Mount Union's Braxton Plunk and Wayne Ruby Jr. selected to AFCA All-America football squad
Mount Union quarterback Braxton Plunk has been named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America first team, announced Tuesday.
Plunk, a 6-foot-, 180-pound senior from Plant City, Fla., has led the Purple Raiders to their first Stagg Bowl appearance since 2018 by completing 355 of 477 passes for 4,317 yards and 48 touchdowns, with just six interceptions.
For his career, Plunk has completed 889-of-1,244 passes for 11,377 yards and 123 TDs with just 17 interceptions. He is the current active leader in Division III in passing yards, touchdowns (the next-closest has 96) and completions.
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Ruby Jr., a senior from Pembroke Pines, Fla., has 96 receptions for 1,676 yards and 29 touchdowns this season. He leads all of Division III in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. His career totals of 278 receptions; 4,391 receiving yards and 58 receiving TDs are all No. 1 among current Division III players.
He is two TDs short of the all-time Division III single-season record of 31, set by Andrew Kamienski of North Central (Ill.) in 2019.
The Purple Raiders, ranked No. 2 by the AFCA and D3Football.com, play No. 1-ranked North Central in the 49th Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., Friday at 7 p.m.
Five other players from the Ohio Athletic Conference and two Northeast Ohio natives were selected for the All-America team.
Zachary Blackiston (6-4, 245), a graduate student at Heidelberg University from Massillon Perry, was named to the second team defense as a linebacker. He had 69 total tackles this season, including 21.5 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback sacks. He holds the school record for sacks in a season and career (41).
Blackiston was named the winner of the Paul Hoernemann Award, given to the OAC's best defensive lineman.
Also from Heidelberg, placekicker Branden Steckel was selected to the second team. Also a graduate student, from Cardington-Lincoln, Steckel converted 35-of-38 extra points and 12-of-15 field goals.
John Carroll was represented by punter Grant Gonya and offensive lineman Jack Faron, both on the second team.
Gonya, a graduate student from Hudson, averaged 46.5 yards per punt on 28 kicks with a long of 82 and 11 inside the 20.
Faron was co-winner of the OAC's Ken Wable Award, emblematic of the conference's best offensive lineman.
Baldwin Wallace senior Anthony Kendall was a second-team selection at defensive back. Kendall was a first team All-OAC selection and selected as the Lee J. Tressel Award winner, given to the conference's most outstanding defensive back.
2022 AFCA Division III Coaches’ All-America Team
First Team
Offense
Position, Name, Ht., Wt., Class, School, Hometown (High School)
QB-Braxton Plunk, 6-0, 180, Sr., Mount Union, Plant City, Fla. (Plant City)
RB-Ethan Greenfield, 5-9, 213, Sr., North Central (Ill.), Lindenhurst, Ill. (Lakes)
RB-Jon Lewis, 5-10, 194, So., Birmingham-Southern (Ala.), Hermitage, Tenn. (Donelson Academy)
WR-Nate Palmer, 5-7, 160, Gr., Utica (N.Y.), Verona, N.Y. (Sherrill)
WR-Leon Johnson III, 6-5, 207, Sr., George Fox (Ore.), Bothell, Wash. (Bothell)
TE-Alex Larson, 6-7, 240, Sr., St. John’s (Minn.), Woodbury, Minn. (East Ridge)
OL-Dalton Simpson, 5-10, 290, Gr., Susquehanna (Pa.), Dallas, Pa. (Dallas)
OL-Chris Toth, 6-6, 325, Sr., Aurora (Ill.), Lockport, Ill. (Sandburg)
OL-Matt Metcalf, 6-2, 270, Gr., Linfield (Ore.), Eugene, Ore. (Sheldon)
OL-Travis Sinclair, 6-5, 320, Sr., Bethel (Minn.), Rogers, Minn. (Rogers)
