Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Dec. 21, 2006, edition 1 / Page 17
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Wake's Sam Swank was named to the Sports Illustrated and ESPN All-America team. rDeacons make All- America cut Sports Illustrated names Swank, Vallos first team CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Wake Forest sophomore placekicker Sam Swank and senior offensive tackle Steve Vallos were named first team Ail-Americans by Sports Illustrated, the publication announced recently. Last Friday, Swank was also named a first team All-American by ESPN. ? Junior linebacker Jon Abbate and senior .^jafety Josh Gattis were honorable ?j?inention selections. Swank, the most valuable player if the AC C Championship Game two jjjj'eeks ago, was a first team All-ACC ?J* je lection and a first team AII .JiJiAmerican by Rivals.com. Swank is >jJl-of-28 on field goals this season ??Jtnd a perfect 32-of-32 on extra jSloints. The native of Jacksonville ?JiReach, Fla., is 5-of-7 from beyond ?*v|0 yards in 2006* >> Vallos, a native of Boardman, *Xjft)hio,Fwas a first team All-ACC selection. He ????Jas played 781 snaps this season with only sSftree mjsse(j assignments and a season grade of ) percent. Vallos easily leads all Wake Forest |neman with 90-.5 knockdowns. A four-year arter, Vallos has started 47 games in his jeer. ^ Abbate, who had a season-high 15 tackles Vallos in the ACC Championship Game, ranks fourth in the ACC with 105 stops. The native of Powder Springs, Ga., will become only the third player in ACC history to lead his team in tackles for three straight years. Abbate has postad five 10-tackle games this season and has done it 11 times in 34 career games. Abbate was a first team All-ACC pick. Gattis, another first team All-ACC selec tion, is the only player in the league to have five interceptions and 70 tackles this season. The native of Durham, was the top vote-getter among all ACC defensive backs. He ranks third in the league with five interceptions. Gattis, who has become known as one of the top playmakers in the ACC, has 12 career interceptions, six fumble recoveries and five forced fumbles. In other Wake football news: Wake Forest redshirt freshmen Jeff Griffin and Riley Skftiner were named The Sporting News' Freshman All-America teams last week. Skinner was chosen to the second team and Griffin was a third _;?i, O Both players are Jacksonville, Fla., natives. Griffin is an offensive tackle out of Bartrum Trail High School while Skinner is a quarter back who attended The Bolles School. The Demon Deacons (11-2) take on fifth ranked Louisville (11-1) in the 2007 FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami's Dolphin Stadium on Jan. 2. lolcomb-Faye n page Jl bunch," Holcomb-Faye aid. "We have 12 sophomores nd three freshmen. We have a ttle bit of experience. But ley didn't have that many ins. This team shows a lot of cart, though. My freshmen eally tiave a lot of heart. i?J?These guys can shoot too. My *J*ihooting guard can shoot bet ~I?Jer than anyone I played with college. We have a lot of '-??shooters on this team. We cafi ? * score on anybody." "We're not the most athlet ic team around here, but we're scrappy," Holcomb-Faye con tinued. "We've got to take care of business on defense. With other teams being more athlet ic than we are, we've definite ly got to handle our business on the defensive end." Holcomb-Faye said he tries to" instill his attitude in his players. He was a fiery player with an abundance of passion on display during games during his days at Reynolds and ECU. He said that he's mixed the styles of his father, coach West and his former ECU coach with his personality to come up with his style. He's so wir?d during games that he rarely sits on the bench most nights. "I haven't' sat down yet," Holcomb-Faye said. "I sat down once. I got a tech (tech nical foul) during the Carver game. They sat me down. I stay on the refs, making sure hey see what's going on out there. I'm ? also constantly coaching. I make sure my guys stay aggressive. I don't want for anyone to play scared. Everybody has the green light to shoot. But I've got a smart group of guys that don't take bad shots. So that works out well for us." Holcomb-Faye, who's also a teaching assistant at Reagan, thinks his welcoming approach and younger age has helped his players warm up to him sooner than expected. "I have a great relationship with the guys," Holcomb-Faye said. "I dap them up in the hallways and everything. 