Morehead State football bestowed its 2019 postseason awards on seven individuals recently.
The awards include the Phil Simms Offensive MVP (Issiah Aguero), Dave Haverdick Defensive MVP (Vaughn Taylor, Jr.), John Christopher Special Teams MVP (Andrew Foster), Appel Academic Award (Cam Marriott), Mike Gottfried C3 Award (DJ Niculescu) and the Offensive (Mykah Williams) and Defensive (Isaac Armstrong) Scout Team Players of the Year.
Aguero, a redshirt junior running back from Knoxville, Tenn., led the Eagles in all rushing categories including attempts (162), rushing yards (958) and rushing touchdowns (seven). He also ranked fifth on the team in receptions (16) and receiving yards (188) to go along with a receiving touchdown. Aguero returned 12 kicks on the season for a total of 243 yards. His most complete game came against Dayton, registering 14 carries for 86 yards and two rushing touchdowns, three catches for 30 yards, and four kick returns for 85 yards for a total of 201 all-purpose yards. In fact, he ranked third in the PFL in all-purpose yards with 1,389 yards on the season.
Taylor, a junior defensive end from Washington, D.C., was awarded PFL Defensive Player of the Week three times during the season, which is the most for any player in program history during one season. He was named First-Team All-Pioneer Football League. Taylor finished second on the team in total tackles with 61 (28 solo). He led the PFL in tackles for loss (17.0) and tied for first in the PFL in sacks with 5.5. He also recorded a team-best seven quarterback hurries along with one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. On Taylor registered 2.5 sacks, a PFL season high, versus Jacksonville and he was named to the PFL Academic Honor Roll.
Foster, also from Knoxville, appeared in all of the Eagles' games as the primary kicker and punter. He was named PFL Special Teams Player of the Week once and was awarded All-Pioneer Football League Second Team as a punter and All-PFL Honorable Mention as a kicker. Foster finished first on the team in scoring with 66 points, connecting on nine field goals and 39-of-42 PAT attempts while also setting the MSU record for consecutive PATs made. Foster was 9-for-11 in field goal attempts with a long of 45 as well as going 6-for-8 beyond 40 yards. He punted 53 times for the second year in a row for a total of 2,215 yards with a long of 60 and had eight punts of 50-plus yards and downed 23 kicks inside opponents' 20-yard line with only six touchbacks. Foster also kicked off 56 times, averaging 57.4 yards per attempt with nine touchbacks.
Marriott is a sophomore offensive lineman from Redlands, Calif. He started in all 12 games and was named Second-Team Academic All-PFL. He was also named to the PFL Academic Honor Roll. Marriott owns a 3.8 cumulative GPA in political science. The team managed an average of 30 points and 401.6 yards of total offense per game throughout the season with him up front.
Niculescu, a junior linebacker from Corona, Calif, finished with 13 total tackles (three solo) to go with 1.0 TFL, 0.5 sacks, and one fumble recovery He has a perfect 4.0 GPA and was named to the PFL Academic Honor Roll. Niculescu also led the team in community service hours.
Williams was a freshman running back in 2019, hailing from Louisville, Ky. Armstrong, who saw action on special teams during his first season too, is a linebacker from Lexington, Ky.
