McGuire, Ringo Claim Top Honors; Eight Cajuns Named To All-LSWA Team

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns running back Elijah McGuire and defensive lineman Christian Ringo captured the two top honors on the 2014 All-Louisiana college football team announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Louisiana Tech quarterback Cody Sokol captured awards for first-year players and Grambling State Coach Broderick Fobbs was honored for his turnaround of the Tiger program.

The team, traditionally released on Christmas Day, is built off nominations from the media relations directors at the football playing schools in the state and selected from a statewide panel of LSWA members.

All statistics are based on the final regular season totals of the teams and do not include any post-season or bowl contests.

McGuire earned Offensive Player of the Year honors to go with being named the Sun Belt POY after rushing for 1,165 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns. He posted the fourth most rushing yards in a single season at Louisiana and the sophomore from Houma was also the team's leading receiver with 40 catches for another 414 yards and two touchdowns. He led the SBC and was No. 19 in the country in all-purpose yards at 1,695. He rushed for over 100 yards five times with a best of 265 versus Arkansas State.

The Defensive Player of the Year, Ringo had 35 solo tackles with a strong 19.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks that earned him first-team All-SBC honors. He was ranked seventh in the nation in tackles for loss and ranked 12th in D1 in sacks. He recovered two fumbles for the Cajuns including a 41-yard recovery for a touchdown at Texas State.

Both McGuire and Ringo were named to the first team and were joined by tight end Larry Pettis, offensive lineman Daniel Quave and defensive lineman Justin Hamilton. Named to the second team for the Ragin' Cajuns were offensive lineman Mykhael Quave and punter Daniel Cadona with quarterback Terrance Broadway named to the honorable mention team.

The highly regarded Fournette of LSU earned Freshman of the Year honors after rushing for 891 yards and eight scores. He rushed for 100 or more yards four times including a career-best 146 yards and a touchdown in the win over Texas A&M in the regular-season finale. Fournette and the Tigers will play Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl on Tuesday.

Sokol, a senior playing his first year at a Louisiana four-year school (Louisiana Tech), earned state Newcomer of the Year honors adding to his Conference USA Newcomer honors. Sokol, who will lead the Bulldogs in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Saturday, was ranked 11th in the nation in passing touchdowns with 29. Sokol completed 246-of-420 passes for 3,189 yards as Tech scored 40 or more points in six games with the fifth most-improved offense in the nation.

Fobbs was an easy choice of the voters for the state's top coach after taking Grambling from a last-place finish and one win a year ago to competing for a division title. Grambling won seven games against SWAC opponents. Fobbs was the Southwestern Athletic COY and also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.

On the 25-member first team, LSU had 8 representatives, Louisiana 5, Southeastern 4, Northwestern State 3, Louisiana Tech and ULM 2 each and Tulane 1. Southern, McNeese and Louisiana College had representatives on the second team, while Nicholls had a player listed as honorable mention.

The complete team is on the table below:

LSWA All-LOUISIANA COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Pos/Name, School/Class/Hometown/Notes
OL/Vadal Alexander, LSU/Jr./Buford, Ga./Second Team All-SEC, 73 knockdowns, 2nd on team
OL/Mitchell Bell, Louisiana Tech/Sr./Houston, Texas/First Team All-C-USA, 12 games started
OL/Jonathan Braddock, Southeastern/Sr./Ripley, Miss./First Team All-SLC, Starter at RT
OL/La'el Collins, LSU/Sr./Baton Rouge, La./First Team All-SEC, Jacobs Award (top OL in SEC)
OL/Daniel Quave, Louisiana/Sr./Gautier, Miss./First Team All-SBC, 51 consecutive starts
RB/Kenneth Dixon, Louisiana Tech/Jr./Strong, Ark./Second Team All-C-USA, Fifth in nation in scoring
RB/Elijah McGuire, Louisiana/So./Houma, La./SBC POY, 1,165 yds, 14 TDs, 1,695 All-Purpose
WR/Ed Eagan, Northwestern State/Jr./New Orleans, La./First Team All-SLC, 908 yards, 6 TDs
WR/Travin Dural, LSU/So./Breaux Bridge, La./758 yards, 7 TDs, 2nd SEC in YPC 20.5
TE/Larry Pettis, Louisiana/Sr./Oxford, Miss./All-SBC HM, 16 catches, 117 yds, 1 TD
QB/Bryan Bennett, Southeastern/Sr./Granada Hills, Calif./SLC POY, Peyton Finalist, 2,357 yds, 18 TDs

