SAC has three players named to Sporting News preseason All-America football team

NEW YORK - The South Atlantic Conference has had three players named to the Sporting News pre-season All-America Football Team. Tusculum College's Bo Cordell and Michael Rodriquez earned spots on the honor squad. In addition, the Pioneer program is ranked number 22 in Sporting News' pre-season top 25 Poll. Also, Lenoir-Rhyne University's Chandler Rearden has been named to the All-America team.

A 6-1, 185-pound junior quarterback from Cincinnati, Ohio, Cordell led all NCAA divisions (FBS, FCS, II, III) in total offensive yards per game, passing yards per game and completions per game last season. He was named the 2010 South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and finished fourth in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which recognizes the NCAA Division II national Player of the Year.

Cordell was also named the 2010 Tennessee Sportswriters Association's State College Football Player of the Year. He was named the NCAA II National Statistical Champion for total offensive yards per game (425.45), passing yards per game (423.36), completions per game (35.82) and points responsible for per game (26.00).

The 2010 Daktronics and Football Gazette All-Super Region 2 first team honoree passed for a school and SAC record 4,657 yards, which was third in NCAA II and fifth- most for all NCAA divisions. Cordell threw for 38 touchdowns, a new school single-season mark and the 25th most in NCAA II history. He also established school and SAC records with 394 completions (third in NCAA II history), 605 pass attempts (third in NCAA II history) and 702 total offensive attempts (third in NCAA II history). He was also named to the D2Football.com and Football Gazette All-America teams.

A 6-2, 200-pound senior from Columbia, S.C., Rodriquez became the second tight end in school history to garner All-America honors a year ago. The Hargrave Military Academy graduate finished tied for 21st in the country in receptions per game, averaging seven catches per outing. He was named to the All-SAC squad.

Rodriquez posted a school single-season best nine TD receptions and finished with 727 yards in his 10 starts. His yardage tally was the seventh-best in school history, while his 70 receptions are the fifth-most by a Pioneer and the most by a tight end. He was named to the 2010 Football Gazette All-America third team, while also garnering All-Region first team honors from Daktronics and Football Gazette.

A 6-1, 265 pound senior offensive lineman from Greenwood, S.C., Rearden was named an All-American by five different publications last year: Daktronics, The Associated Press, D2Football.com, the American Football Coaches Association and Don Hansen.

Last season, Rearden became the first Lenoir-Rhyne player to win the Jacobs Blocking Trophy which is given annually to the top offensive lineman in the SAC. Rearden is a two-time first team All-SAC honoree (2008 & 2010) who was named to the All-Southeast Region first team last year after helping the Bears lead NCAA Division II in rushing (319.5 yards per game) en route to the team's first winning season in 16 years.

Tusculum will kick off the 2011 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 3, as the Pioneers host University of West Georgia for a 1 p.m. contest at the Niswonger Sports Complex and Pioneer Field. Lenoir-Rhyne opens the 2011 season on the same day, when the Bears travel to Athens, W.Va., to take on Concord University at 7 p.m.

(Wingate University student intern Robert Cook contributed information to this article. A rising senior from Bradford, England, Cook is majoring in Sport Management with a Marketing minor.)

2011 SPORTING NEWS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA FOOTBALL TEAM

Offense
QB - Bo Cordell, Tusculum
RB - Franklyn Quiteh, Bloomsburg
RB - Tommy Addison, Shepherd
RB - Akeem Satterfield, Slippery Rock
OL - Kyle Thornton, North Alabama
OL - Tyler Hendrickson, Concordia-St. Paul
OL - Amini Silatolu, Midwestern State
OL - Chandler Rearden, Lenoir-Rhyne
OL - Garth Heikkinen, Minnesota-Duluth
WR - Jake Soy, Northwest Missouri State
WR - Thomas Mayo, California (Pa.)
WR - Tyson Williams, West Texas A&M
TE - Michael Rodriquez, Tusculum
K - Michael Ziola, Chadron State

Defense
DL - Danny Richard, Grand Valley State
DL - Brandon Williams, Missouri Southern
DL - Armonty Bryant, East Central
DL - Richard Daniel, Wayne State (Neb.)
LB - Nate Dreilling, Pittsburg State
LB - Shawn Loiseau. Merrimack
LB - Lee Meisner, Colorado State-Pueblo
LB - Billy O'Connor, C.W. Post
DB - Logan Kerr, Ashland
DB - Keon Robinson, Shepherd
DB - Stan Langlow, Central Washington
DB - Zack Kallas, Augustana
P - Ronnie Partridge, Stillman