Urbana University senior D’Gary Wallace has been voted to the 2015 Football All-MEC First Team for the third year in a row, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.
In addition, four other Blue Knights earned recognition from the Mountain East Conference, including LB Kevin Chapple (Second Team), WR Trevon Saunders (Honorable Mention) and OL Andrew Garland (Honorable Mention).
Wallace, a senior linebacker from Dayton, finished his outstanding four-year career as UU’s all-time tackles leader with 431 career defensive stops. He’s the first Blue Knight to record 400 total tackles, while ranking second in NCAA Division II with a career-high 16.5 tackles per game.
Wallace registered at least 17 tackles in eight of UU’s 11 games to lead the MEC in tackles for the second straight year. He finished with a career-high 182 total tackles, with 14.5 going for a loss. He also recorded two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one sack.
In his final home game on Nov. 7, Wallace totaled 27 tackles against Notre Dame College to break the UU and MEC single-game record. He also tied the highest total in a single game across all NCAA levels this season, and came up three tackles short of the NCAA Division II single-game record.
Wallace ended his UU playing career ranked at the top of five program record lists – career total tackles (431), career assisted tackles (193), total tackles in a single season (182), assisted tackles in a single season (91) and total tackles in a single game (27). He ranks second in UU history with 55 career tackles for loss.
Chapple, a junior from Columbus, produced a career-high 90 total tackles and led the Blue Knights by tying his career-high of 17.5 tackles for loss. Chapple also led UU with a team-high 5.5 sacks, and ranked seventh among MEC leaders with 8.2 tackles per game.
He is now ranked third in UU history behind Wallace with 48.5 career TFL’s, and tied for third with 22 career sacks.
Chapple was named the MEC and D2Football.com Defensive Player of the Week following his Week 2 performance at West Virginia State, where he recorded five TFL’s and two sacks while racking up 12 total tackles. He also returned a fumble 24 yards against the Yellow Jackets to set up a UU score.
Saunders, a sophomore from Columbus, had a breakout year by leading the Blue Knights with a career-high eight receiving touchdowns. He produced team and career highs in receptions (48), receiving yards (878), average receiving yards per game (79.8) and average yards per catch (18.3).
The 5-foot-8 speedster recorded the longest TD reception in MEC history, a 95-yarder in Week 9 at UVa-Wise, while also proving to be a huge threat in the return game. He finished second in the MEC with an average of 144.6 all-purpose yards per game.
Garland, a junior from Cairo, Ohio, anchored the UU offensive line by starting all 11 games for the second straight year. The 6-foot-3, 285-pounder helped clear the way for nine rushing touchdowns and provided time for UU quarterbacks to average 203.6 passing yards per contest.
The all-conference teams and individual award winners were selected by a vote of the league’s coaches.
