(AUSTINTOWN, Ohio)—Capital University head football coach Jim Collins was named Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and senior quarterback Rocky Pentello (Columbus/Westerville South) was named the Mike Gregory Outstanding Offensive Back to headline the All-OAC football teams selected by the OAC’s 10 head coaches.
In his 10th season coaching at Capital, Collins takes his third OAC Coach of the Year honor. Collins has led the Crusaders to six-straight winning seasons, a school-record 10 wins and NCAA Playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons.
Pentello is just the fifth Crusader in school history and first since Keith Willike in 1987 to win the Gregory Award, named for Mike Gregory, one of the OAC’s best-ever all-around athletes who competed at Denison University in the late 1920’s. This season Pentello has thrown for 2,971 yards and an OAC-best and school-record 29 touchdown passes. Pentello, the most prolific passer in the history of the OAC is fourth all-time in NCAA Division III history with 11,915 career passing yards.
Joining Pentello on the All-OAC first team is senior tight end Dylan Kelly (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson), junior wide receiver Derick Alexander (Grove City/Grove City), junior left tackle Adam Persing (Springfield Twsp./Springfield Local), junior placekicker Matt Spitz (Xenia/Xenia), senior defensive end Nick Bucci (Hudson/Hudson), junior James Starks (Toledo/Toledo-St. Francis) and senior kick returner Thom Hausler (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson).
Kelly is second on the team with eight touchdowns receiving and his 76 yard reception against Heidelberg is the longest pass play of the season and third longest in school history. Alexander has a team-best 819 yards receiving and nine touchdowns receiving, while Persing helps anchor an offensive line for the nation’s No. 11 scoring offense. Spitz, an All-OAC selection a year ago, is fifth in the nation in field goals made per game and his 78 kicking points is one shy of the school-record 79 he scored a season ago. Bucci tops the team with 15 tackles for loss and 10.5 quarterback sacks, while Starks is second on the team in tackles (55) and tops the team with four interceptions. Hausler is the OAC’s top punt returner and second in kickoff returns.
The All-OAC second team has seniors in wide receiver Mike Niedzwiecki (Norwalk/Norwalk-St. Paul), center Josh Kinniard (Lancaster/Lancaster), right tackle Brad Armstrong (Urbana/Urbana), runningback Jeremy Mulkey (Dublin/Dublin Coffman), linebacker Sam Abdullah (Worthington/Thomas Worthington) and junior defensive tackle Zac McKenzie.
Rounding out the selections were seniors in defensive end Anthony Floyd (Youngstown/Wilson) and defensive tackle Marty O’Malley (North Olmsted/North Olmsted) who were both coaches honorable mention picks.