OVC champ Jacksonville State sweeps awards

AP Photo

(STATS) - Sweeping through their Ohio Valley Conference schedule wasn't enough for the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

On Tuesday, they became the first team to win all four of the OVC's major football awards as senior quarterback Eli Jenkins was named the offensive player of the year for a second consecutive season, junior defensive end Darius Jackson claimed defensive player of the year, safety Marlon Bridges was the freshman of the year and John Grass earned his third straight Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year Award.

The Gamecocks (10-1), ranked second in the STATS FCS Top 25 and seeded third for the upcoming FCS playoffs, haven't lost to an FCS opponent in the last three regular seasons. They have won 24 straight OVC games since 2013.

Jacksonville State had 11 players earn All-OVC first-team honors, with another six named to the second team. Jenkins became the first OVC quarterback to be named to the first team in three straight seasons since Tony Romo did at Eastern Illinois from 2000-02.

Tennessee State had eight players named to the first and second teams, while OVC runner-up UT Martin had seven.

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OVC POSTSEASON AWARDS=

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Eli Jenkins, QB, Jacksonville

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Darius Jackson, DE, Jacksonville State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Marlon Bridge, S, Jacksonville State

COACH OF THE YEAR - John Grass, Jacksonville State

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM

OFFENSE

QB - Eli Jenkins, Jacksonville State

RB - Devin Church, Eastern Illinois

RB - Roc Thomas, Jacksonville State

WR - Jordon Gandy, Murray State

WR - Patrick Smith, Tennessee State

TE - Jesse Blackburn, Murray State

C - Casey Dunn, Jacksonville State

OG - Justin Lea, Jacksonville State

OG - Robert Burleigh, UT Martin

OT - Nick Johnson, Jacksonville State

OT - Jessamen Dunker, Tennessee State

DEFENSE

DL - Ebenezer Ogundeko, Tennessee State

DL - Darius Jackson, Jacksonville State

DL - Aaron Patrick, Eastern Kentucky

DL - Randy Robinson, Jacksonville State

LB - Siran Neal, Jacksonville State

LB - Joel McCandless, Jacksonville State

LB - Seth McDonald, Eastern Illinois

LB - Chad Meredith, Southeast Missouri

DB - Marlon Bridges, Jacksonville State

DB - Kahlid Hagens, UT Martin

DB - Jaylen Hill, Jacksonville State

DB - Ezra Robinson, Tennessee State

SPECIALISTS

PK - Lane Clark, Tennessee State

P - Alex Knight, Southeast Missouri

RS - Cameron Sanders, Southeast Missouri

RS - Chris Rowland, Tennessee State