Football lands 10 on Academic All-OAC squad for 2018

By Tim Glon

| 2018 Fall Academic All-OAC Team (.pdf) |

ADA — Ten Ohio Northern football players were named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference in football for 2018.

Seniors Sean Devany (Cuyahoga Falls/S. Vincent-St. Mary), Ethan Edwards (Urbana), Austin Jensen (Mason) and Sam Shook (New Philadelphia), juniors Ethan Hale (Galena/Big Walnut), Anthony McFadden (Chilicothe/Paint Valley) and Grant Nieszala (Lambertville, Mich./Bedford) and sophomores Jack Lehr (York, Pa./Dallastown), Zak Smith (Minneola, Fla./Lake Minneola) and Kyle Yoho (Heath) all earned the honor.

The award winners must be a sophomore or higher in class standing, maintain varsity status and have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.50.

The OAC recognized 324 student-athletes in six sports across the 10 league teams this fall, with Ohio Northern collecting 57 of those awards.

Devany is making his first appearance on the Academic All-OAC squad and was named Second Team All-Conference as a punter in 2017.

A two-year starter, Devany finished his career with a 34.0-yard average with 28 fair catches, 25 punts downed inside the 20 and only four touchbacks on 80 punts.

This season, he averaged 33.1 yards per punt on 40 punts and is majoring in sport management.

Edwards, a wide receiver, is now a two-time Academic All-OAC honoree after winning the award as a junior last season.

In 20 career games, Edwards has one catch for four yards and has one special teams tackle.

He is majoring in criminal justice.

Jensen, an accounting major, is also a two-time Academic All-Conference honoree as a wide receiver at ONU.

In 16 career games, Jensen has one catch for 13 yards and has 10 special teams tackles to his credit.

Shook is now a three-time Academic All-OAC award winner and ends his career as a three-year starter at tackle, having played in 26 career games with 25 starts.

He had an outstanding season after missing most of the past two years due to injury, grading out at a team-best 89 percent as the anchor of the offensive line at left tackle.

Shook was named First Team All-Conference and the OAC Offensive Lineman of the Year this season.

He is also one of 30 players from all NCAA divisions named a Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year nominee.

He received his bachelor's degree in accounting from ONU in the spring of 2018 and is currently enrolled in Northern's masters of accounting program.

Hale, a criminal justice major, is a two-time Academic All-Conference honoree as an offensive lineman and has appeared in 17 career games.

This year, he played in all 10 games on the offensive line and on special teams.

McFadden is a two-time Academic All-Conference honoree and is majoring in pharmacy.

He was also named Second Team All-OAC as a quarterback this season.

McFadden is 7-5 as a starter and has thrown for 2,624 yards and 26 touchdowns in 15 career games.

This year, he completed 156-of-260 passes for 2,218 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Nieszala is making his first appearance on the Academic All-OAC squad and has played in 14 career games on the offensive line.

This season, he played in all 10 games with five starts. He started the season opener at right guard and the final four games at left guard.

He is majoring in accounting.

Lehr is a business major and is making his first appearance on the Academic All-Conference squad.

He is a two-year member of the ONU football team as a reserve quarterback and has not yet seen varsity action.

Smith is in his first season on the ONU varsity and is a biology major.

He played in one games this season on the defensive line and had two tackles in a 49-16 win over Wilmington.

Yoho is a two-year regular on the Polar Bear varsity and is majoring in accounting.

He has played in 15 games on the defensive line and on special teams  and started twice this season at defensive end.

He had eight tackles and a sack this season and has nine career and a sack in his career.

The Polar Bears finished the 2018 season 5-5 overall under 15th-year head coach Dean Paul.

ONU tied for fifth in the OAC with a 4-5 league mark, posting their 22nd upper division finish in the past 23 seasons.