 Ryan Short caught four touchdown passes in the 109th Monon Bell Classic |
Short is one of only 25 players in all of Division III football to be named to the AFCA squad. The AFCA has selected an All-America team each season, beginning in 1945.
In addition, Short joins teammate Nate Boulais (Indianpolis, IN/Ben Davis) on the Hewlett-Packard All-America First Team. Senior quarterback Jake Knott (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) was named to the Hewlett-Packard All-America Third Team.
Short has been honored for finishing the season with 71 receptions for 705 yards and 17 touchdowns. His 17 scoring catches broke his own school and North Coast Athletic Conference record of 13 set in 2000 and again in 2001. He caught four TD passes in the Monon Bell victory against DePauw, tying a school record and setting a Monon Bell Classic record.
The 6-5, 235-pounder finished his career with 45 touchdown receptions, more than any other receiver in Indiana collegiate history. Short also finished with a school-record 243 receptions, and ranks third on the Wabash career receiving yards list with 2,773.
Short was recently named to the Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-North Region First Team.
Boulais, a four-year starting linebacker, was selected to the HP All-America First Team after leading the Little Giants for the fourth consecutive season in tackles. He topped the 100-tackle mark for the second time in his career, finishing the year with 102 (42 solo, 60 assisted). Boulais also finished his career as the second-leading tackler in school history with 364.
He anchored a Wabash defensive unit that ranked in the top-ten in rushing defense and scoring defense throughout most of the year. The Little Giants held the opposition to 75.7 yards on the ground, currently eighth-best in the nation. The opponents averaged only 15.3 points per game against the Little Giants this season. Boulais' efforts this season earned him the Hank Critchfield NCAC Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Knott earned HP Third Team All-American honors at quarterback. He also won the Mike Gregory NCAC Offensive Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive season. In 2002, he threw for a school-record 2,954 yards and a school and conference-record 35 TDs.
Knott owns nearly every quarterback record in the Wabash and NCAC record book. He is the only quarterback in Indiana collegiate history to throw for over 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns in a career, and is one of only 16 in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. Knott finished his career with 11,213 passing yards and 116 touchdown passes. He also showed his mobility, rushing for 261 yards this season and 841 yards in his career, giving him 12,054 yards of career total offense.
The All-American trio led the Little Giant football team to a school record 12 victories in 2002, and the team's first appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs since 1977. Wabash defeated MacMurray and Wittenberg in the post-season before falling to top-ranked and defending national champion Mount Union on December 7.
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