Villanova defensive line man Tanoh Kpassagnon

Temple seniors Phillip Walker and Jahad Thomas are Football Stories Magazine’s College Football Players of the Year. The duo led the Owls to the American Athletic Conference championship and a birth in the Military Bowl. The 2016 season marked the first time the Owls went to back-to-back bowl games – ever. It was also just their second conference title in school history.

Thomas and Walker’s careers on North Broad Street were very similar to their high school careers, the pair went to Elizabeth(NJ) High School so they’ve been friends and teammates for a long time.

As high school freshmen, the Minutemen went 1-9 then John Quinn took over as head coach. At Temple, in their freshman year, the Owls were 2-10 in Matt Rhule’s first season. In the first season under Quinn,
Elizabeth won five of their last six games to finish 5-5.

The next year, Elizabeth finished 9-3 after losing to Piscataway 41-34 on a touchdown in the final minute of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 final. In 2014, the Owls started out with a big win over Vanderbilt but struggled in the second half of the season. They needed a 10-3 win over Tulane to get to 6-6, they didn’t receive a bowl bid but that served as a springboard to the pair’s junior year when the Owls started 7-0 and were the talk of the city. Ultimately, the 2015 Owls would come up short against Houston the first AAC Championship game.

In Thomas and Walker’s senior year of high school, they would go undefeated and win the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 championship by beating Piscataway 37-33 on a touchdown pass from Walker to Thomas in the final minute of the game. The score completed a three-play 98-yard drive and might have been in the back of Walker’s mind when he engineered a game-winning, four-play, 70-yard drive to beat UCF.

At the time, the Owls were 3 and 3 and coming off of a loss to Memphis. The week after UCF, they faced the task of playing the high-powered offense of USF. It was must win against UCF and Temple, according to win probability, had a .1% chance of winning at the start of the drive but win they did. They wouldn’t lose again until their bowl game.

Thomas talked about their hometown.

“The football culture there,” he said about the city of 125,000 people that is about 80 miles from Temple’s campus, “a lot of guys came out of there. Every Friday night, we looked forward to going to the games after Pop Warner practice and knowing we were going to be in those shoes one day and how much the city loves football. We’re not huge on basketball, we’re not huge on baseball, those Friday night football games everyone comes out to and looks forward to watching Elizabeth High School play. Knowing we had some big shoes to fill, we grasped the opportunity and took advantage of it.”

At Elizabeth, they may have had big shoes to fill but after a great career at Temple, they’re leaving them.

This the Football Stories Magazine College Football All-Star team

First Team Offense

QB – Phillip Walker, Temple. The senior ends his Owls career as the all-time winningest quarterback in school history. He engineered a game-winning, four-play, 70-yard drive to beat UCF that was key to Temple eventually winning the AAC Championship.

RB – Jahad Thomas, Temple. He accounted for 1400 all-purpose yards and 19 touchdowns in his senior season despite missing two games and sharing the running back duties.

RB – John Lovett, Princeton. A junior, he won the Asa S. Bushnell Cup for offense as the Ivy League’s Player of the Year. As a running back, quarterback and receiver, he accounted for 31 touchdowns including a school-record 20 on the ground.

RB – Tre Solomon, Penn. He completed his junior campaign by being named first-team All-Ivy as a unanimous selection. He ran for 907 yards, Ivy-best, and nine touchdowns. He was second in the league in all-purpose yards.

WR – Justin Watson, Penn. He led the Ivy League with 89 catches, 1115 yards and eight touchdowns. The junior earned All-America and All-Ivy accolades and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award which goes to offensive player at the FCS level.

WR – Ventell Bryant, Temple. The sophomore led the Owls with 54 catches and was tied for second on the team with four touchdown catches.

WR – Bryce Shade, Wesley. The Timber Creek High School graduate finished his career by earning a place on the D3football.com All-Region second-team. He caught 63 passes for 1058 yards and 10 touchdowns.

TE – Ryan Bell, Villanova. He was second on the team with 33 catches while the junior’s seven touchdown receptions was a team high.

OL – Dion Dawkins, Temple. Started 40 games in his career, 39 of them at left tackle. Part of an offensive line that blocked for two 900-yard plus rushers each of whom had double-digit touchdowns. He was invited to the NFL Draft Combine

OL – Connor Bozick, Delaware. Helped lead the way for the 14th best rushing attack in FCS football which averaged 227.2 yards per game. The Fighting Blue Hens were ninth in the country, only allowing 11 sacks for the season.

OL – Tyler Drob, West Chester. He was named to the All-ECAC and the All-PSAC first-team. The junior blocked on a line for a team the averaged 199.3 yards per game on the ground and only gave up 16 sacks.

