Black, Anthony lead "Baad Team"

Lut Williams
BCSP Editor

Likely the biggest football story of the 2009 black college football season was the rise of once lowly Prairie View A&M to the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and a tie with two-time Mid Eastern Athletic Conference champ South Carolina State at the top of the final BCSP ranking.

Prior to this season, in its first five years under head coach Henry Frazier III, Prairie View had established itself as a prime contender for league honors and one of the best defensive units in the SWAC.

While that had been sufficient to beat every other team in the SWAC, it was not enough to get it past West Division kingpin Grambling State who stymied the Panthers and annually outscored them at their annual October match-up at the State Fair Classic in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

That was until this year when Frazier inherited transfer quarterback K. J. Black from Western Kentucky. Black added a dimension that Frazier had not had in his previous five seasons ­ a top-flight signal-caller.

In the critical game vs. Grambling, Black hit of 19 of 26 passes for 164 yards and 2 TDs and ran for another 75 yards and another 2 TDs. The performance included a 15-yard run over 4th-and-1 late in the game that iced the 35-32 win, the first for the Panthers over the G-Men in the Frazier era.

In other words, Black got them over the (Grambling) hump.

But that's not all he did. He finished the season completing 70.4% (162 of 230) of his passes for 2,033 yards (225.9 ypg.), 22 TDs and just four interceptions. In four games, he had an 80% or above completion percentage, numbers usually reserved for folks like Appalachian State's two-time Walter Payton Award winner Armanti Edwards. Black finished as the leader in all of FCS football in passing efficiency with a 172.77 rating.

The Panthers went on to run the table in the SWAC, posting nine wins without a defeat. Black was named the league's offensive player of the year.

For his efforts in helping get Prarie View over the hump, he wins the Black College Sports Page offensive player of the year award and is the offensive leader of the 2009 "Baad Team" of HBCU all-stars.

Frazier, who won the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in FCS football this year, also gets our award as the top coach in black college football.

For Black to win the award and be named the first-team signal-caller was quite an accomplishment given the stiff competition he faced from South Carolina State QB Malcolm Long and last year's recipient, Florida A&M QB Curtis Pulley.

Long was better this year than he was a year ago when he quarterbacked the Bulldogs to their first MEAC title in 16 years. This season, Long passed for 2,503 yards, 20 TDs with just 10 interceptions, while completing 64.4% of his passes. He's the second team QB.

Pulley, meanwhile, lived up to his billing, practically matching his numbers from a year ago as he rushed for 881 yards and 6 TDs while passing for 1,824 yards and 12 TDs. Pulley leads the third team offense.

Joining Black on the first team offense are the receivers that topped the 1,000-yard receiving mark this season. Chowan freshman Robert Holland hauled in a black college-best 86 receptions for 1,078 yards including 7 TDs. Southern senior Juamorris Steward had 80 receptions for 1,022 yards and 11 TDs.

Joining Black in the first team backfield are seniors Quinn Porter of Stillman and Ulysses Banks of Alabama A&M. Porter led all black college rushers with 1,287 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry and 138.6 yards per game while scoring 9 touchdowns. His best outing was against Lane where he rushed for 279 yards. Banks led the SWAC in rushing and finished third amongst black college rushers, piling up 1,123 yards (102.1 ypg.) with 8 TDs. Southern tight end Warren Matthews was the leading pass catcher at his position, hauling in 27 passes and scoring six touchdowns.

With eight sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, 55 solo tackles (tops in the SWAC), five interceptions, two returned for TDs, five forced fumbles and three recoveries (both tops in the SWAC), it's easy to see why Grambling State 6-4, 275-pound lineman Christian Anthony is the 2009 BCSP defensive player of the year.

Alabama A&M defensive end Jeremy Maddox, who posted 12 sacks, joins him on the first team D-line along with Morgan State's Justin Lawrence and St. Augustine's Marcus Crump. Shaw defensive back Quintez Smith, who led Div. II with nine interceptions, leads the first team secondary along with Southern's Jason House who led FCS with ten picks.

Morgan State's George Howard, who racked up 134 tackles for the Bears, leads the linebacking corps and is joined by Grambling's Cliff Exama (94 tackles) and Clark Atlanta's Zimier McCloud (92).

