Football | 12/7/2016 7:55:00 AM

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

PORTALES, NM – After a standout season which earned Lone Star Conference Offensive Back of the year honors, Eastern New Mexico University's junior running back Kamal Cass earned yet another accolade on Wednesday morning. The American Football Coaches Association released its list of All-Americans, and chose Cass as a first team all-purpose specialist.

The All-American honor was the second for Cass, after earning First Team All-Don Hansen Football Gazette All-American, following the 2015 season. However, this year's selection marked the first time a Greyhound garnered All-America honors from the AFCA since Jeff Howard after the 2004 season.

"Nobody deserved this award more," said Head Coach Josh Lynn. "Consistently, Kamal Cass has been putting up big number since his sophomore year. This is a big award that really recognizes what he's done for us."

As a junior, Cass paced the nation's second leading rushing attack with a LSC-high 1,191 yards along with 14 touchdowns. He found the end zone in nine of his 11 games, with multiple scores in five games. Cass rushed for 159 yards and two scores in the Greyhounds' victory at 12^th-ranked Midwestern State and had a career-high 232 yards against Western New Mexico. The junior running back also returned six kickoffs for 86 yards.
 

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Cass' Accolades:
2016 AFCA First Team All-American
2016 LSC Offensive Back of the Year
2016 First Team All-LSC
2016 Two-Time LSC Offensive Player of the Week
2015 First Team Don Hansen Football Gazette All-American
2015 First Team Don Hansen Football Gazette All-Super Region 4
2015 First Team All-LSC
2015 Two-Time LSC Offensive Player of the Week
 

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2016 AFCA All-Americans

PosName Ht.Wt. Cl.School CoachHometown (High School)
QB Trey Heid6-2 199Sr. Augustana (S.D.)Jerry Olszewski  Lakeville, Minn. (North)
RBMichael Anderson  5-9 190Sr. West Virginia WesleyanDel Smith Elkridge, Md. (Howard)
RBChris Robinson  5-9 193Jr. Delta St. (Miss.)Todd Cooley Bude, Miss. (Franklin County)
WRGarry Brown 6-1200 Sr.California (Pa.)  Gary Dunn Columbus, Ohio (Westerville South)
WRXavier Ayers 5-11180 Sr.Western New Mexico  Adam Clark Albuquerque, N.M. (Albuquerque)
TE*Adam Shaheen  6-6 277R-Jr. Ashland (Ohio)Lee Owens Galena, Ohio (Big Walnut)
OL*Jordan Morgan  6-4 320R-Sr. Kutztown (Pa.)Jim Clements Philadelphia, Pa. (Parkway Northwest)
OLZach Voytek 6-5305 Sr.New Haven (Conn.)  Chris Pincince Trumbull, Conn. (Trumbull)
OLNate Theaker 6-6303 Gr.Wayne St. (Mich.)  Paul Winters White Lake, Mich. (Lakeland)
OLJac'que Polite  6-5 300Sr. Winston-Salem St. (N.C.)Kienus Boulware  Ridgeland, S.C. (Ridgeland)
OLAlex Cappa 6-7305 R-Jr.Humboldt St. (Calif.)Rob Smith Dublin, Calif. (Dublin)
 
Defense
PosName Ht.Wt. Cl.School CoachHometown (High School)
DLLucky Baar 6-2250 Sr.McKendree (Ill.)  Mike Babcock Chicago, Ill. (Morgan Park)
DLCollin Bevins  6-6 285Sr. Northwest Missouri St.Adam Dorrel Creston, Iowa (Creston)
DLDylan Donahue  6-3 240Sr. West GeorgiaWill Hall Billings, Mont. (West)
DLSie Doe, Jr. 6-1230 Sr.Fort Hays St. (Kan.)  Chris Brown Cleveland, Ohio (Lakewood)
LBConnor Harris  6-0 243Sr. Lindenwood (Mo.)Patrick Ross Lee's Summit, Mo. (Blue Springs South)
LBCody Burtscher  5-11 230Sr. Tarleton St. (Texas)Todd Whitten Burleson, Texas (Burleson)
LBOsband Thompson  6-0 194Jr. Tuskegee (Ala.)Willie Slater  Miami, Fla. (Jackson)
DBPhilbert Martial  5-10 166Sr. North AlabamaBobby Wallace  Mobile, Ala. (McGill-Toolen)
DBKenny Moore 5-9185 Sr.Valdosta St. (Ga.)  Kerwin Bell Valdosta, Ga. (Lowndes)
DBDustin Rivas 5-11180 Jr.Colorado Mesa  Russ Martin Thornton, Colo. (Horizon)
DBDrew Hebel 5-11172 R-So.Black Hills St. (S.D.)John Reiners Broomfield, Colo. (Legacy)
 