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Pos/Name, School/Class/Hometown/Notes
DL/Justin Hamilton, Louisiana/Sr./Natchez, Miss./First Team All-SBC, 26 TT, 9.0 TFL, 5 sacks
DL/Danielle Hunter, LSU/Jr./Katy, Texas/Led LSU with 12 TFL, 64 TT, 6 PBUs
DL/Gerrand Johnson, ULM/Jr./Rayville, La./First Team All-SBC, 93 TT, 6.0 sacks, 12.5 TFL
DL/Christian Ringo, UL-Lafayette/Sr./Jackson, Miss./First Team All-SBC, 7th nation in TFL 19.5
LB/Kwon Alexander, LSU/Jr./Oxford, Ala./First Team All-SEC, 79 TT, 7.5 TFL
LB/Kendell Beckwith, LSU/So./Clinton, La./68 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2 sacks, moved to starter mid-season
LB/Isiah Corbett, Southeastern/Sr./Belle Glade, Fla./First Team All-SLC, Finalist Buchanan Award
DB/Imoan Claiborne, Northwestern State/Sr./Alexandria, La./First Team All-SLC, 4 int., 3 FR, 7 PBU
DB/Mitch Lane, ULM/Jr./Pine Bluff, Ark./First Team All-SBC, 91 TT, 3 int, 1 TD, 4 PBU
DB/Sam Scofield, Tulane/Sr./Lafayette, La./Second team All-AAC, 94 TT, 5 TFL, 4 PBU, 3 INT
DB/Tre'Davious White, LSU/So./Shreveport, La./32 TT, 5 PBUs, 2 INTs, 1 sack

FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS
Pos/Name, School/Class/Hometown/Notes
K/Ryan Adams, Southeastern/Sr./Dayton, Ohio/First Team All-SLC, 16-18 FG, 60-62 PAT, 7th FCS FG% (89)
P/Jamie Keehn, LSU/Jr./Miners Rest, Australia/Second Team All-SEC, 2nd in SEC 45.0 avg., 25 inside 20
RS/Ed Eagan, Northwestern State/Jr./New Orleans, La./Double honoree, 1,254 KR yards (1st FCS)

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Elijah McGuire, Louisiana
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Christian Ringo, Louisiana
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Leonard Fournette, LSU
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Cody Sokol, Louisiana Tech
COACH OF THE YEAR – Broderick Fobbs, Grambling State

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
OL – Zach Brown, Southern (Sr., Missouri City, Texas); Antoine Everett, McNeese (Sr., Richmond, Texas); Pace Murphy, Northwestern State (Jr., Houston, Texas); Brandon Porche, Louisiana College (Sr., Opelousas, La.); Mykhael Quave, Louisiana (Gautier, Miss.).
RB – Leonard Fournette, LSU (Fr., New Orleans, La.); Lenard Tillery, Southern (So., Baton Rouge).
WR – Rashon Ceaser, ULM (Jr., Clinton, La.); Willie Quinn, Southern (Jr., Miami, Fla.)
TE – Alec Osborne, ULM (Jr., Geismar, La.)
QB – Cody Sokol, Louisiana Tech (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.)

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL – Leroy Armstrong, Northwestern State (Jr., Natchitoches, La.); Houston Bates, Louisiana Tech (Sr., Covington, La.); Kevin Dorn, McNeese (Sr., Pineville, La.); Royce LaFrance, Tulane (Jr., Harvey, La.); Arthur Miley, Southern (Sr., Mangham, La.).
LB -- Beau Brewer, Louisiana College (Sr., Diana, Texas); Marion Chapman, Northwestern State (Sr., Waynesboro, Miss.); Hunter Kissinger, ULM (Jr., Springdale, Ark.).
DB – Lorenzo Doss, Tulane (Jr., New Orleans, La.); Ronald Martin, LSU (Sr., White Castle, La.); Aaron Sam, McNeese (Sr., Lake Charles, La.); Xavier Woods, Louisiana Tech (So., West Monroe, La.).

SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS
K – Justin Manton, ULM (Sr., Prairieville, La.).
P – Daniel Cadona, Louisiana (Sr., Toowoomba, Australia)
RS – Ira Jewitt, Louisiana College (Sr., Shreveport, La.)

HONORABLE MENTION
OFFENSE: OL -- DeWayne Houston, Southern (Sr, Lafayette, La.). RB – Michael Henry, Nicholls (Jr., Baton Rouge, La.). WR – Devante Scott, Southeastern (Sr., Ferriday, La.); Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech (So., Shreveport, La.). QB – Terrance Broadway, Louisiana (Sr., Baton Rouge, La.). DEFENSE: DB – Harlan Miller, Southeastern (Jr., Kentwood, La.). Specialists: P – Justin Manton, ULM (Sr., Prairieville, La.). RS – Xavier Roberson, Southeastern (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.).

McGuire, Ringo Claim Top Honors; Eight Cajuns Named To All-LSWA Team

Players Mentioned

Terrance Broadway

Daniel Cadona

Justin Hamilton

Elijah McGuire

Larry Pettis

Daniel Quave

Mykhael Quave

Christian Ringo

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