[November 16, 2007]

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas is represented by five players on the All-Gulf South Conference football team that was released from the conference office Thursday. The Muleriders had one named on the first team and four on the second team.

SAU tight end Johnny Fields was named to this year’s first team. A 6-0, 236-pound senior out of De Soto, Texas, Fields was second on this season’s squad with 15 receptions for 265 yards. He averaged 17.7 yards per catch and had two touchdowns. Accomplished off the field as well, Fields was selected earlier this month to the ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-District VI team. Fields was both a Second Team All-GSC pick and a Football Gazette Third Team All-Southeast Region selection in 2005.

Second Team All-GSC honors went to Southern Arkansas center Clayton Norman on offense, and defensive lineman Ryan Terry and defensive backs Roland Perkins and C.J. Ellis on defense. Norman is a 5-10, 306-pound senior from Garrison, Texas (Kilgore College); Terry a 5-11, 234-pound sophomore out of Houston, Texas; Perkins a 5-11, 175-pound junior from Baton Rouge, La.; and Ellis is a 5-8, 182-pound senior out of Hope.

GSC champion Delta State led the way with nine First Team All-GSC picks, and added four second team members, for a total of 13 overall on the team. Henderson State posted nine overall, with six on the first team and three on the second. North Alabama had eight total named, and Valdosta State, Arkansas Tech, and Ouachita Baptist placed seven apiece. Southern Arkansas’ five, West Alabama’s four, Arkansas-Monticello’s three, Harding’s two, and West Georgia’s one selection rounded out the list.

Delta State linebacker Michael Eubanks and defensive lineman Chris Eccles, Valdosta State wide receiver Cedric Jones and defensive back Sherard Reynolds, Harding offensive guard Ross Conn, and Henderson State offensive tackle Kurt Kutscher, all repeated as First Team selections.

Henderson State running back Bernard Palmer, defensive lineman Sam Carter, and defensive back Devon Hughes; Delta State wide receiver Jeremy Ricks, linebacker Lardester Hicks, and defensive backs Jamarcus Wiggins and Monterio James; North Alabama linebacker Mike Johnson; and Valdosta State linebacker William Montford all moved up this season to First Team honors after being Second Team picks last year.

Harding quarterback David Knighton, a first team selection, was named the GSC Offensive Player of the Year, while Defensive Player of the Year laurels went to Eubanks for the second consecutive season. Arkansas-Monticello quarterback Scott Buisson was honored as GSC Freshman of the Year, and Delta State’s Ron Roberts received Coach of the Year accolades.

The All-GSC team is selected by the head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players. Ballots ending in a tie are not broken.