INDIANAPOLIS – Running back
Cody Schrader was named the Co-Offensive Most Valuable Player and was a unanimous first-team selection as the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference Football team was announced by the league on Monday. The Bulldogs placed 18 individuals on the all-conference list with four, first-team selections.
Schrader joined Southwest Baptist quarterback Cooper Callis as the Offensive Players of the Year voted on by league coaches. Schrader led the conference and Division II in rushing yards with 1,855, which was also the second highest by a Bulldog in a single-season. Callis was third in the country in passing yards at 3,712. Schrader and Callis were both nominees for the Division II Player of the Year Award, the Harlon Hill Trophy, that will be announced in December. The last Bulldog to win a conference offensive player of the year award was Jarrett Anderson in his Harlon Hill winning season of 1996.
Schrader was one of eight first-team selections chosen unanimously by conference coaches. Toriano Clinton was also a unanimous selection at running back after finishing second to Scharder with 1,525 yards on the season and missing the final two games due to injury. Schrader enters the final game of the season, with 2,069 all-purpose yards, second in a season at Truman and trails leader Anderson by 238 yards for the first place spot. He has 22 rushing touchdowns, at least one in every game this season.
Joining Schrader on the all-GLVC first team from Truman was defensive back
Ben Watson, defensive tackle
Robert Greco and defensive utility player
Collin Alves. Watson was second on the team with 80 tackles, 4.5 for loss and 2.5 quarterback sacks and a single-game high of 16 against Indianapolis in the regular season finale. Greco had 11 of his 29 stops behind the line of scrimmage and three sacks to go with a forced fumble and three quarterback hurries this season. Alves had four of his 10 total tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks while recovering two fumbles and forcing another.
On the second team were kick returner
Jaylen Jefferson, kicker
Josh Scheiderer, punter
Taylor Cornish, tight end
Matt Hall, fullback
Jacob Morris, offensive linemen
Nick Biesemeyer and
Dane Eggert, defensive tackles
Michael Neisler and
Ben Miller, linebacker
Isaiah Estes and defensive back
Ben Thomas.
Jefferson was second in the nation in kickoff returns with an average of 34.6 on 14 attempts and two touchdowns. Scheiderer averaged 54.3 yards per kickoff and was 7-of-12 on field goals with a long of 46 and 48-of-46 on PATs. He is the all-time leader in kick scoring with 266 points.
Cornish led the GLVC in punting average at 40.3 with 18 inside the 20 and 15 fair catches. Hall was the leading receiver in terms of yards with 433 and had five touchdown receptions out of 33 catches. Morris becomes a five-time all-conference performer out of the fullback position and had 12 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns this season. Biesemeyer and Eggert helped the Truman offense to an average of 211 yards rushing per game and allowed only 18 sacks and 51 tackles for loss through 11 games.
Neisler finished with 6.5 tackles for loss out of 14 total stops and was second on the team with five quarterback sacks. Miller had 34 tackles, four for loss and two sacks. Estes led Truman in total stops with 85 with a single-game high of 14 against Southwest Baptist. Thomas had three interceptions, 12 pass breakups and 77 total tackles this season.
Named honorable mention was receiver
Dante Ruffin, linebacker
Ulysses Ross and offensive lineman
Justin Watson. Ruffin was first in receptions with 37 and second in yards for 421 and had five touchdowns, he was also Truman's nominee for the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award. Ross led the defense with 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 quarterback sacks among with 67 total tackles and Watson was again a key member of the offensive line that had the Bulldogs third in the GLVC in sacks allowed and 51
st in the nation at 1.73 per game.
It is the most all-conference selections for the Bulldogs since 22 in 1982. The all-time most is 23 players selected following the 1981 season.
Truman will face Hillsdale (Mich.) College in the America's Crossroads Bowl in Hobart, Indiana on Saturday. The Bulldogs enter with an 8-3 overall record.
Truman All-Conference Selections (by Team):
