Football’s Gerard and Dehaze Earn All-America Honors

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior cornerback K.J. Gerard and punter/kicker Robbie Dehaze were among five Big Sky Conference players named to the 2008 Walter Camp Football Foundation 2008 Football Championship Subdivision All-America Team.

Eastern Washington defensive end Greg Peach and Montana safety Colt Anderson were also named to the defensive team. Montana guard Colin Dow was tabbed to the offense.

The team consists of just 26 players. The Southern Conference had six players on the team, followed by the Big Sky with five, and the CAA with four. Elon, James Madison, Northern Arizona and Montana each had two players selected to the squad.

Gerard, a native of Fountain Valley, Calif., intercepted five passes, and led the Big Sky with 14 pass breakups. He also recorded 38 solo tackles, and helped an NAU defense that led the nation against the run. He was also named to 2007 Associated Press (third team) and The Sports Network All-America teams.

Dehaze, 6-3, 184-pound senior from Sherwood, Ore., averaged a national-best 45.2 yards per punt. He punted 64 times, landing 17 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Peach, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior from Vancouver, B.C., was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP after leading the nation with 18 sacks and 22 tackles for loss. Peach is a leading candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, which will be presented on Thursday night in Chattanooga. Tenn.

Anderson, a 5-11, 185-pound senior from Butte, Mont., was a unanimous All-Big Sky pick for the third straight season. The Buchanan Award candidate enters Friday night’s semifinal against James Madison with 103 total tackles, five tackles for loss and three interceptions.

Dow, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior from Billings, Mont., has been a mainstay on the Grizzlies’ offensive line for four seasons. He’s twice been named All-Big Sky as a guard, and was named to the second team as a center in 2007. Montana leads the Big Sky in rushing offense, and rushing touchdowns. Montana is second in the league in total offense and scoring offense.

Wide receivers Ramses Barden of Cal Poly and Terrell Hudgins of Elon were the only repeat selections.

Walter Camp, “The Father of American Football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting All-America teams for the Football Bowl and Championship subdivisions.