COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The 2013 Ohio Valley Conference post-season
honors list features five players from Tennessee Tech, including
two first-team picks and three defensive standouts on the
second-team. Senior punter Chad Zinchini and senior offensive
tackle Wesley Sherrill earned first-team honors, while the
second-team includes senior defensive tackle Malcolm Mitchell,
junior linebacker Tra'Darius Goff and junior safety Marty
Jones.
It was a repeat honor for Zinchini, and a first-time award for
Sherrill, Mitchell, Goff and Jones.
Conference champion Eastern Illinois took home two of the four
major postseason awards while Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State
won the other two in voting conducted by league head coaches and
sports information directors.
Eastern Illinois senior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was named
Offensive Player of the Year while his head coach, Dino Babers, was
named the OVC Roy Kidd Coach of the Year for the second-straight
year. In the other major awards, Tennessee State junior defensive
end Anthony Bass was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year while
Eastern Kentucky redshirt freshman wide receiver Devin Borders
earned the Freshman of the Year award.
The all-OVC first-team included 14 seniors, 10 juniors and one
sophomore while the second-team had 13 seniors, 10 juniors, three
sophomores and one freshman.
Zinchini, a senior from Hendersonville, Tenn., led the OVC and
ranked second in the nation with a school-record punting average of
45.7 yards. He broke the school record that he had established last
year in his first season on the squad.
Sherrill, a senior tackle from Antioch, Tenn., was a four-year
starter, answering the call in 36 career games while spending time
at both tackle and guard.
Mitchell, a senior from Stone Mountain, Ga., ranked among league
leaders in both quarterback sacks (7.5) and tackles-for-loss (13.0)
while leading the Golden Eagles in both categories. Goff, a junior
from Columbia, Tenn., finished second in the OVC with 101 total
tackles (by one tackle), and added 8.6 tackles-for-loss, three
sacks and three fumbles forced. Jones, a junior from Cincinnati,
was third in the league in total tackles with 98, and also tied for
the team lead with two interceptions.
2013 All-OVC
Football Team
OVC Offensive Player of the Year: Jimmy Garoppolo
(QB), Eastern Illinois
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Bass
(DE), Tennessee State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Devin Borders (WR),
Eastern Kentucky
OVC Roy Kidd Coach of the Year: Dino Babers,
Eastern Illinois
FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois
RB - DaMarcus James, Jacksonville
State
RB - Shepard Little, Eastern
Illinois
WR - Erik Lora, Eastern Illinois
WR - Walter Powell, Murray State
TE - Jeff LePak, Eastern Illinois
C - Max Holcombe, Jacksonville State
OG - Collin Seibert, Eastern Illinois
OG - Kadeem Edwards, Tennessee State
OT - Dominic Pagliara, Eastern Illinois
OT - Wesley Sherrill, Tennessee Tech
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
Anthony Bass, Tennessee
State
Pat Wertz, Eastern Illinois
Antonio Harper, Tennessee State
DJ Roberts, UT Martin
Nick Thrasher, Tennessee State
Ben Johnson, UT Martin
Tony Bell, UT Martin
Daniel Fitzpatrick Tennessee State
Jourdan Wickliffe, Eastern Illinois
Pierre Warren, Jacksonville State
Nick Beard, Eastern Illinois
FIRST-TEAM SPECIALISTS
Griffin Thomas, Jacksonville State
Chad Zinchini, Tennessee Tech
Walter Powell, Murray State
SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
Max Shortell, Jacksonville
State
Ronald Butler, Tennessee
State
Tim Broughton, Tennessee State
DJ McNeil, UT Martin
Taylor Duncan, Eastern Illinois
Jeremy Butler, UT Martin
Adam Drake, Eastern Illinois
A.C. Leonard, Tennessee State
Nick Borre, Eastern Illinois
Justin Meredith, Eastern Kentucky
Travon Carter, Eastern Kentucky
Charles Sweeton, UT Martin
Robert Myers, Tennessee State
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
Dino Fanti, Eastern
Illinois
Anthony Brown, Eastern Kentucky
Caleb Lawrence, Jacksonville State
Malcolm Mitchell, Tennessee Tech
Ichiro Vance, Eastern Kentucky
Robert Haynes, Eastern Illinois
Tra'Darius Goff, Tennessee Tech
J'Vontez Blackmon, UT Martin
Brandon Wicks, Murray State
David Van Dyke, Tennessee State
Marty Jones, Tennessee Tech
SECOND-TEAM SPECIALISTS
Jamin Godfrey, Tennessee State
Jordan Berry, Eastern Kentucky
Shepard Little, Eastern Illinois
ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
TE - Jeff LePak, Eastern
Illinois
RB/RS - Shepard Little, Eastern Illinois
OL - Jimmy Lowery, Eastern Illinois
WR - Devin Borders, Eastern Kentucky
WR - Josh Barge, Jacksonville State
QB - Max Shortell, Jacksonville State
DE - Chris Landrum, Jacksonville State
QB - Maikhail Miller, Murray State
DT - Austin Black, Southeast Missouri
CB/RS - De'Ante Saunders, Tennessee State
QB - Ronald Butler, Tennessee
State
QB - Dylan Favre, UT
Martin
Note: The All-Newcomer team is
comprised of first-year players in the OVC - that can be either
true freshmen, redshirt freshmen or first-year transfers. The team
consists of 12 total players (1 extra due to a tie in voting this
year) and is not voted on by position. There were 13 players on the
All-OVC second-team offense (2 QB's, 3 RB's) due to ties in
voting.