Football Program Celebrates Team and Individual Accomplishments
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona football team held their annual team banquet Saturday afternoon at the High Country Conference Center, recognizing the 20 seniors and team and individual accomplishments from the 2010 season.
Senior linebacker Reid Worthington, freshman running back Zach Bauman and junior kicker Drew Zamora were named Most Valuable Players for their respective units.
Worthington, who was an All-Big Sky first-team selection, was chosen as the Defensive Most Valuable Player. He led the team with 67 tackles and recorded 4.5 tackles for loss and had two interceptions and one fumble recovery. The Yorba Linda, Calif., native had a season-high 11 tackles against Weber State.
Bauman, the Offensive Most Valuable Player, rushed for 1,059 yards on the season, setting the school freshman rushing mark and recording the 14th 1,000-yard season in school history. The Chandler Hamilton High School product was among the top freshman in the country in rushing yards per game, listing among six freshmen in Division I to average more than 95 yards per game. Overall, he ranked 26th overall in the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing per game and fourth among FCS freshman and he was ranked fifth in the Big Sky Conference in rushing and first in scoring with a conference best 16 touchdowns.
Zamora, who hails from Colorado Springs, Colo., was the Special Teams Most Valuable Player. He handles both the punting and kickoff duties. He averaged 42.2 yards per punt to rank third in the Big Sky and 16th in the nation, placing 16 punts inside the 20-yard line and 10 punts of 50 or more yards.
Junior defensive lineman Dan Pela of Phoenix Horizon High School was selected the Most Improved Player, while Portland product Brandon Vance earned the Lumberjack Award. Junior long snapper Ben Bachelier, who is Rio Rico, Ariz., earned the Cynthia Bennett Award who academics. He boasts a 3.97 grade point average in exercise science.
2010 Northern Arizona University Football Banquet Awards
CYNTHIA BENNETT AWARD -- Ben Bachelier
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Mike Battisti & Cody Dowd
LUMBERJACK AWARD -- Brandon Vance
DAVID COUTURE MOST INSPIRATIONAL
OFFENSE -- Jeff Hines
DEFENSE -- Kyle Rath
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Dan Pela
JOHN G. YOST MEMORIAL AWARD- OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE LINEMAN --Kris Poindexter
OFFENSIVE BACKFIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Michael Herrick
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR -- Kainoa Pe’a
DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Matt Estrada
NEWCOMMER OF THE YEAR -- Zach Bauman
OUTSTANDING JUNIOR -- Austin Shanks
OUTSTANDING SOPHOMORE -- Taylor Malenfant
OUTSTANDING FRESHMAN -- Tim Wilkinson
SCOUT TEAM PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
OFFENSIVE -- Jamaal Perkins
DEFENSIVE -- Zach Ka’ahanui
TEAM CAPTAINS -- Michael Herrick, Jeff Hines, Matt Estrada, Cody Dowd, Reid Worthington
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
SPECIAL TEAMS -- Drew Zamora
OFFENSIVE -- Zach Bauman
DEFENSIVE -- Reid Worthington
DID YOU KNOW…The Northern Arizona University athletics department recorded its highest cumulative grade point average since 1997, recording a 3.16 GPA among its more than 300 student-athletes at the completion 2009 fall semester.
