Four Wabash football players have been named to the 2010 D3football.com All-North Region team. Senior CJ Gum is joined by sophomores Weston Kitley and Jonathan Koop on the All-North Region First Team, while senior kicker Spencer Whitehead received Third Team All-North Region honors.
Gum, the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-NCAC selection, led Wabash led the Little Giants with 75 tackles, with 38 solo stops and 37 assists in ten starts at linebacker. He tied for the conference lead with four interceptions. His 75 tackles tied for eighth-best in the league. Gum (left), a North Judson High School graduate, also tied for the team lead with 8-1/2 tackles for losses totaling 25 yards. He recorded two sacks for eight yards, and finished with four pass breakups and three quarterback hurries.
Kitley, a sophomore offensive lineman from Indianapolis Roncalli High School, earned First Team all-region honors in his first season as a starter for the Little Giants. Kitley, a First Team All-NCAC selection, started all 10 games at left tackle for Wabash and helped the offense to second in the NCAC in rushing offense (152.8 ypg), passing offense (245.1 ypg), total offense (397.90 ypg), and scoring offense (33.8 ppg). Kitley and the rest of his offensive line mates allowed an average of two sacks per game to rank fourth in the conference.
Koop, a sophomore defensive back, was honored for his play on special teams. A graduate of AB Miller High School in Fontana, California, Koop scored four touchdowns off of blocked punts by the Wabash special teams unit to set a new school record for punt return touchdowns in a season. He was one away from tying the NCAA Division III record of five punt return touchdowns in a single season. Koop was part of a Wabash special teams unit that tied the NCAA Division III single season mark for blocked kicks with 11.
Whitehead (right), a product of Bloomington South High School, was second in the NCAC overall and first among kickers in scoring with 70 total points. He finished the season 11-of 14 field goals and 37-of-40 extra points. He set a new personal best with a 43-yard field goal in his final collegiate game against DePauw in the annual Monon Bell Classic. Whitehead’s 11 field goals tied for the third-most in a season for the Little Giants. Whitehead ended his career with 117 extra points, tying Wabash Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Bevelhimer ’86 for the all-time school record. He also finished fifth in Wabash history with 19 field goals.
The D3football.com All-North Region team is selected in balloting by North Region sports information directors and D3football.com staff. The team was chosen from 204 nominations by Division III member schools. A total of 75 players were named to the All-North Region team.
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