Henderson leads GAC postseason honors

LITTLE ROCK — A glance at the final Great American Conference standings provide a clear glimpse as to which was the league’s best team this year.

Now, a look at the postseason conference awards and all-conference teams can do that, too.

Henderson State breezed through the regular season with a 10-0 record and an 8-0 GAC record, and Tuesday the Reddies swept all four postseason awards and had 19 players named either first or second-team All-GAC or earn honorable mention honors.

“As a coach, we all thought they were really good players,” said Coach Scott Maxfield, whose team won its first outright conference title since 1977. “To be recognized by your peers and other coaches in this league, that’s a great accomplishment for these guys.”

Quarterback Kevin Rodgers was named Offensive Player of the Year, linebacker Maxie Graham was named Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Tyler Llewellyn was named Freshman of the Year and Maxfield was named Coach of the Year when the league released it’s all-conference teams Tuesday.

Rodgers served as the catalyst for the GAC’s best offense, while Graham and Llewellyn led a defense that held opponents to 18.8 points per game. The three helped lead the Reddies to the school’s first undefeated and untied regular season in school history, and produced its first NCAA Division II playoff appearance.

The Reddies earned a firstround bye when the playoffs were unveiled Sunday, and will host either Missouri Western or Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 24.

Rodgers, a sophomore, completed 68 percent of his passes (234 for 344) for 3,590 yards with 40 touchdowns to set a school record in his first full season as a starter. He’s also set the school record for career touchdown passes with 49.

Graham, a senior from Jackson, Miss., led the GAC with 102 tackles and had 17 in last week’s 42-7 victory over Ouachita Baptist. And Llewellyn, a freshman from Dallas, made 37 tackles in eight games.