GREENVILLE, S.C. — The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced the 2016 football awards on Wednesday afternoon and Campbellsville University had nine student-athletes honors.
Highlighting the honorees is quarterback
Hunter Brown. Brown, a redshirt junior from Hendersonville, Tenn., is the second-straight Fighting Tiger to earn NCCAA Offensive Player of the Year honors (
Jacob Russell, 2015).
Brown had a remarkable season for the Tigers breaking or tying eight program records – passing yards in a game (617 vs. Faulkner), passing yards in a season (3,734), touchdown passes (7 vs. Bethel), passing yards per game in a season (377.6), most completions in a game (38 vs. Lindsey Wilson), most completions in a season (292), most attempts in a game (67 vs. Bethel) and most attempts in a season (489). Brown was also one touchdown pass short of tying
Jacob Russell's record of 42 career touchdowns.
Brown ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in passing yards per game (377.6) and No. 3 in total passing yards (3,776).
"I am very excited that Hunter has been recognized as the NCCAA Offensive Player of the Year," said coach
Perry Thomas. "He has had a tremendous year and is well deserving of this award."
In addition, Brown was one of two Tigers to earn First-Team All-NCCAA honors. Senior receiver
Tyus Alcorn also had a phenomenal season by leading the Tigers for the second-straight year.
Alcorn, a senior from Lexington, Ky., finished the season with 1,095 receiving yards and 109.5 receiving yards per game, which led the Mid-South Conference in both categories. He now joins Shane Riley, Trevon Chatman and
Jarrod Harrington as the only 1,000-yard receivers in program history.
Alcorn also led the Mid-South with 6.6 receptions per game this season. At the NAIA level, Alcorn ranked fifth in receiving yards, sixth in receiving yards per game and receptions per game.
Highlighting his senior season, Alcorn hauled in 235 yards vs. Union College to break the single-game record, which was previously set by Shane Riley with 172 (2002).
Over the previous three seasons, Alcorn totaled 36 receiving touchdowns – breaking the career record which was previously set by Demytreus Gipson (2011-2014) with 29. He also holds the single-season mark of 19 touchdowns set in 2015.
Alcorn was also named the MSC West Division Co-Offensive Player of the Year earlier in November.
The Tigers earned two players on the Second-Team – center
Blake Cordell and kicker
Bradley Bates - and another named Honorable Mention – Dante Hollis.
Bates eclipsed Donnie Johnson's single-season record with 85 points on the season and made 14 fields goals this season to tie Johnson's mark set in 2003.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers earned three honorable mentions –
Tyler Carpenter,
Justin Manning and
Marcus McCants.
Manning, who was also named the MSC West Defensive Freshman of the Year earlier in November, made his mark on the program in just one season. He ranked second in the MSC (first in the West Division) and 13th in the NAIA with 106 tackles and also registered a pair of sacks.
Manning finished with double-digit tackles in five games this season, highlighted by a 24-tackle night against Cumberland University to break the oldest record in program history. The 24 tackles surpassed Mike Todd Cecil's mark of 21 tackles in a game set in the very first game in program history on Sept. 10, 1988 vs. Centre College.
Campbellsville finished the 2016 with a 2-8 record and 0-5 inside the Mid-South Conference.
