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Eagle Football Honors Seven with 2016 Team Awards

MSU Athletics

The Morehead State football program has awarded seven athletes with season team awards for 2016.

The award winners are Jake Raymond (Phil Simms Offensive Most Valuable Player), Colt Briggs (Dave Haverdick Defensive MVP), Matt Ward (John Christopher Special Teams MVP), Pat DiSalvio (Appel Academic Award), Jake Sutherland (Mike Gottfried C3 Award), Kyle Gilbert (Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year) and Jake Megois (Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year).

Raymond, a senior slot receiver/kick returner from Pickerington, Ohio, led the entire Pioneer Football league in receptions per game (6.6) and ranked fifth among league receivers with 76.6 yards per game. He totaled a team-best 844 yards and scored five times. Raymond also tallied three 100-yard receiving games. The all-time MSU and PFL leader in receptions, Raymond finished his career with 272 catches for 2,907 yards. His yardage total also set the school career mark.

Briggs, who is from Wilmington, Ohio, ranked tied for second in the conference with 17.5 tackles for loss and concluded the season ranked second on the team with 80 total tackles. He also had a team-best seven sacks and five quarterback hurries. He was the league's Defensive Player of the Week following a four-TFL effort in a win over Valparaiso on Oct. 1. Briggs was also named Second-Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America and was Second-Team Academic All-PFL.

Ward, from Franklin, Wis., finished his senior season 7-for-10 on field goals, making all seven in the final five games. He tied the school single-game record when he nailed four field goals in the road win at Butler, garnering him a PFL Special Teams Player of the Week accolade.

DiSalvio, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, earned his third straight Academic All-PFL nod (Second-Team in 2016) and has also been on the PFL Academic Honor Roll all three prior seasons. The senior punter has a 3.83 GPA in biomedical science. DiSalvio averaged 39.2 yards on 62 punts in 2016, including 15 inside the opponent 20-yard line and had four boots of 50-plus yards. He also averaged 55.3 yards on 32 kickoffs in 2016.

Sutherland, a junior tight end from Ortonville, Mich., caught 14 passes for 196 yards and hauled in three touchdowns. He caught touchdowns against Drake, Dayton and Campbell. Also a fixture on various special teams units, Sutherland notched 13 total tackles, including eight solos.

Gilbert is a freshman slot receiver from Hendersonville, Tenn. Megois, from Medeira, Ohio, is a freshman linebacker. The scout teams provide valuable competition in the week leading up to games while running schemes from the Eagles' opponents.

The Offensive MVP is named for former MSU quarterback and Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms. Simms, who played at MSU from 1975-78, tallied 5,545 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior before being taken seventh overall by the New York Giants in the 1979 NFL Draft. He played his entire 14-year career with the Giants organization and is now the lead analyst for CBS Sports' coverage of the NFL.

The Defensive MVP is named for former consensus All-American Dave Haverdick. The defensive lineman was named All-American in 1969 and was a three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection (1967, 1968, 1969).

The Special Team MVP is named for two-time consensus All-American punter John Christopher. He was tabbed All-American and All-OVC in 1981 and 1982 and averaged more than 40 yards three different seasons. He still holds the MSU career record for punting average (42.4).

The Academic Award is named for former offensive linemen brothers James and Mike Appel. James was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (1990, 1991) and earned OVC Scholar-Athlete accolades those years as well. Mike was named Academic All-American in 1996.

The "C3" Award, which encompasses "character, community and championship effort" is named for former quarterback Mike Gottfried. He threw for more than 3,500 yards during his career from 1962-65. Gottfried later served as a head coach at Murray State, Cincinnati, Kansas and Pittsburgh and was a top college football analyst for ESPN's family of networks. In 2000, Gottfried founded Team Focus, which helps fatherless boys ages 10-18. Team Focus currently has more than 1,000 boys involved. It helps build character and creates an environment that fosters self-esteem, self-worth and self-confidence.

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