SWAC Football Honors: Players of the Year Announced
SWAC.org
RB Jay Peck - Offensive Player of the Year
LB Zach East - Defensive Player of the Year
The Southwestern Athletic
Conference announces its 2007 All-Conference Football Players of the Year
awards as two running backs, a return specialist and a linebacker claiming the
top honors.
The 2007 SWAC Offensive
Player of the Year is senior running back Jay Peck of
Alabama
State. Peck led the conference in carries, rushing
yards and 100-yard rushing games. He
finished the season with 246 carries for 1,186 yards and six touchdowns. He had seven 100-yard rushing yard games this
season ending his collegiate career with 12 games over the century mark. The
Columbus,
Ohio, native finished his career
with 2,346 rushing yards (third on the school's all-time list behind Brad
Baxter and Rico White). Peck was the Hornets' most consistent runner this
season, gaining 141 yards and a score at
Texas
Southern and 173 yards and a touchdown at
Mississippi
Valley
State. Peck also caught 21 passes for 177 yards and
a touchdown.
The 2007 SWAC Defensive
Player of the Year is senior linebacker Zach East of Prairie View A&M. East came on strong during the end of last
season and continued his strong play in 2007.He finished the season with 127 total tackles (67 solo). He also tallied 14.5 tackles for loss, three
sacks, four forced fumbles and a blocked kick.He had double-digit stops in nine games this season including an
18-tackle performance versus
Grambling
State and a 19-tackle performance
against
Jackson
State.East ends his two-year career for the Panthers with 187 total tackles.
The SWAC Freshman of the
Year is running back Frank Warren of
Grambling
State.
Warren,
while splitting time with running back Cornelius Walker, became a consistent
force for the Tigers this season as the team won the Western Division. He has 182 carries for 862 yards and four
touchdowns; he averaged 4.7 yards per carry while tallying 78.4 yards per
game. He also caught 18 passes for 88
yards and one touchdown. He had 143
yards on 30 carries against
Alcorn
State and 149 yards and a touchdown against
Texas Southern. He had seven games with over sixty yards
rushing.
The SWAC Newcomer of the
Year is wide receiver/return specialist Bruce Peters of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Peters saw action in 11 games contributing as both a punt and kick
returner. He has 17 kickoff returns
averaging 20.5 yards per return with a long of 33 against
Grambling
State. He also tallied 24 punt returns averaging
11.0 yards per return including a 60-yard return against
Alcorn
State. Peters also caught nine passes for 115 yards
on offense. He finished the season with
349 kick return yards, 264 punt return yards and 728 all-purpose yards.