Lakeland College

Lakeland Football Nabs Several All-Conference Honors

Athletics - posted on 11/17/2006

The Lakeland College football team earned 20 awards as the Illini-Badger Football Conference announced its postseason all-IBFC honorees this week.

Headlining the list for Lakeland was junior MacArthur White (Zion, Ill./Zion Benton), who was named co-IBFC Receiver of the Year and first team wide receiver.

Five other players earned first team all-IBFC honors: junior offensive lineman Joe Puhl (Ontonagon, Mich./Ontonagon): junior quarterback Brad Wilk (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park); sophomore defensive lineman Stephan Johnson (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township); sophomore linebacker John Wagner (Kewaunee/Kewanee); and senior defensive back Aaron Barrie (Oostburg/Oostburg).

"All the kids who earned honors throughout the conference were deserving of them, especially those on the first team," said Lakeland head coach Jim Zebrowski. "The best part is of our 19 guys who earned awards, 13 will be back to play next year."

White shared the league's top receiver award with Concordia, Wis., senior Jon Collier. White led the league in receptions and receiving yards per game, averaging 5.7 receptions for an average of 73.8 yards per game. He was also fourth in the conference in all-purpose yards, averaging 103.3 per game. White, who was honorable mention all-IBFC last season, also earned IBFC Offensive Player of the Week honors once this season.

"It's great any time any of your guys are named MVP of their position," said Zebrowski of White. "Mac is far and away one of the best receivers in the nation at the Division III level. He's deserving of the honor and I can't wait to see what he does next year."

Puhl, who earned honorable mention honors last season, was named first team for anchoring the Muskies' offensive line.

"He's one of the best offensive lineman in the league," said Zebrowski. "I'm happy he'll be coming back for us next year."

Wilk, who started just once at QB last season, took over the starting role this fall and led the conference in passing (174.2 yards a game) and total offense (189.5 yards per game). He also threw 16 TD passes.

"He progressed nicely throughout the season," said Zebrowski of Wilk. "He had his growing pains early. After the Benedictine game he played like a first team all-conference quarterback. I can't wait to see him put in a full season next year."

Johnson was rewarded for his ability to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, as he finished second in the conference in sacks with nine and second in the conference in tackles for a loss, (1.55 TFL per game).

"He's one of the best defensive lineman in the league," said Zebrowski. "David Benton (last year's IBFC Defensive Lineman of the Year) left some big shoes to fill and Steph filled them quite nicely, especially being just a sophomore."

Wagner followed up an impressive freshman year with a big sophomore season. He was second in the conference in tackles at 10.8 per game and third in the conference in sacks. Wagner earned honorable mention honors at linebacker last season.

"He is definitely worthy of the honor," said Zebrowski. "The linebackers were one of the strongest areas in our conference and he is the youngest guy on the first team. He has the ability to be a dominating force next year."

Barrie made the transition this year from running back to defensive back. He averaged 4.9 tackles per game with 44 tackles for the year and was also named IBFC Defensive Player of the Week for a stellar game against Concordia, Wis. This is Barrie's second time on the all-conference team, after earning honorable mention honors as a running back his sophomore year.

"Not only did he change positions, going from offense to defense, he was also playing all season on a broken foot," said Zebrowski of Barrie. "He garnered several votes for defensive back of the year. Making first team is just a testament to all the work he put it in. The kid has an outstanding work ethic."

Earning second team honors for Lakeland were: senior offensive lineman Ryan Holm (Gladstone, Mich./Gladstone); freshman wide receiver Isiah Calhoun (Pontiac, Mich./Pontiac Central); senior tight end Martin Ringeisen (St. Cloud/New Holstein); senior defensive lineman Shane Schrimpf (Two Rivers/Washington); junior linebacker Phil Sims (Kansas City, Kan./Sumner Academy of Art and Science); sophomore punter Billy Hughes (Brooksville, Fla./Nature Coast Tech); and freshman special team player Jacob Heinemeyer (Shiocton, Wis./Shiocton).

Earning honorable mention honors were: senior offensive lineman James Washington (Detroit, Mich./Cooley); freshman running back Dominique Collins (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook); sophomore running back Brent Woodruff (Logansport, Ind./Logansport); sophomore defensive lineman Gary Clark (Kilmacolm Inverclyde, Scotland); and sophomore linebacker Brent Miller (Menasha/Menasha).