1 even jdke around with them a lot to keep them at ease. I want to keep everyone's confidence high. I really think this could be a very good team. I hope to finish" strong this year." "I'm enjoying the ride so far," Holcomb-Faye contin ued. "I love coaching this group. This is really a dream come-true for me. Right now, it's all about player develop ment for guys this age. I'm trying to help develop these guys into great, young men ? not just great players." Note: Holcomb-Faye left East Carolina University as the school's all-time leader in assists with 408 and ranked fifth on the ECU career steals list with 105. He's also a for mer Frank Spencer MVP. r File phnio Hotcomb-Faye drives past a Umisrille player during his playing days at F.CV. Four NCCU players earn All- America honors Two Winston-Salem performers make Daktronics ' list CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Three North Carolina Central University Eagles have been voted to the 2006 Daktronics, Inc. NCAA Division II All-America Football Team, selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Two Eagles picked up Associated Press honors. Senior center Robert Duncan (Winston-Salem), jun ior kicker Brandon Gilbert (Graham, NC) and junior cor ner back Craig Amos (Winston-Salem) all claimed All-America Second Team honors. Duncan and Sam Funches, also made the 2006 Associated Press Little All America Football Team. Duncan, a former standout at Parkland High, earned AP Little All-America First Team ' honors, while Funches, a sen ior left tackle from Lawnside, N.J. claimed Second Team recognition. "Their (Duncan and Funches) contributions to this football program have been huge," said NCCU offensive line coach James Spady. "Their leadership was so valu able ? as coaches on the field and mentors to the younger guys behind them. They have been an enormous amount of pleasure to coach." Duncan was a repeat selec tion on the All-CIAA First Team and All-Region First Team, and was named CIAA Offensive Lineman of the "Week three times during his senior campaign. As the Eagles' starting center and team captain, his average grade was 92.4 percent and averaged four pancake blocks and less than 1 missed assign ment per game, while not allowing a sack all season. Duncan was selected to Street & Smith's 2006 Division II Preseason All-America Team, one of only four offensive Amos linemen in the country to earn the honor. He is also a nation al finalist for the 2006 Gene Upshaw Lineman of the Year Award. Brandon Gilbert was a repeat selection on the All CIAA First Team and All Region First Team, and was chosen CIAA Special Teams Player of the Week four times in 2006. He made a game-win ning, career-long 51 -yard field goal as time expired to pro vide NCCU with a 17-14 win in the CIAA Championship Game (Nov. 11). Gilbert, who led the CIAA in scoring with 81 points (48-48 PATs, 11-16 FGs), set an NCCU single season record with 48 extra point kicks, ranks second in career-scoring at NCCU (225 points), and has made more extra point kicks (123) in his three seasons than any other kicfcer in Eagles History, including 80 in-a-row. Gilbert also punted 59 times for 2,068 yards (35.1 avg.), placing 23 attempts inside the^O-yard line with only two touch backs. Fojpier Mt. Tabor standout Craig Amos, an All-CIAA First Team and three-time CIAA Defensive Back of the Week honoree, tied for the conference lead with seven interceptions (16th in NCAA) and 16 passes defended (18th Duncan in NCAA). He is one of only eight Eagles in the 83-year football tradition of NCCU to intercept seven passes or more in a single season, and his 178 interception return yards are the second-most in school his tory (222 return yards by Tony Lindsey in 1988). Anfbs returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including a 96 yard score at Southern University (Sept. 23), the fourth-longest in school histo ry. Amos ends his junior cam paign tied for 10th on the school's all-time interceptions list with 12 career picks. NCCU tied with Northwest Missouri State University for the second-highest total num ber of All-America honorees with three. Grand Valley State University, who will play Northwest Missouri State in the Division II national cham pionship game 8n Dec. 16, topped the list with six hon orees. NCCU repeated as CIAA Champions, posted a perfect regular season for the first time ig the school's 83-year gridiron history, won 11 games for the first time in school history, earned the No. 1 ranking in the Southeast Region, finished as the No. 4 ranked team in the NCAA Division II (AFCA), and is currently the top-ranked team in black college football. Why go to the video store? START it whenever you're ready. PAUSE il when you're not. REWIND and FAST FORWARD too. > Movies On Demand - Channel 601 Now Playing Now Playing Starts ? 12/32 Start* ? 12/22 k-wn# wvnc ' i.mrnmtm linuMAN 1 -E2= * Specializing in true Southern Cuisine, ) Fresh cooked vegetables, Fresh cut Catering Service: meats, and desserts made from scratch. A personal touch of elegance. We do meetings , wedding receptions, parties, class reunions YOU MME II! otoeta's Restaurant 102 West 3rd Street, Suite Lp5 Winston-Salem, NC 27101 Phone: (336) 750-0811 Fax: (336) 750-0455 Owner: Almeta Poole Banquet Director: Christina Davis
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 21, 2006, edition 1
17
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75