Atkinson, Rodgers-Cromartie lead 2007 "Baad Team"
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Tuskegee quarterback Jacary Atkinson and Tennessee State defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie head the 2007 Black College Sports Page "Baad Team" of black college all-stars, the 14th edition of the team.
Atkinson, the SIAC most valuable player and offensive player of the year, led his conference and all black college performers in passing yardage (2,979 yards, 248.2 ypg.) and total offense (3,563 yards, 296.9 ypg.) while leading NCAA Div. II in passing efficiency. He threw for 34 touchdowns and only nine interceptions and completed 60% (165 of 275) of his passes in guiding the high-scoring Golden Tigers to the SIAC title and a perfect 12-0 record. Tuskegee received the top ranking in the final BCSP Top Ten. He is the clear choice for BCSP Offensive Player of the Year.
Atkinson heads a first team offense that includes standout running backs Chad Simpson of Morgan State and Darryl Jones of Norfolk State. Simpson, a junior named the MEAC's top offensive player, ran for 1,402 yards and scored 14 rushing touchdowns for the Bears. Simpson was the only black college offensive performer named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS first team.
Jones, a 5-10, 250-pounder, nimbly ground his way to 1,134 yards and 15 TDs while leading the Spartans to the brink of the MEAC title. The pair were among seven black college runners that topped the 1,000-yard mark this season. Hampton wide receiver/kick returner Jeremy Gilchrist excelled this year in both specialties and mans both positions on the Baad first team. He tied fellow first teamer, Lane wide receiver Virgil Union, with 69 receptions, tops among black college receivers, and was the only black college receiver to top the 1,000-yard mark (1,043). Gilchrist also led the FCS in punt returns averaging 19.1 yards per return with three scores. He was named a Walter Camp all-American and College Sporting News Fabulous Fifty FCS all-American as a kick returner.
Rodgers-Cromartie put up modest numbers this year because opposing passers stayed away from his side of the field. The 6-2, 185-pound shut down corner picked off just two passes but returned both for touchdowns. He totalled 37 tackles, 28 solos, and blocked four kicks (3 field goals and one PAT). "DRC," as he is referred to, was named a first team all-American by the Associated Press and to the 'Fabulous Fifty". Consi-dered the top pro prospect among black college seniors, he is the BCSP Defensive Player of the Year.
Rodgers-Cromartie leads a host of black college defenders and first Baad Team selectees that received all-American honors this year.
Bethune-Cookman senior safety Bobbie Williams joined DRC as a first team AP all-American and Fabulous Fifty member. The first team all-MEAC selection had 77 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles this season. Alabama A&M junior cornerback Al Donaldson tied for the FCS lead in interceptions with nine and earned a first team FCS all-American selection from the AFCA. Donaldson, selected to the all-SWAC first team, posted 51 tackles and had 11 pass break-ups.
SWAC Defensive Player of the Year, senior linebacker
Zach East of Prairie View, was also named to the AFCA
all-American and Fabulous Fifty squads. East finished the season with 127 tackles,
third best in the FCS and just behind Bethune-Cookman
senior linebacker Ronnie McCullough, who led black colleges
and all of FCS with 149 stops. McCullough was a third team AP all-American.
Southern safety Jarmaul George (61 tackles, 4
ints.) also was named to the Fabulous Fifty.
Hampton defensive end Kendall Langford, selected to our second team, was also an AFCA all-America pick. Grambling State record-setting wide receiver Clyde Edwards (49 rec., 11 TDs) was a third team selectee of the Baad Team but was the only black college offensive player named to the Fabulous Fifty.
The Baad Team offensive line is anchored by MEAC lineman of the year, tackle James Lee and his teammate, center Raymond Harrison of South Carolina State. The pair helped the Bulldogs ground out a black college-best 260 rushing yards per contest. Tuskegee tackle Larry Peoples was the linchpin of the Golden Tigers' passing attack that notched 250 yards per game. James Sanders of Alabama A&M, big Thaddeus Coleman (6-8, 310) of Mississippi Valley State and prolific tight end Charles Moody (38 rec.) round out the guys up front.
The first team defensive line features pass rushers Rudy Hardie of Howard (11 sacks) and Curtis Johnson of Clark Atlanta (black college best 13.5 sacks) who team with big tackles Ronald Green (6-0, 300) of Mississippi Valley State and CIAA Defensive Player of the Year, Louis Ellis (6-4, 295) of Shaw. Ellis had 65 tackles, eight sacks and 22 tackles for losses while Green registered 78 tackles.
Delaware State's clutch placekicker Peter Gaertner, who converted a black college high 19 of 25 field goals including several in the closing seconds that won or tied games for the Hornets, is the first team placekicker. Clark Atlanta senior Brandon Larkin, who topped all punters with a 43.6 yard average on 73 kicks, is the first team punter.
Both Norfolk State head coach Pete Adrian and Prairie View head man Henry Frazier III, accomplished near-miracle turnarounds for their teams and share our 2007 coach of the year award.
Adrian's Spartans, doormats since joining the conference a decade ago, were picked to finish seventh in the nine-team MEAC but shocked everyone by coming within a hair of winning the title. They finished 8-3. The Spartans knocked off three-time defending champion Hampton and pre-season pick South Carolina State and had an 18-point fourth-quarter lead against eventual champ Delaware State before allowing the Hornets to score the game's final 25 points and lose in overtime. A win over DSU would have given Adrian's troops the league title and an FCS playoff berth.
Frazier entered the final year of his four-year contract without an extension. He led the Panthers to a second-place tie in the SWAC West with Southern while posting a 7-3 overall record, the school's first winning record in over three decades and the most wins for the school since 1964. Frazier and Adrian were both finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award given by the Sports Network to the top coach in the FCS. Frazier was selected the FCS Coach of the Year by the College Sporting News.
© 2008 Azeez Communications, Inc.