December 17, 2009


Emory & Henry’s Jennings Named College Division Football Player of the Year
Hampden-Sydney’s Favret Named Coach of the Year; Apprentice School’s Norwood Tabbed Rookie of the Year

LEXINGTON, Va. – Emory & Henry junior running back Caleb Jennings (Cedar Bluff, Va.) has been named the 2009 Virginia College Division Football Player of the Year in voting conducted by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID).  Hampden-Sydney’s Marty Favret was tabbed the Coach of the Year, while Apprentice School freshman defensive back Louis Norwood (Baker, La.) was named the Rookie of the Year.

2009 VaSID College Division Football All-State Team

Jennings earned the Player of the Year Award after totaling 1,919 all-purpose yards, good for third in Division III.  He rushed 223 times for 1,371 yards and 14 touchdowns, caught 10 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown and averaged 25.3 yards on kickoff returns and 16.0 yards on punt returns.  Jennings was named the 2009 recipient of the Dudley Award as the state player of the year and was a 2009 First Team AFCA All-American.  The 2009 ODAC Player of the Year, he ranked seventh nationally in rushing and has totaled 4,080 all-purpose yards over the past two seasons.

Favret led the Tigers to a 10-1 overall record and a 6-0 mark in the ODAC.  Hampden-Sydney won the ODAC title and advanced to the first round of the NCAA playoffs.  He was named the 2009 ODAC Coach of the Year after leading H-SC to its first undefeated regular season since 1971.

Norwood was selected as the Rookie of the Year after playing in all 10 games for the Builders and totaling 27 tackles, six interceptions, eight pass breakups, three blocked kicks, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.  He was named the ACFC Rookie of the Year en route to posting First Team All-ACFC accolades.

Repeat selections to the first team included Jennings, Washington and Lee senior offensive lineman Charlie Craigle (Greenville, N.C.), Ferrum senior offensive lineman Dexter Hinds (Coconut Creek, Fla.) and Christopher Newport junior linebacker Adrin Diggs (Smithfield, Va.).

Emory & Henry led all schools with seven selections to the first or second team, followed by Washington and Lee with six and Hampden-Sydney and Bridgewater with five.  Randolph-Macon and Virginia-Wise both posted four all-state selections.

The Virginia College Division members for football include The Apprentice School, Averett University, Bridgewater College, Christopher Newport University, Emory & Henry College, Ferrum College, Hampden-Sydney College, Randolph-Macon College, Saint Paul’s College, Shenandoah University, Southern Virginia University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, The University of Virginia-Wise and Washington and Lee University.

All-State teams are selected by active members of the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association.  For more information, please visit the VaSID site at http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/vasid.