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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Sixth-year senior safety Marty Jones has been
selected first-team all-conference, one of five Golden Eagle
players to be recognized with post-season honors by the Ohio Valley
Conference in voting conducted among league head coaches and sports
information directors.
Senior Austin Tallant, who lined up next to Jones in the Tech
secondary was one of three Tech players to earn second-team all-OVC
honors, joining redshirt freshman punter Jonathan King and junior
return specialist/runningback Ladarius Vanlier. The All-Newcomer
Team includes both King and redshirt freshman Brock McCoin.
Regular season champion Jacksonville State took home three of
the four major 2014 postseason OVC football awards while Eastern
Kentucky won the other in the awards announced on Tuesday.
Jacksonville State junior defensive tackle Devaunte Sigler was
named Defensive Player of the Year and offensive tackle Justin Lea
was named OVC
Freshman of the Year while their coach John Grass was tabbed the
OVC Roy Kidd Coach of the Year. The other major award went to
Eastern Kentucky
junior running back Dy’Shawn Mobley who was named Offensive
Player of the Year.
Jacksonville State led the way with eight first-team selections
and had 18 total selections across the first-team, second-team and
All-Newcomer squads.
Eastern Illinois was second with 12 picks across the three teams,
including five first-team and five second-team selections. The
All-OVC first-team included
13 seniors, 10 juniors and two sophomores while the second-team
included 12 seniors, nine juniors, two sophomores and two
freshmen.
Jones, a graduate student from Cincinnati, wrapped up his storied
career at Tech by leading the team, ranking fifth in the conference
and 27th nationally in tackles with 113 in 2014. He also ranked
first in the OVC with four interceptions. He finished his career
with 356 total tackles to rank fourth in school history.
Tallant, a senior from Alcoa, Tenn., wound up with 353 career
tackles to rank fifth all-time, and tied the school record with 44
career starts. He was eighth in the OVC this season with 101 total
tackles. King, a redshirt freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., ranked
first in the OVC in punting, averaging 41.5 yards per kick on 79
kicks. He made it three consecutive years that a Golden Eagle
punter has led the league. He dropped 28 kicks inside the opponent
20-yard line.
Vanlier, a junior from Nashville, was a triple threat as a return
specialist, receiver and runningback. He returned two punts for
touchdowns and one kickoff, and ranked first in the OVC in punt
returns and fifth in kickoff returns. He also ranked fourth in the
league in all-purpose yardage with 1,426 yards to average 118 per
game. His 1,426 yards ranks as the seventh-best in school history
and moved him to fifth all-time in Tech history with 3,769
yards.
McCoin, a multi-talented player from Livingston, Tenn., finished a
sensational debut season ranking second on the team in both
receptions (43) and receiving yards (517) with two touchdowns. He
also rushed for 42 yards on nine carries and completed the only
pass he attempted, a touchdown pass of five yards in the final game
of the season.
