Tuesday, November 15, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – It has been a season of resurgence for Azusa Pacific and the Cougars’ primary field general leads the selections on the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Football All-Conference Team.

Junior quarterback Andrew Elffers was selected by coaches as the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year. He tops a list of 12 Cougars named to the first team and 23 total selections to the squad.

Elffers leads a Cougars’ offense that enters the Division II playoffs among the top-30 teams in scoring, averaging 37.6 points per game. Elffers is averaging 182.5 passing yards per game and has thrown for 18 touchdowns, both of which are third in the GNAC. He ranks 19th in Division II with a .650 completion percentage. His season thus far has been topped by a 321-yard passing performance in a win over Central Washington on Oct. 29 where he completed 21 of 32 passes and threw for four touchdowns.

The quarterback is one of three end-of-year special award winners for the Cougars, who finished the regular season 9-2 and ran through the GNAC schedule with an unblemished 8-0 record. Victor Santa Cruz was selected as the league’s Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four years while Weston Carr was named the Freshman of the Year, the second straight time the award has gone to an APU player.

Santa Cruz led Azusa Pacific to the Cougars’ third GNAC championship since joining the league in 2012 and the team’s first ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. He led an APU squad that has proven to be one of the top defensive teams in Division II. The Cougars enter the playoff fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 14.4 points per game, and second in the nation with 23 interceptions and seven defensive touchdowns.

Carr, who also earned First Team All-GNAC honors as a wide receiver, enters the playoffs tied for third in the GNAC with an average of 76.1 receiving yards per game. The freshman has had three games with 100-plus yards receiving, led by a 177-yard performance at Colorado Mines on Oct. 8.

Central Washington linebacker Kevin Haynes was selected as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. One of the stalwarts in a Wildcats’ defense that has allowed just 20.5 points and 340 yards per game, Haynes finished the season ranked third in the GNAC and 18th in Division II with an average of 10.9 tackles per game. He also led the league with 19 tackles for loss to go along with four sacks. Haynes saved his best performance for last, coming up with 17 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble, in the Nov. 12 win over Humboldt State.

Defensive lineman Uso Olive earned the league’s Newcomer of the Year award. A transfer from Division I Wyoming, Olive finished the year with 14 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss. A First Team All-GNAC selection as well, Olive came up with three solo stops in an Oct. 15 win over Western Oregon. Haynes and Olive lead 13 All-GNAC selections for Central Washington, including six first team picks.

For the third year in a row, Humboldt State’s Alex Cappa was named the GNAC Offensive Lineman of the Year. A first team selection for the third year as well, Cappa anchored an Lumberjacks’ line that allowed the offense to rack up 460.2 yards of total offense per game, 28th best in Division II. In addition, the HSU line allowed just 1.73 sacks per game, which led the GNAC.

Western Oregon senior Jeremy Moore was named the league’s Defensive Lineman of the Year. An Honorable Mention All-GNAC pick in 2015 and a first team selection this year, Moore finished with 40 tackles on the year, fourth best for the Wolves. Moore was also among three GNAC players to finish with nine tackles and finished with 12.5 tackles for loss.

The 2016 GNAC Football All-Conference Team features 49 unanimous selections chosen on four ballots (coaches could not vote for their own players), including all but one player on the first team. The squad includes 14 repeat selections, including a third first team selection for Cappa, Haynes, Simon Fraser linebacker Jordan Herdman and Western Oregon wide receiver Paul Revis.

Central Washington wide receiver Jesse Zalk was selected to the first team for a third year, but only his second as a wide receiver. Zalk was named first team at kick return in both 2014 and 2015.

Two players were selected to the all-conference team in three different positions. Revis claimed first team honors at both wide receiver and punt return and was a second team selection at kick return. Azusa Pacific’s Tyree Davis was a first team pick at defensive end and kick return and earned second team honors at punt return.