A total of 11 IUP players have been named to the All-PSAC West football team for the 2007 season.

Named to the first team offense were senior tight end Dan Pickens, junior wide receiver Ken Witter, senior center Rory Thomas and sophomore guard Jim O'Rourke.  First team defensive selections included junior linebacker Terrence Jackson, senior free safety Corey Sample and junior tackle Anthony Guerra.

Junior tailback Kareem Dutrieuille and senior fullback Garrett Lestochi are on the second team offense while senior nose tackle Matt Scott and junior linebacker Rob Plowman are on the defensive second team.

Edinboro quarterback Trevor Harris and California linebacker Gary Butler were the offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively.  Clarion wide receiver Alfonso Hoggard was the rookie of the year and California's John Luckhardt was the coach of the year.

Pickens (Bridgeville/South Fayette) has 43 catches for 469 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns this season.  His average of 4.30 receptions per game is ninth in the PSAC and first among conference tight ends.  He had a season-high eight catches for 66 yards and a touchdown against California and made six catches for 66 yards against Slippery Rock.

In 34 games over the past four seasons, Pickens has totals of 71 receptions for 851 yards and nine touchdowns.

Witter (Norristown/Norristown) leads the Crimson Hawks with 44 receptions for 566 yards while catching four scoring passes.  He is tied for sixth in the PSAC with an average of 4.4 catches per game. 

Witter had 10 catches for 91 yards against Bloomsburg, the first time an IUP receiver reached double figures in a game since 2001, and had seven catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns against Shippensburg, giving him 17 receptions for 177 yards over the final two games of the regular season. 

Witter has 64 receptions for 851 yards and five touchdowns in 28 career games over the past three seasons.

Thomas (left) and O'Rourke have been mainstays on an offensive line that lost three starters after the 2006 season.  Thomas (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) and O'Rourke (Coraopolis/West Allegheny) have helped the Crimson Hawks average 38.3 points per game, second in the PSAC, and 403.2 yards of total offense, the fifth best mark in the conference.  IUP has allowed only 12 sacks so far this season.

 

Thomas has started all 30 games during the 2004, 2006 and 2007 seasons and redshirted in 2005.  He is a versatile player who has started at center, guard and tackle during his career.  O'Rourke (right) entered the starting lineup at center as a true freshman last year, playing in eight games, and has started all 10 games at right guard this season.

 

Jackson (Media/Penncrest) is on the all-conference team for the third time in as many seasons and second on the first team.  He was also the PSAC West Rookie of the Year in 2005.  This season, Jackson leads IUP in tackles with 63, made nine tackles for loss and two sacks. 

He was named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week on September 15 after making four solo tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and returning a fumble 49 yards for a touchdown against East Stroudsburg.  Jackson had a season-high nine tackles against Shippensburg when he also intercepted a pass and had eight tackles against Cheyney and Clarion.

Jackson is a three-year starter, seeing action in 29 of 30 games during that span, with career totals of 178 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, four sacks and four interceptions.

Sample (Philadelphia/North East) leads the team and ranks in a tie for ninth in the PSAC with nine pass breakups this season while placing fourth on the Crimson Hawks with 46 tackles.  He has three tackles for loss and forced one fumble and has 90 tackles and 13 passes defensed in two seasons at IUP.

His forced fumble came in a critical situation for IUP in a 27-7 win over Edinboro.  With the Crimson Hawks leading 13-7 in the third quarter, Sample knocked the ball out of the hands of receiver Denayne Dixon at the goal line to prevent Edinboro from going ahead.  Sample also had seven tackles and broke up two passes and was the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week.

Guerra (Belle Vernon/Belle Vernon) is an all-conference selection for the second consecutive season and is on the first team for the first time.  He leads IUP is sacks with seven and is tied for fifth in the PSAC with 0.70 per game while tying for the team lead in tackles for loss with 14 and tied for fifth in the conference in that category with 1.40 per contest.

Guerra has 44 tackles this season, including nine against California and seven against Slippery Rock, made four tackles behind the line of scrimmage against Lock Haven and recorded a pair of sacks against Millersville.  He has 123 tackles in 28 career games with 28 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.

Dutrieuille (Braddock/Woodland Hills) leads IUP in rushing with 752 yards and eight touchdowns and is seventh in the PSAC with an average of 75.2 yards per game.  He has a pair of 100-yard games, gaining a career-high 192 against Clarion and an even 100 on a career-best 28 carries to go along with two touchdowns against Edinboro when he was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week.

Dutrieuille, who moved into the starting lineup midway through this season, is one of 25 players in IUP history with 1,000 career rushing yards, entering the playoffs in 21^st place with 1,194 yards in 24 games.  He has scored 13 career touchdowns on the ground.

Lestochi (Altoona/Bishop Guilfoyle) is one of the top all-around offensive players in the PSAC.  He has been used mostly as a blocker and receiver out of the backfield until the middle of this season when he also became a threat carrying the ball.

Lestochi has 167 rushing yards this season and is averaging 6.0 yards per attempt, but 111 of those yards have come in the past two games, including 61 on 11 carries against Bloomsburg and 50 yards on only six attempts against Shippensburg.  He also has 19 catches for 251 yards and three touchdowns this season with career highs of nine catches for 133 yards against Clarion.

Scott (Imperial/West Allegheny) is on the All-PSAC West second team for the third straight year after a regular season which saw him make 36 tackles with 12 resulting in a loss, including two sacks.  He also forced and recovered a fumble and broke up a pass.

Scott had a career-high nine tackles, including eight solo stops, against Bloomsburg in the final game of the regular season and had three tackles for loss in an early season victory over East Stroudsburg.  In 37 games in his career, Scott has 147 tackles, 38 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

Plowman (Apollo/Kiski Area) is on the all-conference team for the second time.  He finished the regular season with 47 tackles, including 30 solos, made 14 tackles for loss to tie for fifth in the PSAC with 1.40 per game and was tied for ninth in the conference with 0.50 sacks per game.  He had 10 tackles, six for loss and two sacks against Clarion and eight tackles against Bloomsburg.

Plowman led the PSAC in sacks with 10.5 last season when he was named first team all-conference and to several Northeast Region all-star teams.  In 30 career games in three seasons at IUP, he has made 138 tackles, 40 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks.

IUP takes its 8-2 record into Saturday's NCAA first round playoff game at West Chester.  The Crimson Hawks are making their first appearance in the postseason since 2002 and are in the playoffs for the 14^th time overall dating back to the 1987 season.