OL – Nick Demes, Penn. The senior was named to the second-team of the Associated Press FCS All-America team.

OL – Shane Phillips, Widener. A senior center helped pave the way for running back Chris Randle, who was the MAC Rookie of the Year.

K – Brendan Paulison, West Chester. He made all six of his field goal attempts inside the 30 with a long of 42 yards. The sophomore, who also handled punting duties for the Golden Rams, kicked off 56 times and had 15 touchbacks.
 
First Team Defense

DL – Tanoh Kpassagnon, Villanova. The Wissahickon High School graduate earned multiple All-America honors, was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, played in the Senior Bowl and received an invitation to the NFL Draft Combine. He had 11 sacks and 21.5 tackles for a loss.

DL – Haason Reddick, Temple. A former walk-on who played in the Senior Bowl and received a draft combine invitation. He led the country with 22.5 tackles for a loss while his 10.5 sacks were second in the AAC.

DL – Byron Cooper, Widener. The senior was a Division III finalist for the Cliff Harris Award and named to the AFCA Division III All-America second-team. He topped the MAC with 16.5 tackles for a loss and was in the top 10 in the country with 11.5 sacks.

DL – Kurt Holuba, Princeton. Received third-team All-America honors and first-team All-Ivy in his junior season. He had eight sacks and 10 tackles for a loss and was a finalist for the Bushnell for defense.

LB – Austin Calitro, Villanova. Played in the East-West Shrine Game after a senior season for the Wildcats where the team was the best in all of FCS football in total (259.8 yards per game) and scoring (15.0 points per game) defense. He was tied for the team lead with 86 tackles and had 12 tackles for a loss.

LB – Ryan Brenner, Rowan. The Touchdown Club of South Jersey selected Brenner, a senior, as the Rowan Player of the Year. He recorded 86 tackles, four tackles for a loss and two sacks.

LB – Avery Williams, Temple. An intense, hard hitter on one of the best defenses in the nation (third nationally allowing 273.4 per game), the senior had 66 tackles including nine for a loss. He had two sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

LB – Charles Bell, Delaware. Called, “the kind of player you want to have on your team.” by Dennis Dottin-Carter, who served as Delaware’s interim head coach in 2016. Bell, who was named to the All-ECAC team, had 94 tackles.

DB – Rob Rolle, Villanova. His seven interceptions tied for the lead in FCS football. The junior scored on a fumble recovery and a 100-yard interception return.

DB – Nydair Rouse, West Chester. The sophomore had three interceptions and returned all of them for touchdowns including the game-winner in a comeback in the season-opening game at Bentley.

DB – Shawn Miller, Delaware Valley. The junior was a captain for the Aggies. He had five interceptions on the year including three, which tied the school-record, in the season-opening upset of nationally ranked Wesley

DB – Sean Chandler, Temple. Moved to safety from cornerback and missed four game because of injury but still had 51 tackles and two interceptions. The junior was named to the ECAC All-Star first-team. He had a forced fumble in the AAC Championship game to help the Owls go up 21-0.

P – John Hinchen, Villanova. A senior, he punted 57 times for a 41.5 yard average. Twenty of his kicks went inside the 20-yard line while 10 went for 50 yards or more.
 
Second Team Offense

QB – Alek Torgersen, senior Penn
RB – Jarel Elder, junior West Chester
RB – Aaron Forbes, sophomore Villanova
RB – Ryquell Armstead, sophomore Temple
WR – Alex Kemp, sophomore Wesley
WR – Tyler Karpinski, junior West Chester
WR – Zac Frantz, senior Rowan
WR – Mason Rutherford, junior Delaware State
TE – Tory Robinson, senior Wesley
OL – Ethan Greenidge, sophomore Villanova
OL – Brad Seaton, senior Villanova
OL – Matt Gono, junior Wesley
OL – Doug Gilbert, senior West Chester
OL – Luke Boonstra, senior Delaware Valley
OL – Mitchell Sweigart, junior Princeton
K – Aaron Boumerhi, freshman Temple
 
Second Team Defense

DL – Abdelrahman Ragab, senior TCNJ
DL –Solomon Bassett, sophomore Lincoln University
DL – Praise Martin-Oguike, senior Temple
DL – Louis Vecchio, junior Penn
DL – Joe Bryant, senior Cheyney
LB – Ed Shockley, junior Villanova
LB – Luke Catarius, senior Princeton
LB – Nicholas DiGati, junior Delaware Valley
LB – Steve Gozur, senior Widener
DB – Nate Hairston, senior Temple
DB – Jack Spingler, freshman Ursinus
DB – Bobby Barbieri, senior Rowan
DB – Kevin Malone, senior West Chester
DB – Mason Williams, sophomore Penn
P – Zach Warcola, freshman TCNJ