RICHARDSON – Texas A&M University-Commerce football team is well represented in the Lone Star Conference’s year-end awards and honors. 18 members of the Lion football have been named to the all-conference and all-academic teams announced on Friday afternoon.
Kader Kohou (Euless – Trinity) has been named the 2021 Lone Star Conference Defensive Back of the Year, also earning first team all-conference honors. He is joined on the all-LSC first team by defensive end Elijah Earls (San Antonio – Stevens), safety and all-purpose double honoree Dominique Ramsey (Converse – Judson), safety Alex Shillow (Pflugerville), offensive tackle Amon Simon (Humble – Atascocita), and kicker Jake Viquez (Rockwall).
The Lions are represented on the all-LSC second team by center Christian Hernandez (Frisco – Lone Star), wide receiver Chance Cooper (Leander – Rouse), and deep snapper Wyatt Leath (Rockwall) on second team all-conference.
Shillow, wide receiver Matt Childers (Henderson), and defensive tackle Devin Beamon (North Forney) earned LSC All-Academic honors.
Kohou is named to all-conference team for the third time in his career and second time to the first team. This is his first career player of the year award. He started all 11 games and made 24 tackles and six pass breakups. He also had two tackles for loss. Kohou contributed in the return game with five returns for 44 yards and caught a 40-yard pass on Senior Day. He is the first Lion to earn the award since Uriah Harris in 2016. Since the award’s inception in 1984, Kohou is the sixth Lion to earn the award.
Ramsey earned the honor of first team defensive back as well as a first team returner. He led the LSC with 444 punt return yards, as well as scoring the only touchdown on a punt return in the conference. He also had 51 tackles, which led the team as well as two tackles for loss, two interceptions, two pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, and one fumble recovery. Ramsey has been honored as a first team all-LSC player for the third time. He also made his mark offensively with 44 passing yards, 32 receiving yards, and three rushing yards.
Earls has been selected as an all-conference player for the first time in his career. He had 9.5 tackles for loss and six sacks which led the team. He also had 43 tackles, three quarterback hurries, and one fumble recovery.
Shillow was named as the Defensive Player of the Week on November 1 and finished the season with 49 tackles, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, five pass breakups, and a blocked kick as well as a 100-yard interception returned for touchdown. He is selected to the first team all-conference for the first time and third time overall.
Simon and Hernandez are part of the offensive line unit which made way for the offense to gain 3,580 total yards and allowed less than two sacks per game. Simon is named to the first team all-LSC for the third time and Hernandez has earned all-LSC honors for the third time, having earned honorable mention the previous two times.
Viquez made LSC-leading 17 field goals and scored second most points in the conference, 84, on his way to his second all-LSC selection. He was named to second team all-LSC in 2019. Viquez also had 2,560 kickoff yards and 11 touchbacks, he went 33 for 36 in point after attempts.
Leath is named to all-LSC team for the second time. He and Childers contributed to Viquez’s efforts, as the long snapper and holder. He also was part of the punting unit that averaged 34.04 yards per punt, 13 punts inside the 20-yard line and no blocks.
Cooper was second on the team with 374 yards in just nine games played. He led the team with four touchdown catches and averaged 12.9 yards per catch. He is elevated to second team all-LSC, after being named an honorable mention all-LSC wide receiver in 2019.
Hayes, Haba, Wilcox III, Walker, Ezinwa, and Ellis are named all-LSC players in their first seasons as Lions. Hayes was second on the team with 5.5 sacks and team-leading two forced fumbles. He had 27 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup, two quarterback hurries, and a blocked kick. Haba also led the team along with Earls in tackles for loss with 9.5, he had five sacks. He also had two forced fumbles, 18 tackles, one quarterback hurry, and one fumble recovery in just six games.
Wilcox III was second on the team with 50 tackles, he also had a 73-yard fumble recovered for touchdown. He had four tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, and two fumble recoveries. Walker had 34 tackles and 2.5 for loss. Ezinwa sacked the quarterback 2.5 times and also recorded six tackles for loss, 34 tackles, three quarterback hurries, and a forced fumble. Ellis appeared in nine games, starting all nine. He had two interceptions, three pass breakups, as well as 19 tackles and one for a loss. Ellis also made contributions on special teams with 76 kickoff return yards and punt return yard for 20 yards.
Hodge had six tackles for loss, including five sacks on his way to his second all-LSC selection. He had 19 tackles, one interception, two pass breakups, and five quarterback hurries.
Williams and Taylor are named to all-LSC teams for the first time in their careers. Williams made 46 tackles, five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one quarterback hurry. He had eight tackles in the season opening win at CSU-Pueblo. Taylor also had an interception and made 45 tackles, four tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one quarterback hurry, and two fumble recoveries.
Shillow has been named to the all-academic team for the second time in his career. He has been named CoSIDA Academic All-District three times and CoSIDA Academic All-America twice.
Childers and Beamon have made their mark in the classroom, holding the best grade point averages on the team. Both are named to the all-academic team for the first time in their careers. Childers is a business major and Beamon is an electrical engineering major. On the field, Childers had 30 receptions for 382 yards and two touchdowns, while also contributing on special teams as the holder. Beamon had 26 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup.
The Lions went 7-4 overall and 5-2 in their final season in the Lone Star Conference.
Special Recognition Academic Player of the Year: Brandon Blair, West Texas A&M 2021 LSC FOOTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS SPECIAL AWARDS Offensive Player of the Year (J.W. Rollins award): Dillon Sterling-Cole, Midwestern State Offensive Back of the Year: Nathan Omayebu III, Angelo State Receiver of the Year: Justin Manyweather, Eastern New Mexico Offensive Lineman of the Year: Willis Patrick, Angelo State Offensive Freshman of the Year: Jalen March, Midwestern State Defensive Player of the Year (J.V. Sikes award): Hunter Kyle, Angelo State Defensive Lineman of the Year: Mazin Richards, Eastern New Mexico Linebacker of the Year: JT Cavender, West Texas A&M Defensive Back of the Year: Kader Kohou, A&M-Commerce Defensive Freshman of the Year: JT Cavender, West Texas A&M Newcomer of the Year: Dillon Sterling-Cole, Midwestern State Coach of the Year: Bill Maskill, Midwestern State
