Football Release (2003) - All-ODAC picks - Guilford College

Greensboro, NC (11/25/03) -- Guilford's Christian Adams (St. Cloud, FL/St. Cloud) and O.J. Batts (Wallace, NC/Rose Hill) earned First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) football honors according to a vote of the league's seven head coaches, the league announced Tuesday. The Quakers' Travis Frazier (Rougemont, NC/Person) and Delvin Newkirk (Wallace, NC/Rose Hill) received second-team laurels while Feky Eugene (Lantana, FL/Lake Worth) and Brian Person (Hope Mills, NC/Havelock) picked up honorable mention recognition.

Bridgewater linebacker Jermaine Taylor and Hampden-Sydney receiver Conrad Singh shared the league's Player of the Year Award. Emory & Henry's Todd Woods won the league's Rookie of the Year prize while Hampden-Sydney's Marty Favret took home Coach of the Year honors.

A 5-9, 160-pound punter, Adams (left) leads the ODAC for the second straight season and ranks fourth in NCAA Division III with a school-record 41.6-yard average. The junior placed 22 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line with four fair catches and three touchbacks. He kicked 13 punts of 50 or more yards, including a 76-yard boot against Ferrum, which ranks second in Guilford history. He averaged over 40 yards per kick in nine of 10 contests, including the October 4 matchup with Greensboro where he averaged 45.1 yards on nine punts. Adams' 41.6-yard average stands third in ODAC history.

Batts (right), a 5-8, 180-pound defensive back, earned his initial first-team honor after receiving second-team laurels in 2001 and honorable mention recognition in 2002. The senior led Guilford and ranks seventh in the ODAC with a career-high 69 tackles (48 solo). Batts topped the Quakers' tacklers a team-best four times and had three contests with 10 or more stops, including a personal-best 12-stop effort against Ferrum. He played cornerback for his whole career before switching to safety midway through 2003 to fill in for the injured starter. Batts led Guilford with six pass breakups and recorded his lone interception in the Quakers' win over Methodist. He also made 10 tackles in the game and garnered the ODAC's Defensive Player of the Week prize for his efforts. The winner of Guilford's 2002 Golden Helmet Award (the team's top honor), Batts concludes his Guilford career with 220 tackles (141 solo) and 15 interceptions in 40 games (37 starts). He led the team in pass breakups all four seasons and totalled 38 deflections in his career.

Frazier (left), a 6-4, 215-pound freshman, becomes Guilford's first All-ODAC kicker since the Quakers joined the league in 1991. He leads the ODAC and ranks 10th nationally in field goals per game (1.00). His 51 points paced Guilford and he stands eighth among the loop's points per game leaders (5.1), second among kickers. Frazier converted 10 of 14 field goals, two shy of the school record and Guilford's most since Rick Herring's '88 11 field goals in 1987. Frazier made eight of his last nine field-goal attempts, including his final six straight, with a career-long of 38 yards at nationally ranked ODAC champion Bridgewater. The 38-yard kick is the longest by a Quakers' kicker since 1994. Frazier also made 21 of 24 extra points and kicked off for Guilford.

A 5-11, 250-pound junior defensive end, Newkirk (right) finished second to Batts with a career-high 55 tackles (29 solo) and led the Quakers with 4.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. He has led the team in quarterback sacks in each of his three seasons. Newkirk stands among the ODAC leaders in tackles (17), sacks (6th) and tackles for loss (4th). He made a season-high seven stops three times, including the Quakers' ODAC triumph versus Washington and Lee. Newkirk notched a career-high three sacks in the game, forced two fumbles, had three hurries and broke up a pass in one of the team's top individual defensive efforts of the year. He also had three-and-a-half tackles for loss and gleaned the ODAC's Defensive Player of the Week prize for his efforts. Newkirk made three of his six tackles against Division I-AA Carson-Newman behind the line of scrimmage.

Eugene (left) started all 10 games at left guard for the second straight season and extended his streak of consecutive starts to 21. The 6-1, 235-pound senior helped Guilford rank fourth in the league with a 19.7 scoring average and fourth in the league in sacks against (24). A four-year starter, Eugene served as a team captain in 2002 and appeared in 39 of 40 career contests.

Person (right), a 6-1, 285-pound senior, received honorable mention all-conference commendation for the second time in three years despite an injury-plagued season. A First Team All-ODAC pick in 2002, Person registered 15 tackles, four for loss, in eight games this year on the defensive line. He entered 2003 a preseason Division III All-American according to two sources, but never got on track due to hip and elbow injuries at separate junctures of the season. When on the field, he helped Guilford establish the league's top pass defense (161.8 yards per game) and rank second in pass efficiency defense. He had a season-best three tackles against Carson-Newman and Hampden-Sydney. Person concludes his career with 81 tackles (34 solo), including five sacks and 31 tackles for loss in 33 contests.

Head coach Mike Ketchum concluded his 13th season at Guilford with a 2-8 overall record, 1-5 in the ODAC. Guilford finished sixth among seven ODAC teams and expects 52 letter winners back in 2004, including Adams, Frazier and Newkirk.