West Chester Lands Six On Don Hansen FB Gazette All-Region Team; McKenzie Freshman of the Year

2019 Don Hansen FB Gazette All Super Region 1

CLARION, Pa. – West Chester University was well represented on the 2019 Don Hansen Football Gazette All-Super Region 1 team that was released today. The Golden Rams landed six members on one of the three teams while R-Fr., RB Ja'Den McKenzie (Morton, Pa./Springfield) was named the freshman of the year.
 
Senior safety, Jarey Elder (Allentown, Pa./Parkland), and junior punter George Lambritsios (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) were first time selections. West Chester last put two players on the first team in 2017 and last had a major award winner in 2013 when head coach Bill Zwaan was coach of the year.
 
In addition to McKenzie taking one of the major awards, the 2019 Harlon Hill Trophy winner Roland Rivers III (QB-Slippery Rock) was named the Super Region 1 Offensive Player of the Year and Christopher Jefferson (SAF-Findlay) was selected as the region's Defensive Player of the Year. Special Teams Player of the Year was shared by return specialists Marvelle Ross (WR-Notre Dame) and Ju'An Williams (WR-New Haven), while Slippery Rock Head Coach Shawn Lutz was named Super Region 1 Coach of the Year.
 
McKenzie helped lead the Golden Rams to the NCAA Division II Playoffs and a 9-3 overall record in 2019. The PSAC-East Freshman of the Year ran for 917 yards and 11 touchdowns on 190 carries, an average of 4.8 yards per carry. His season best came against Shepherd with 179 yards and 2 td's on 33 attempts. McKenzie broke the school rushing record for freshmen with his 917 yards on the ground while his 11 TDs came one score shy of the school mark held by his running backs coach at WCU, Osagie Osunde (12 in 2003).
 
Joining McKenzie on the second team were Sr., DT Tyrone Barge (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter [Rhode Island]) and Gr., DE Ch'aim Smith (York, Pa./York Suburban). R-Fr., LB Jackson Taylor (Glenside, Pa./Abington) was a third team honoree.
 
Elder, PSAC East defensive athlete of the year and a Cliff Harris Award nominee for small college defensive player of the year, led West Chester with three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, eight pass breakups and 41 solo tackles in 2019. Elder was also the team's primary punt returner.
 
Lambritsios was a second-team All-PSAC East pick this past fall after leading the conference in punting with a 43.5 average per boot that ranks second all-time in a single season at West Chester. He landed four punts inside the opponent's 1-yard line, which was part of 19 he put inside the 20 this year. Lambritsios had 12 punts of 50 yards, or more, including three that traveled over 60 yards with a long of 73 against Seton Hill.
 
Smith was named a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award and Smith and earned first-team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on Dec. 3. His 20.5 tackles for loss paced all defenders in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and His 8.5 sacks ranked sixth in the PSAC and 33rd nationally.
 
Barge tied for fifth on the squad with 47 tackles, including 7.0 for a loss and 1.5 sacks. He defensed two passes while being named to the All-PSAC East second team.
 
Taylor led the Golden Rams in tackles with 67, including 8.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks. He also had one interception and forced a pair of fumbles while recovering one of them.
 
The Don Hansen team carries out the legacy of long-time small college football advocate Don Hansen, who passed away at age 75 on Aug. 29, 2010. Hansen, from Brookfield, Ill., started and published Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette for three decades, selecting NCAA Division II All-America teams for the first time in 1988. Don Hansen's FB Gazette began selecting Division II All-Region squads in 2003.
 
The first-and second-team All-Region selections advance to a national ballot from which the 2019 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America team will be named in early January.