Specialists
PosName Ht.Wt. Cl.School CoachHometown (High School)
PKCole Antley 5-10150 So.Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)Todd Knight Atlanta, Ga. (East Coweta)
PHector Dominquez  5-10 190Sr. Texas A&M-CommerceColby Carthel  Hacienda Heights, Calif. (Wilson)
APKamal Cass 5-11185 Jr.Eastern New Mexico  Josh Lynn Clovis, N.M. (Clovis)
*-2015 AFCA All-American
 
2016 AFCA Division II Coaches' All-America - Second Team
Offense
PosName Ht.Wt. Cl.School CoachHometown (High School)
QB Jeff Kidd6-4 227Sr. LIU-Post (N.Y.)Bryan Collins  Salem, Ore. (Sprague)
RBAustin Ekeler  5-9 195Sr. Western State ColoradoJas Bains Eaton, Colo. (Eaton)
RBMax Mickey 5-9185 Jr.Sioux Falls (S.D.)  Jed Stugart Holden, Mo. (Holden)
WRMarcel Newson  5-11 195Sr. Mississippi CollegeJohn Bland Coldwater, Miss. (Coldwater)
WRDamon Gibson 6-4230 Jr.Minnesota St.-MoorheadSteve Laqua Beardsley, Minn. (Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley)
TEKenny Johnston  6-4 220R-Sr. Florida TechSteve Englehart  Jacksonville, Fla. (Stanton College Prep)
OLStephen Evans  6-4 301Sr. North AlabamaBobby Wallace  Boston, Mass. (Arch Bishop Williams)
OLZachary Douglas  6-2 297R-Sr. Ashland (Ohio)Lee Owens Marshallville, Ohio (Smithville)
OLPeter Bateman  6-6 285Sr. Minnesota-DuluthCurt Wiese La Crescent, Minn. (La Crescent)
OLAkoakoa Paleka-Kennedy6-3 285Sr. Midwestern St. (Texas)Bill Maskill Hilo, Hawaii (Kamehameha-Hawaii)
OLJared Machorro  6-7 280Jr. Texas A&M-CommerceColby Carthel  Coldspring, Texas (Oakhurst)
 
Defense
PosName Ht.Wt. Cl.School CoachHometown (High School)
DLTrevon Biglow  6-1 240Sr. Harding (Ark.)Ronnie Huckeba  Oklahoma City, Okla. (Putnam City)
DLRay Edwards 6-1225 Sr.Wingate (N.C.)  Joe Reich Sacramento, Calif. (Highlands)
DLMarcus Martin  6-3 245R-Jr. Slippery Rock (Pa.)Shawn Lutz West Mifflin, Pa. (West Mifflin)
DLZach Sieler 6-6275 So.Ferris St. (Mich.)  Tony Annese Pinckney, Mich. (Pinckney)
LBTyke Kozeal 6-0240 Sr.Nebraska-Kearney  Josh Lamberson Sargent, Neb. (Sargent)
LBJordan Herdman  6-2 235R-Sr. Simon Fraser (B.C.)Kelly Bates Winnipeg, Man. (Sturgeon Heights Collegiate)
LB*Kyle Kitchens  6-2 205Jr. Catawba (N.C.)Curtis Walker  Decatur, Ga. (Decatur)
DBC.J. Broussard  6-0 198Sr. Azusa Pacific (Calif.)Victor Santa Cruz  Clovis, Calif. (Clovis)
DBMatt McKoy 6-2212 Sr.Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.)Jim Collins Canton, Mich. (Canton)
DBRaheem Wilson  5-11 185Sr. Southeastern OklahomaBo Atterberry  DeSoto, Texas (DeSoto)
DBMarcus Sayles  5-10 170Sr. West GeorgiaWill Hall Alpharetta, Ga. (Chattahooche)
 
Specialists
PosName Ht.Wt. Cl.School CoachHometown (High School)
PKRyan Sheehan 5-10180 Jr.Colorado Mesa  Russ Martin Chandler, Ariz. (Mountain Pointe)
P*Brett Benes 6-0180 Sr.Charleston (W.Va.)  Pat Kirkland Boca Raton, Fla. (Cardinal Newman)
APRichie Sanders  5-7 185R-Sr. Mercyhurst (Pa.)Marty Schaetzle  Painesville, Ohio (Lake Catholic)
*-2015 AFCA All-American