YSUsports.com - Football: Mason, Heacock Earn Top Honors; Record 10 Guins Named First-Team

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Nov. 28, 2006

Mason, Heacock Earn Top Honors; Record 10 Guins Named First-Team

    Youngstown -- Youngstown State senior tailback Marcus Mason (Potomac, Md.) was named the Gateway Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was one of Gateway record 10 Penguins earning first-team honors, the conference announced Tuesday.
    Mason, who finished fourth overall in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, joined P.J. Mays as the only YSU players to be named Gateway Offensive Player of the Year. Youngstown State head coach Jon Heacock was named the Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year for the second straight season in leading the Penguins to their second consecutive conference crown.
    Joining Mason as first-team selections were senior center Ryan Jewell (Warren, Ohio), senior tackle Patrick Walker (Bedford, Ohio), senior nose tackle Jim Phelan (Chicago, Ill.), sophomore defensive tackle Mychal Savage (Hartsdale, N.Y.), senior linebacker Marty Hutchinson (Newton Falls, Ohio), junior linebacker James Terry (Midlothian, Va.), senior cornerback Codera Jackson (Rochester, N.Y.), senior cornerback Jason Perry (Warrensville Heights, Ohio) and senior punter Joe Bishop (Canton, Ohio). Jewell, Jackson and Terry all earned first-team honors in 2005 while Mason, Bishop and Perry were second-team picks a year ago.
    Sophomore tight end Derrick Bush (Circleville, Ohio) and sophomore guard Brad Samsa (Warren, Ohio) both earned second-team honors. Junior quarterback Tom Zetts (Boardman, Ohio), senior linebacker Jeff Koval (Austintown, Ohio) and senior wide receiver T.J. Peterson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) earned honorable mention.
    Southern Illinois had six players named first-team and Illinois State had five, including Defensive Player of the Year Cameron Siskowic. Perry finished second in the voting for the top defensive player by 22 points (55-33).
    Mason averaged a league-best 166.2 yards per game during the regular season and a dominant 198.2 in league contests. His overall average was the fourth highest in league history.
    Nine players from the same team have earned first-team honors four times the Gateway's 22-year history, but no team has had 10 first-team selections. Missouri State had nine in 1990, Northern Iowa had nine in 1992 and 1994, and Western Kentucky had nine in 2003.
    YSU's 15 total honorees were also tops in the league ahead of 13 from Illinois State.