Dec. 15, 2005

Five players from the Great West Football Conference were named to the 2005 Associated Press Division I-AA All-America team released Dec. 15 highlighted by first team defense selections in Cal Poly defensive end Chris Gocong and Northern Colorado defensive back Reed Doughty. North Dakota State punter Mike Dragosavich, Cal Poly running back James Noble and UC Davis wide receiver Tony Kays were named to the second team.

Doughty, a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award (given to I-AA's top defensive player), capped a stellar career by leading all of I-AA in tackles in 2005, registering 159 stops (14.45/game) during the season, including a season-high 19 against 2005 NCAA Playoff participant Cal Poly. Doughty had double-digit tackles in 10 of 11 games during the year and ranked in the top-10 in the Great West Football Conference in forced fumbles (3), fumbles recovered (3), passes defended (8) and interceptions (4). He capped his career by ranking third in school history in career tackles (466), fifth in career interceptions (14) and eighth in career fumbles recoveries (6).

The epitome of a student-athlete, Doughty compiled a perfect 4.0 gpa, was the top vote-getter on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American team in 2005 as well as one of 16 finalists for the 2005 Draddy Trophy (a.k.a. The Academic Heisman), for which he won an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. He completed his degree in sports and exercise science and graduated on Dec. 10.

Doughty will participate in the All-American Classic All-Star Game to be held Jan. 14 in Las Vegas and then continuing training for the NFL Scouting Combine, to be held Feb. 22-28 in Indianapolis.

Gocong, a finalist for the 2005 Buck Buchanan Award, was named to the first team on defense for the second straight year while junior linebacker Kyle Shotwell earned a spot on the second unit. Redshirt freshman running back James Noble landed on the third team on offense.

Gocong was first in the nation in sacks per game (1.81), second in tackles for lost yardage (2.35 per game) and 23rd in forced fumbles (.31). He finished the 2005 season with 98 total tackles (46 solo), including a school-record 23.5 sacks and 31.0 tackles for lost yardage, leading the Mustangs to a 9-4 record, a second straight Great West Football Conference championship and the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

The 6-3, 265-pound senior was named Great West Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year two weeks ago, and has 42.0 career sacks, 1.5 sacks shy of the career mark set by Tom Carey (1985-88). He recovered a Montana State fumble in the end zone last September for his first career Mustang touchdown.

He finished the 2004 regular season as the nation's sacks leader in Division I-AA with 17.5 (1.59 sacks per contest) and was No. 2 in tackles for lost yardage with 21.5 (1.95 a game). Gocong recorded 71 total tackles as a junior and also notched one interception (Humboldt State), one punt block (North Dakota State) and two forced fumbles.

Noble broke the school record for yards rushing in a single season with 1,578 yards in 11 games and also established new marks for rushing touchdowns in a game (five) and for a season (16). Noble finished with eight 100-yard games, including a pair of 200-yard performances -- 221 yards on just 19 carries against Eastern Washington and 248 yards on 27 carries against Idaho State.

Noble finished fourth in the nation in rushing, averaging 143.45 yards a contest. He was the 12th Mustang ever to crack the 1,000-yard mark for a season and the 15th to rush for 200 yards in a game, doing it twice. He averaged 7.1 yards a carry this season.

Kays, who finished his junior season with a school-record 93 catches, also finished with 1,213 receiving yards and three touchdowns while helping UC Davis posted its 36th conescutive winning season. Kays set school records for regular-season and overall records receptions. His receiving yards are also a school-record for a regular-season.

Kays' season featured him posting seven games with at least 115 receiving yards and five with at least 10 receptions.

Among Kays' many accomplishments this season were a career-best 212 receiving yards in the Aggies' 20-13 win against Cal Poly on Oct. 29 and a school-record 15 receptions against Portland State on Sept. 10. Kays, a team captain, was earlier also named to the All-Great West Football Conference first team, was a two-time conference player of the week and had more receptions than any other player in the NCAA Div. I-AA stat rankings.

Dragosavich, a 6-5, 196-pound sophomore from Oak Lawn, Ill., set a NDSU single-season record averaging 46.5 yards per punt including a career best 79-yard blast against nationally ranked Southern Illinois. He had 11 touchbacks and 10 punts inside the 20-yard line.

A two-time GWFC and Football Gazette Special Teams Player of the Week, Dragosavich led the Great West Football Conference and would have ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division I-AA statistics.

