Five Southeast Missouri State football players pick up All-OVC honors

Southeast Missouri State's Chad Meredith was one of five Redhawks named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference team on Tuesday. Meredith was a first-team selection.

Glenn Landberg

Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith, senior punter Alex Knight, sophomore kick returner Cameron Sanders, senior running back Will Young and junior quarterback Jesse Hosket represent Southeast Missouri State football on the 2016 All-Ohio Valley Conference team, which was announced Tuesday.

Meredith, Knight and Sanders each garnered first-team honors, while Hosket was an all-newcomer selection and Young was named to the second team.

With 86 stops on the season, Meredith finished as SEMO's second-leading tackler. He started all 11 games and had 10 1/2 tackles for loss. The 6-foot-5 Meredith, who hails from Louisville, Kentucky, finished with five pass breakups and tied for first on the team with four sacks.

Knight, who was a second-team pick last season, had 64 punts for 2,805 yards, averaging 43.8 yards per punt. Knight sent 13 punts 50 or more yards with a long of 62 yards. The native of Boca Raton, Florida, was named OVC Specialist of the Week two times and is ranked sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision in punting. He was named an All-American prior to the start of the season.

Sanders leads the league with 27 yards per kick return, which ranks 12th nationally. He returned 31 kickoffs for 837 yards, ranking eighth in the nation in combined kick return yards. He had the second kickoff return for a TD of his career, a 93-yard return, in a win against Austin Peay on Oct. 29. The native of Memphis, Tennessee, racked up 1,010 all-purpose yards on the season.

Hosket tranferred from East Central Community College and threw for 2,332 yards in his first season as SEMO's starting QB. The native of French Camp, Mississippi, finished 178-of-356 passing (50 percent) with 11 TDs and seven interceptions. He's third in the conference in passing average (212 yards per game), ninth in pass efficiency (111.3) and fifth in total offense (213.5 ypg).

Young carried the load for Southeast on the ground, finishing with 163 carries for 838 yards. He averaged 5.1 yards per rush and scored six touchdowns. Young, who hails from Wichita, Kansas, exceeded 100 yards in a game on four occasions and is third in the OVC with 76.2 yards per game.

OVC champion Jacksonville State, which is the No. 2 team in the FCS, swept all four of the specialty awards. Quarterback Eli Jenkins was named Offensive Player of the Year, defensive end Darius Jackson picked up Defensive Player of the Year honors, safety Marlon Bridges was chosen Freshman of the Year and John Grass secured Roy Kidd Coach of the Year honors.