Tennessee State football's defensive standouts Terrell Allen and Terray Jones named All-OVC
Tennessee State football’s defense finished ranked second in the Ohio Valley Conference and two members from the unit — end Terrell Allen and tackle Terray Jones — were named to the all-conference first team Tuesday.
Both players made the All-OVC second team in 2021.
Allen, a junior from North Little Rock, Arkansas, who transferred from Austin Peay, recorded 36 tackles including 12 for loss, which was second in the OVC. Allen also had 4.5 sacks, which was sixth in the OVC, broke up two passes and had seven quarterback hurries.
Jones, a senior from Madison, Florida, had 37 tackles including six for loss and four sacks. He also recovered a fumble.
Allen and Jones led the Tigers' defense, which ranked 50th nationally, allowing 363.6 total yards and 43rd in scoring, allowing 24.7 points.
Tennessee Tech safety Josh Reliford, a graduate student from Fitzgerald, Georgia, also made the first team. He recorded 84 tackles, broke up six passes, had 7.6 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Southeast Missouri running back Geno Hess was the offensive player of the year and UT Martin linebacker John Ford III from Overton was the defensive player of the year. UT Martin running back Sam Franklin was the newcomer of the year. Southeast Missouri’s Tom Matukewicz was the coach of the year.
TSU wide receiver J.J. Holloman made the second team along with linebackers Jahsun Bryant from Cane Ridge and K’Vaughan Pope, cornerback Bryce Phillips and kicker Kaleb Mosely.
Pope and Phillips also made the all-newcomer team.
Tennessee Tech running back David Gist, a senior from Cookeville, made the second team along with center/guard Nate Hodnett, defensive tackle Dail Dava and linebacker Seth Carlisle. Tech Linebacker Jacquez McGowan made the all-newcomer team.
All-OVC Teams
Offensive Player of the Year: Geno Hess (RB), Southeast Missouri
Defensive Player of the Year: John H. Ford II (LB), UT Martin
Freshman of the Year: Sam Franklin (RB), UT Martin
Coach of the Year: Tom Matukewicz, Southeast Missouri
First-team offense
Cade Brister, Lindenwood QB
Geno Hess, Southeast Missouri RB
Zak Wallace, UT Martin RB
Payton Rose, Lindenwood WR
Ryan Flournoy, Southeast Missouri WR
Johnny King, Southeast Missouri WR
Colton Dowell, UT Martin WR
DJ Nelson, UT Martin TE
Zach Gieg, Southeast Missouri C
Matthan Hatchie, UT Martin C
Gavin Olson, UT Martin LT
Blake Rogenhofer, Lindenwood LT
Nate Korte, Southeast Missouri RT
Shyron Rodgers, Southeast Missouri LG
D’Marius Warren, UT Martin RG
First-team defense
Daylan Dotson, UT Martin DE
Terray Jones, Tennessee State DT
Cameron Leach, Eastern Illinois DT
Terrell Allen, Tennessee State DE
TJ Neal, UT Martin OLB
John Ford II, UT Martin ILB
Bryce Norman, Southeast Missouri ILB
Rob Hicks, UT Martin ILB
Elijawah Tolbert, Eastern Illinois OLB
Shaun Lewis, UT Martin CB
Josh Reliford, Tennessee Tech SAF
Deven Sims, UT Martin SAF
Darion Bolden, Lindenwood CB
Lawrence Johnson, Southeast Missouri, DB
First-team specialists
Stone Galloway, Eastern Illinois K
Trey Wilhoit, Eastern Illinois P
Dalyn McDonald, Southeast Missouri KR
Dalyn McDonald, Southeast Missouri PR
Brock Powers, UT Martin LS
Second-team offense
Dresser Winn, UT Martin QB
David Gist, Tennessee Tech RB
Sam Franklin, UT Martin RB
Kobe Smith, Lindenwood WR
DeVonte Tanksley, UT Martin WR
Taylor Shields, Murray State WR
JJ Holloman, Tennessee State WR
Will Weidemann, Southeast Missouri TE
Levi Nesler, Murray State C
Nate Hodnett, Tennessee Tech C/G
Lamar Morgan, UT Martin RT
Chad Strickland, Eastern Illinois LT
Ethan Johnson, Lindenwood RT
Jared Russell, UT Martin LG
Gareth Warren, Lindenwood LG
Second-team defense
Sterlin Williams, Lindenwood DE
Steven Lewis, Southeast Missouri DT
Kail Dava, Tennessee Tech DT
Kobe McClendon, Lindenwood DE
Keandre Booker, Southeast Missouri OLB
Colin Bohanek, Eastern Illinois ILB
Eric Samuta, Murray State ILB
Jahsun Bryant, Tennessee State ILB
Seth Carlisle, Tennessee Tech ILB
Cade Shupperd, Murray State OLB
K’Vaughan Pope, Tennessee State OLB
Ty Leonard, Southeast Missouri CB
Jordan Vincent, Eastern Illinois SAF
Ty Woods, UT Martin SAF
Bryce Phillips, Tennessee State CB
Nick Coates, Eastern Illinois NICKEL
Second-team specialists
Logan Seibert, Lindenwood K
Kaleb Mosley, Tennessee State K
Tyler Larco, UT Martin P
Mark Aitken, Eastern Illinois KR
Cooper Willman, Eastern Illinois PR
Jack Valente, Eastern Illinois LS
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State football on All-OVC team: Terrell Allen and Terray Jones