OL-Trevor Gabriele, 6-0, 260, Sr., Wheaton (Ill.), Wheaton, Ill. (North)
Defense
DL-Michael Nobile, 6-0, 250, Sr., Delaware Valley (Pa.), Brick, N.J. (Memorial)
DL-Brayden Thimons, 6-4, 235, Gr., Westminster (Pa.), Natrona Heights, Pa. (Highlands)
DL-Alexander Perkins, 5-11, 220, Sr., Millikin (Ill.), Chicago, Ill. (Morgan Park)
DL-Justin Blazek, 6-5, 244, Sr., Wisconsin-Platteville, Naperville, Ill. (Neuqua Valley)
LB-Caleb Harmel, 6-0, 218, Sr., Trinity (Tex.), Burton, Tex. (Burton)
LB-Ryan Liszka, 6-1, 224, Sr., Wisconsin-Whitewater, Naperville, Ill. (Benet Academy)
LB-Robert Coury, 5-11, 205, Jr., Carnegie Mellon (Pa.), Phillipsburg, N.J. (Phillipsburg)
DB-Keysean Amison, 5-9, 185, Sr., Trine (Ind.), Sandusky, Ohio (Perkins)
DB-Ben Cooney, 5-10, 175, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.), Lisle, Ill. (Benet Academy)
DB-Teone Sherrod, 6-2, 145, Sr., King’s (Pa.), Levittown, Pa. (Pennsbury)
DB-Michael Brown, 6-1, 190, So., Wisconsin-River Falls, Victoria, Minn. (Chaska)
Specialists
PK-Christian Hutra, 6-0, 170, Sr., Springfield (Mass.), Holmes, N.Y. (Carmel)
P-Vicente Garcia, 5-11, 161, Jr., Redlands (Calif.), Fontana, Calif. (Etiwanda)
AP-Cornell Beachem Jr., 5-8, 195, Sr., Mount St. Joseph (Ohio), Cincinnati, Ohio (Winton Woods)
LS-James McGettigan, 6-0, 220, Sr., Muhlenberg (Pa.), Ambler, Pa. (Germantown Academy)
Second Team
Offense
QB-Kyle King, 6-3, 220, Sr., Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.), Milano, Tex. (Milano)
RB-Daniel Papantonis, 5-8, 185, Jr., Rochester (N.Y.), Glen Gardner, N.J. (Delbarton School)
RB-Hunter Clasen, 5-9, 189, Sr., Wartburg (Iowa), Springbrook, Iowa (Bellevue)
WR-Phil Lutz, 6-0, 180, Sr., Tufts (Mass.), North Caldwell, N.J. (West Essex)
WR-Wayne Ruby, 6-1, 190, Sr., Mount Union, Pembroke Pines, Fla. (Flanagan)
TE-De’Queze Fryer, 6-2, 230, Sr., LaGrange (Ga.), Macon, Ga. (Jones County)
OL-Alex Bongers, 6-2, 285, Sr., Wisconsin-La Crosse, Nerstrand, Minn. (Bethlehem Academy)
OL-Vinny LePre, 5-11, 285, Sr., Grove City (Pa.), Pine Grove, Pa. (Pine Grove)
OL-Tim Driscoll, 6-7, 250, Sr., Union (N.Y.), Pleasantville, N.Y. (Pleasantville)
OL-Jack Faron, 6-4, 260, Gr., John Carroll, Lemont, Ill. (Lemont)
OL-Will Jackson, 6-4, 275, Sr., Randolph Macon (Va.), Biscoe, N.C. (East Montgomery)
Defense
DL-Korbyn Personett, 6-4, 240, Sr., Monmouth (Ill.), Pittsfield, Ill. (Pittsfield)
DL-Michael Wozniak, 6-3, 255, Sr., St. John’s (Minn.), New Hope, Minn. (Robbinsdale Armstrong)
DL-Dan Lester, 6-1, 287, Jr., North Central (Ill.), Indian Creek, Ill. (Vernon Hills)
DL-Zachary Blackiston, 6-4, 245, Gr., Heidelberg, Massillon, Ohio (Perry)
LB-Jeremiah Major, 6-1, 220, Sr., Albion (Mich.), Macomb, Mich. (Dakota)
LB-Paul Calvetti, 6-0, 220, Gr., MIT (Mass.), Ridgewood, N.J. (Ridgewood)
LB-Matt Mitchell, 6-1, 225, Sr., Hardin-Simmons (Tex.), Wimberly, Tex. (Wimberly)
DB-Joshua Cordero, 5-10, 185, Sr., Cortland (N.Y.), Monroe, N.Y. (Woodbury)
DB-Will Pickren, 6-2, 175, Jr., Hampden-Sydney (Va.), Mount Pleasant, S.C. (Wando)
DB-Mike Ramos, 5-9, 165, Gr., Montclair St. (N.J.), Kenilworth, N.J. (Brearley)
DB-Anthony Kendall, 6-0, 180, Sr., Baldwin Wallace, Port Richey, Fla. (River Ridge)
Specialists
PK-Branden Steckel, 6-0, 180, Sr., Heidelberg, Cardington, Ohio (Lincoln)
P-Grant Gonya, 6-2, 205, Gr., John Carroll, Hudson, Ohio (Hudson)
AP-Kobe Praylow, 5-10, 175, Sr., Methodist (N.C.), Pamplico, S.C. (Hannah-Pamplico)
LS-Jordan Estes, 5-10, 185, Sr., East Texas Baptist (Tex.), Rowlett, Tex. (Woodrow Wilson)
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Mount Union football standouts selected to AFCA All-America team
