Four hounds make LSC All-Conference

RICHARDSON, Texas — Four members of the Eastern New Mexico University football squad were accorded first-team All-Lone Star Conference South Division honors in voting done by the division’s head coaches and released on Wednesday by the conference office.

Greyhounds chosen on offense were senior wide receiver Derrick Hunter and sophomore fullback Patrick Hemphill, while named to the first team on defense were senior cornerback Corey White and junior outside linebacker Tim Ojeda. They were among 12 Hounds honored in the selections.

Hunter earned All-South honors for a second consecutive year. He led ENMU in receiving in each of his four years, setting school career records during the 2005 campaign for catches (128), yards (2,456) and touchdown catches (21).

This year, he caught 18 passes for 364 yards and five touchdowns, while also returning six punts for 87 yards and six kickoffs for 108 yards. Hunter had personal highs in 2004 with 51 receptions for 829 yards and eight touchdowns.

Hemphill rushed for 342 yards on 75 carries and scored four touchdowns, helping the Hounds set a school record with 3,333 rushing yards. ENMU’s 303-yard-per-game rushing average ranked fourth in 2005 in NCAA Division II.

White was also a repeat All-LSC performer. He had 27 tackles (20 solos) and also contributed four pass breakups, two blocked kicks and a fumble recovery.

In four seasons, White had 83 tackles (69 solos) and five interceptions, four of which came in 2004. This fall, he returned 11 kickoffs for 192 yards and two punts for 36.

Ojeda, a junior college transfer his year from Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.), ranked third on the team with 59 tackles (25 solos) while leading the team with 9 1/2 tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks.

In addition, he had an interception, a fumble recovery, two quarterback hurries and two pass breakups. One of the deflections was intercepted by a teammate, setting up a touchdown in the Hounds’ 33-30 win at Abilene Chrsitian on Sept. 24.

Eastern put two linemen on the second-team offense in senior center Devin Pilgrim and senior guard Robert Acuna, and six players on the honorable mention list — sophomore quarterback Michael Benton, senior running back Jason Tezeno, senior offensive tackle T.J. Cobb, freshman defensive lineman Kyle Wilson, sophomore defensive back Brandon Harper and junior punter Lee Price.

Tarleton State led the division with eight first-team selections — four on offense and four on defense — and the Texans also took three of the eight individual awards with Sam Skidmore earning offensive lineman of the year, Derrick Ross offensive back of the year and Renardrick Phillips defensive back of the year.

Ironically, the two teams representing the league in the Division II playoffs — overall and South champion West Texas A&M and South runnerup Angelo State — had only three and two first-team picks, respectively. WT’s Don Carthel was chosen the South’s coach of the year.

In the North Division, two-time defending champion Southeastern Oklahoma led the way with eight first-team selections and three individual award winners.