Ferris’ Athletic Department may want to start clearing their trophy cases to make room for all the awards the 2018 football team is pulling in.
The Bulldogs roped in three major awards, as Ferris junior quarterback Jayru Campbell was named GLIAC Player of the Year, Ferris senior offensive tackle Devon Johnson grabbed GLIAC Offensive Lineman of the Year honors and Ferris head coach Tony Annese pulled in GLIAC Head Coach of the Year award.
Campbell’s award comes as no surprise after he dominated the conference, pulling in GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors six times over the course of the season. Campbell finished second in the conference with 2,453 passing yards, second with 1,188 rushing yards, first with 23 passing touchdowns and first with 20 rushing touchdowns.
Campbell becomes the second Ferris football athlete to claim GLIAC Player of the Year since 1995, as Jason Vander Laan won the award in 2014 and 2015. Campbell is also one of 37 candidates for the Harlon Hill award, which will be announced Friday, Dec. 14.
Annese claims his third GLIAC Coach of the Year honor since he joined the program in 2011, grabbing the award in 2014 and 2015, as well.
Nineteen members of the Ferris football team were selected to the 2018 All-GLIAC team as well.
Campbell and Johnson were named to the All-GLIAC First Team along with five other players in redshirt freshman Sy Barnett, senior offensive guard Nic Sawyer, junior defensive end Austin Edwards, junior defensive back Delon Stephenson and sophomore linebacker Sam Heyboer.
Six players were named to the All-GLIAC Second-Team, with six other individuals earning All-GLIAC Honorable Mention honors.
Following an 11-0 regular season and a win in the NCAA Division II Super Region Three Quarterfinals over Harding University (Searcy, Arkansas), the Bulldogs will continue postseason play 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, as they take on Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville, Missouri) in the NCAA Division II Super Region Three Semifinals from Top Taggart Field.