Associated Press I-AA All-America Team List FIRST TEAM Offense Quarterback - Erik Meyer, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, senior, Eastern Washington. Running backs - Nick Hartigan, 6-2, 220, senior, Brown; Joe Rubin, 5-11, 225, senior, Portland State. Wide receivers - Laurent Robinson, 6-2, 193, junior, Illinois State; David Ball, 6-3, 185, junior, New Hampshire. Tight end - Jonathan Williams, 6-2, 235, senior, New Hampshire. Offensive linemen - Paul McQuistan, 6-6, 315, senior, Weber State; Jeff Bolton, 6-4, 302, senior, Montana State; Matt Magerko, 6-0, 290, senior, James Madison; Chad Motte, 6-4, 303, senior, Georgia Southern; Stafford Davis, 6-2, 302, senior, Illinois State. Kicker - Jaret Johnson, 6-1, 200, senior, Idaho State. All-purpose player - Ricky Williams, 5-10, 178, senior, Bethune-Cookman. Defense Linemen - Chris Gocong, 6-3, 265, senior, Cal Poly; Brent Hawkins, 6-3, 244, senior, Illinois State; Marques Murrell, 6-2, 230, junior, Appalachian State; Fred Evans, 6-5, 307, senior, Texas State. Linebackers - Justin Durant, 6-2, 235, senior, Hampton; Maurice Bennett, 5-10, 220, senior, Lafayette; Willie Freeman, 6-3, 235, senior, Furman. Defensive backs - Tony LeZotte, 6-0, 190, sophomore, James Madison; Jay McCareins, 6-0, 190, senior, Princeton; Reed Doughty, 6-1, 210, senior, Northern Colorado; Shannon James, 5-10, 196, senior, Massachusetts. Punter - Wesley Taylor, 5-7, 170, sophomore, Florida A&M.

SECOND TEAM Offense Quarterback - Bruce Eugene, senior, Grambling State. Running backs - James Noble, freshman, Cal Poly; Jermaine Austin, senior, Georgia Southern. Wide receivers - Eric Kimble, senior, Eastern Washington; Tony Kays, junior, UC Davis. Tight end - Patrick Bugg, junior, Eastern Kentucky Offensive linemen - Gerrell Golightly, senior, Hampton; Kevin Boothe, senior, Cornell; Corey Stewart, senior, Furman; Patrick Covington, senior, Furman; Matt Alfred, sophomore, Eastern Washington. All-purpose - Steve Silva, senior, Holy Cross. Kicker - Andrew Paterini, junior, Hampton. Defense Linemen - Antoine Bullock, senior, Duquesne; Brady Fosmark, senior, Weber State; Jason Hunter, senior, Appalachian State; Jeff Charleston, senior, Idaho State. Linebackers - Chad Nkang, junior, Elon; Darin Heidemann, senior, Northern Iowa; Brian Hulea, senior, Villanova. Defensive backs - Corey Lynch, sophomore, Appalachian State; Courtney Brown, senior, Cal Poly; Jeff Pammer, sophomore, New Hampshire; Codera Jackson, junior, Youngstown State. Punter - Mike Dragosavich, sophomore, North Dakota State.

THIRD TEAM Offense Quarterback - Ricky Santos, sophomore, New Hampshire. Running backs - Arkee Whitlock, junior, Southern Illinois; Alonzo Coleman, junior, Hampton. Wide receivers - Henry Tolbert, junior, Grambling State; Michael Caputo, junior, St. Francis, Pa. Tight end - Jamie Petrowski, senior, Indiana State. Offensive linemen - Willie Colon, senior, Hofstra; Ben Lazarski, senior, Maine; Jonathan Banks, senior, Grambling State; Tom Keresztury, senior, Texas State; Erik Losey, senior, Western Kentucky. Kicker - Rob Zarrilli, sophomore, Hofstra. All-purpose player - Rondriekas Darby, senior, South Carolina State. Defense Linemen - Alan Saenz, senior, Montana; John Hermann, senior, Northern Iowa; Michael Ononibaku, senior, Georgetown; Katon Bethay, senior, Wofford. Linebackers - Zak DeOssie, senior, Brown; Clint Sellers, junior, Eastern Illinois; Cameron Siskowicz, junior, Illinois State. Defensive backs - Antonio Thomas, senior, Western Kentucky; Casey Klaus, junior, Dayton; Cortland Finnegan, senior, Samford; James Gasparella, senior, Brown. Punter - Eric Contos, senior, Delaware State.