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Demery Hawkins named Shorter's second AFCA NAIA All-American
By Matt Green
WACO, Texas -- Shorter University junior linebacker Demery Hawkins has been named an NAIA All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) the organization announced today.
Hawkins, a 6-1, 240-pounder out of Lyons, Ga., joins former Shorter fullback A.J. Cooley as Shorter's only other AFCA All-America honoree. The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions: NCAA Division I FBS, NCAA Division I FCS, NCAA Division II, NAIA and NCAA Division III.
A transfer from Georgia Military College, Hawkins made an immediate impact on the gridiron for the Hawks as the centerpiece of Shorter's defense, which ranked third in the Mid-South Conference.
Hawkins led the conference in both tackles and tackles per game. His 110 total stops are the second-best single-season total in school history and his 11.0 tackles per game, which ranked No. 3 in the NAIA, are the top mark in program history.
On the year, Hawkins made 13.0 tackles for loss, had 2.5 sacks and forced two fumbles. He made a career-high 15 tackles in a seven-point loss at Mid-South East Division champion Georgetown (Ky.) and registered double-digit tackles in eight of Shorter's 10 games.
For his work, Hawkins picked up 2011 Mid-South Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Year, becoming only the second player in school history to earn that honor -- linebacker Logan Lollis won back-to-back Mid-South Defensive Player of the Year accolades in 2008 and 2009. He was also one of seven Hawks to appear on the West Division first team.
The AFCA NAIA All-America team is chosen by the AFCA NAIA All-America Selection Committee, which is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA's nine districts. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.
2011 AFCA NAIA Coaches' All-America Team
Offense
WR - Anthony Mullenburg (6-2, 200, JR, Dakota Wesleyan)
WR - Clarence Anderson* (5-9, 160, SR, Ottawa)
TE - Juan Redmon (6-5, 251, SR, MidAmerica Nazarene)
OL - Tyler Wells (6-5, 325, SR, Grand View)
OL - Carl Meister (6-4, 300, JR, St. Ambrose)
OL - Corey Cronk* (6-1, 305, SR, St. Francis (Ind.))
OL - Tom Van Haute (6-4, 280, SR, Hastings)
OL - Ron Fontenot (6-7, 323, SR, Benedictine (Kan.))
QB - Josh Hollingsworth (6-0, 210, SO, Faulkner)
RB - Chance Demarais (6-0, 227, JR, Carroll)
RB - Junior Allen (5-7, 185, JR, Bethany)
Defense
DL - Michael Prosser (6-2, 240, SR, Saint Xavier)
DL - Jordan Carlson (6-4, 265, JR, Northwestern (Iowa))
DL - Richard Wick* (6-2, 244, SR, Missouri Valley)
DL - Dexter Davis (6-2, 230, JR, Friends)
LB - Demery Hawkins (6-1, 240, JR, Shorter)
LB - Michael Hicks (6-2, 225, FR, Southern Nazarene)
LB - Zach Goebel (6-5, 220, JR, Georgetown (Ky.))
DB - Wayne Johnson* (5-7, 145, SR, St. Francis (Ill.))
DB - Dustin Craig (6-1, 205, SR, Marian)
DB - Colby Henderson (5-11, 175, JR, Morningside)
DB - Nick Carlson (5-10, 180, JR, Midland)
Specialists
P - Tyler Crowley (6-0, 185, SR, Southern Oregon)
PK - Andrew Nielsen (6-1, 223, SR, Doane)
AP - Cordarious Mann (5-6, 160, JR, Bethel (Tenn.))
* 2010 AFCA All-American