Florida A&M kick returner Leroy Vann, who brought back five punts for TDs this season and set a new FCS career record for returns for touchdowns, holds down the return specialist position for the second year in a row. Ditto for Hampton punter Jamal Blanchard who led all black college punters with a 43.9 yard average, third best in FCS. Grambling freshman Ari Johnson, who converted 18 of 23 field goals and was good on 36 of 38 PATs for 90 total points, is the placekicker.

2009 BCSP "BAAD TEAM" OF BLACK COLLEGE ALL-STARS

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB - K. J. Black, Jr., Prairie View A&M; RB - Quinn Porter, Sr., Stillman; Ulysses Banks, Sr., Alabama A&M; WR - Robert Holland, Fr., Chowan; Jumorris Stewart, Jr., Southern; TE - Warren Matthews, Sr., Southern; OL - Johnny Culbreath, Jr., SC State; Robert Okeafor, Jr., Florida A&M; Xavier Manuel, Sr., Alabama A&M; Ramone Harewood, Sr., Morehouse; David Mims, Sr., Virginia Union; PK - Ari Johnson, Fr., Grambling State; KR - Leroy Vann, Sr., Florida A&M

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Christian Anthony, Jr., Grambling State; Jeremy Maddox, Sr., Alabama A&M; Justin Lawrence, Sr., Morgan State; Marcus Crump, Sr., St. Augustine's; LB - George Howard, Sr., Morgan State; Zimier McCloud, Sr., Clark Atlanta; Cliff Exama, So., Grambling State; DB - Quintez Smith, Sr., Shaw; Justin Hannah, Sr., Tuskegee; Terrell Whitehead, Sr., Norfolk State; Jason House, Jr., SU; P - Jamal Blanchard, Sr., Hampton

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Malcolm Long, Jr., SCSU; RB - Winston Thompson, So., CAU; Donald Babers, Jr., PVA&M; WR - Chris Bell, Sr., NSU; Oliver "Tre" Young, Sr., SCSU; TE - Jonathan Hannah, Sr., TXSU; OL - Tim Tusey, So., PVA&M; Revay Smith, Sr., GSU; Josh Harrison, Jr., SCSU; Joseph Ephram, Jr., ALBST; Dylan Stivers, Sr., ECSU; PK - Austin Turner, So., FSU; KR - Reggie Smith, Sr., ECSU

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Quentin Spears, Jr., PVA&M; Brandon Anderson, Sr., TU; Dexter Jackson, Sr., B-CU; Kendrick Ellis, Jr., HAMPT; LB - Julio Sanchez, Jr., HAMP; Adrian Hardy, Sr., ALABST; Marcos Esquivel, Sr., FSU; DB - Justin Hamilton, Sr., ECSU; Phillip Adams, Sr., SCSU; Eugene Clifford, Jr., TENNST; Anthony Beck, Sr., Prairie View A&M; P - Pedro Ventura, Jr., PVA&M

THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Curtis Pulley, Sr., FAMU; RB - LeMarcus Coker, Sr., HAM; William Ford, Sr., SCSU; WR - Brian Haith, Sr., TXSU; Jeremy Franklin, Jr., JCSU; TE - Lamont Bryant, Sr., MSU; OL - Melvin Rogers, Sr., CHOW; Ramon Chinyoung, Sr., SU; James Dekle, So., PVA&M; William Falakiseni, Jr, NSU; Edawn Coughman, Jr., SHAW; PK - Blake Erickson, So., SCSU; KR - James Proctor, So., BSU

THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Jarrell Herring, Sr., NCA&T; Chris Jinks, Jr., BEN; Brandon Fortune, Sr., VSU; Malcolm Taylor, Jr., ALCST; LB - David Erby, Jr., SCSU; Freddie Fairchild, Sr., UAPB; Michael Thompson,Sr., BEN; DB - Kevin Thornton, Sr., Ark.-Pine Bluff; Antwane Cox, Sr., B-CU; Jeff Gowdy, Sr., FSU; Chris Adingpu, Jr., PVA&M; P - Josh Duran, Jr., SU

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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