SRU dominates All-PSAC West unit
SLIPPERY ROCK — Senior quarterback Nigel Barksdale and head coach George Mihalik headline a lengthy list of Slippery Rock University football members honored this week on the All-PSAC West team.
Barksdale was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year while Mihalik received Coach of the Year honors.
Barksdale set single-season school records this year for passing yards at 3,674, touchdown passes with 340, pass attempts with 405, completions at 238 and total offensive yardage with 4,096.
He's thrown for more than 400 yards three times in 2013 and ranks fourth nationally in Division II with 372.8 total offensive yards per game. Barksdale also ranks fifth in passing yards, sixth at 318.2 passing yards per game and 10th in touchdown passes.
On the all-time single-season PSAC list, Barksdale ranks fourth in tiotal offense and sixth in passing yards. He was PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week four times.
Mihalik received his fifth PSAC West Coach of the Year honor, also winning the award in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2011. He guided The Rock into the Division II playoffs for the first time since 1999 and ranks fourth among active Division II coaches with 176 career victories.
SRU (9-2) had 10 players make first team All-PSAC West, including Mars graduate Austin Miele and Slippery Rock High grad Tony Papley. Miele, a junior safety, led The Rock with 83 tackles this season, including 8.5 tackles for loss and an interception.
Senior defensive lineman Papley had 61 tackles to rank third on the team and had 12 tackles for loss. He has accumulated 126 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks in his Rock career.
Other first-team selections were Barksdale, senior linebackers Quindell Dean and Gary Allen, senior defensive linman Derek Walker, senior punter James McCombie, senior cornerback Anthony Saunders, senior wide receiver John Schademan and sophomore tackle Cory Tucker.The 10 first-round selections are the most for The Rock since 1998.Schademan set single-season school records this year with 1,411 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, He set a single-game receiving yardage record of 229 against Mercyhurst.Schademan was second in the PSAC with 73 catches this season. He ranked fourth nationally in receiving touchdowns, fifth in receiving yards.Dean had 71 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss. Allen had 60 tackles.McCombie led the PSAC with a career-best 43.2 yards per punt, including 12 that traveled more than 50 yards and 13 that landed inside the 20-yard line.Five Rock players — junior running back Teddy Blakeman, junior tight end Julian Harrell, junior defensive lineman Matt Peacock, sophomore receiver Jaimire Dutrieuille and freshman running back Shamar Greene — earned second team honors.
