Winning a second straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award was not the most surprising thing Wednesday for Oliver ‘Buddy’ Pough.

Neither was having a fourth consecutive offensive lineman, Johnny Culbreath, win the conference’s Offensive Lineman of the Year Award and having 12 players named to the All-MEAC first and second teams.

What most shocked Pough was not seeing more of his deserving players like wide receiver Terrance Smith, safety Markee Hamlin, among others, selected by the voters.

“I had the feeling we would have some other guys that should have been chosen,” he said. “Just to give you an example. They won’t let you actually recommend but three offensive lineman and I thought Jake Johnson deserved to have some accolades of some sort, but he couldn’t get any votes because we couldn’t recommend him.”

Nevertheless, the All-MEAC first-team offensive line is Bulldog-prominent with three selections led by Culbreath. Following in the footsteps of previous winners Clyde Reed, James Lee and Raymond ‘Duck’ Harrison, the 6-5, 315-pound Monroe, Ga. native aided the MEAC’s top-ranked offense which accounted for 4,160 total yards and helped fellow first-team selection Will Ford become S.C. State’s and the conference’s all-time leading rusher with 4,650 yards.

Josh Harrison and Juavahr Nathan also made the first team, which Pough gave great credit to the work and the system put in place by offensive line coach Joe Blackwell and tight ends coach Demetrius Davis. In fact, Pough praised his entire staff and the players for his 67-25 overall record at S.C. State and enabling him to win a Coach of the Year honor.

“If you look at our offensive lineman, you can tell that they’re different from everybody else,” Pough said. “They move around, they step around...they protect the passer. They do a lot of stuff.”

Also selected to the All-MEAC first team at wide receiver and kick returner was Oliver ‘Tre’ Young. The Charleston native broke the school records of Charlie Brown’s career receiving yards and Tavarus Morgan’s school career receptions and also led the conference in kickoff returns.

A school-record 13 field goals and ranking among the MEAC’s point leaders earned Blake Erickson a first-team selection. Rounding out the list of eight Bulldogs on the first team were former Rock Hill teammates defensive back Phillip Adams, who has two interception returns for touchdowns, and team-leading tackler linebacker David Erby.

The second-team offense is led by quarterback Malcolm Long, who became the first 2,000-yard passer in school history and set a single-season school record for touchdowns (20). On the second team defense are defensive lineman Markus James, linebacker Julius Wilkerson and defensive back Rafael Bush.

Also marking the second team was Howard wide receiver Willie Carter of Denmark-Olar.

Earning the other top MEAC awards were Florida A&M’s Curtis Pulley (Offensive Player of the Year), North Carolina A&T’s George Howard (Defensive Player of the Year) and Mike Mayhew (Rookie of the Year).

Appalachian State notes from Rivals.Com

All-American quarterback Armanti Edwards returned to the practice field Tuesday and reportedly showed no signs of being hampered by a knee injury which kept him out of the regular-season finale.

Edwards did not appear in any conditioning drills and it appeared the coaching staff was limiting his movement.

“We haven’t stressed (the knee) in practice and made him get out there and do runs,” wide receivers coach Lance Taylor said. “But he was throwing the ball and moving around. We watched him closely yesterday during his first day out in pads and throwing, and you couldn’t even tell it was bothering him.”

The wide receiving position is also dealing with its share of physical ailments. Having already lost Strom Thurmond graduate CoCo Hillary for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, Ridge View’s Brian Quick is also dealing with nagging injuries.

“We feel really good about our receivers,” Taylor said. “We really haven’t had too many major injuries. We’re dinged up here, dinged up there, but we feel good about the guys that we have.”

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