoir-Rhyne
- LB – Matt Smith, Barton
- LB – Dereck Barringer, Barton
- LB – Luke Taylor, Newberry
- DB – Brandon Perry, Wingate
- DB – Dequan Mosley, Wingate
- DB – Mark Burks, Wingate
- DB – Jeremiah Lomax, Limestone
- P – Bryan Frey, Limestone
Offensive Freshman of the Year
Turk Daniels, Carson-Newman
Offensive Player of the Year
Dustin Noller, Limestone
Defensive Freshman of the Year
E’Lla Boykin, Barton
Defensive Player of the Year
Marquise Fleming, Wingate
Jacobs Blocking Trophy
Erwil Anthony, Wingate
Ken Sparks Coach of the Year
Rashaan Jordan, Wingate
