We've tracked the
top players on a weekly basis all year long, now it's our chance to tell
you who were the best in the nation at each position in 2000. We
picked three teams of players and an honorable mention squad based on
nominations by SIDs and coaches.
First Team
Offense
QB
Chad Johnson, Pacific Lutheran
The senior, who led his Lutes to the 1999 Division III championship,
carried his 2000 squad to the playoffs again, completing 67% of
his passes for 2,839 yards and 24 touchdowns. The Lutes led the
nation in total offense in 2000.
RB
R.J. Bowers,
Grove City The senior finished off his record-setting career by becoming
the first back in NCAA history to rush for more than 7,000 yards
all time, scoring 19 touchdowns while carrying the ball for 1,733
yards, 173.3 per game. Bowers finished with 7,353 career yards and
will play in the Blue Gray Game and the Hula Bowl.
RB
Damon Saxon, King's Saxon led the nation in average yards per game with 174.4 and
averaged 6.2 yards per carry. Saxon led King’s to the ECAC postseason
and a win against Ursinus.
WR
Adam Marino, Mount Union Marino, who set a season record for the Purple Raiders with
110 catches for 1,643 yards, averages 15.2 yards per catch and tied
Catholic’s Jeff Clay’s playoff record with 17 catches in the semifinals
against Widener.
WR
Nate Jackson, Menlo Jackson led Division III receivers with 10.1 receptions per
game for 1,521 yards and 17 touchdowns, an integral part of a prolific
offense from the small school in Northern California.
TE
Bryan Meier, Greenville
The senior caught 61 balls for 727 yards and three touchdowns for
the Panthers in 2000 and was a second-team All-American pick by
D3football.com in 1999.
OL
Jason Gerber, Mount Union The two-time first-team all-Ohio Athletic Conference performer
allowed only one sack in 2000 and earned the Mike Gregory Award
as OAC's best offensive lineman.
OL
Josh Warner, Brockport State Live scouted by 14 NFL teams since August, Warner started every
game of his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons and did not allow
a sack over last 2½ years. The Golden Eagles had a 100-yard rusher
(Courtlan Green) in every game in 2000.
OL
Mackenzie Hay, Augustana The 6-3, 200-pounder was also a first-team All-American pick
in 1999. Hay helped lead the Vikings to 3,106 yards rushing and
32 rushing touchdowns in 2000.
OL
Adam Grossman, Ithaca The four-year starter helped his team set more than 30 single-game
and single-season school offensive records. Grossman, an honorable
mention All-American in 1999, blocked for 21 100-yard rushers in
his career, six this season.
OL
Dan Riely, Catholic Riely, a right tackle and three-year starter, anchored the Cardinals’
charge toward a school-record 2,228 yards rushing to rank 24th nationally.
Defense
DL
Justin Snyder, Central Snyder led the Iowa Conference in sacks and was a first-team
all-league pick. Snyder finished with 21 sacks for 182 yards and
had 27 tackles for loss. He compiled 57 tackles overall and was
first on the team in solo tackles with 43. He also forced four fumbles,
recovered one and had two pass breakups.
DL
Russ Watson, Worcester State Watson set the school record of 24 sacks in a season for minus-172
yds. The junior posted 61 solo tackles.
DL
Sky Blake, Whitworth Blake was the Northwest Conference co-defensive player of the
year, leading Whitworth and the conference in tackles with 62. The
senior added five sacks, two caused fumbles and 15 tackles for loss.
DL
Jeff Heinzl, Illinois Wesleyan Heinzl posted 34 solo tackles and 32 assisted tackles for the
Titans, who just missed the playoffs in a tiebreaker. The senior
posted 16½ sacks, 31 tackles for loss, including 19 tackles in a
10-8 win against eventual playoff participant Millikin.
LB
John Paul Visosky, Trinity (Texas) Visosky helped lead the Black Flag defense with 110 solo tackles,
12 sacks and five passes broken up.
LB
Jerimiah Janssen, St. Norbert Posted 24 tackles for loss for the Midwest Conference champions
in 2000. Janssen made 54 solo tackles for the Green Knights in leading
them to the playoffs.
LB
J.D. Leman, Wheaton (Ill.) The senior led the Thunder with 85 solo tackles, 13 tackles
for loss and two fumbles while breaking up 13 passes and intercepting
three others.
DB
Ben Matthews, Bethel The Bethel defensive back intercepted 15 regular-season passes,
including five against Gustavus Adolphus. Each tied NCAA records
for all divisions. He also broke up 10 other passes and notched
40 solo tackles.
DB
Alex Rix, Linfield Rix was the Northwest Conference co-defensive player of the
year, breaking up 11 passes and making 40 solo tackles plus an interception.
DB
Nate Kok, Ripon Kok was second in Division III with 13 interceptions, returning
them for 345 yards, while posting 61 total tackles and six tackles
for loss.
DB
Jake Wolter, UW-Whitewater The senior recorded 53 solo tackles, intercepted six passes,
broke up seven, notched nine tackles for loss. The unanimous all-Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection also returned 18 punts
for 264 yards, one for a touchdown.
Special
Teams
K
Keith Debbaudt, Albion Debbaudt was 13-for-14 on field goals and perfect on 36 extra-point
attempts. The senior was perfect on four kicks from beyond 40 yards,
including a long of 47 yards.
P
Wilson Hillman, Mississippi College The senior led Division III punters with an average of 43.2
yards, including 19 punts of 50 yards or more and a long of 70 yards.
RET
Joshua Carter, Muhlenberg Carter, who was a first-team All-American in 2000, returned
34 punts for a 13.4-yard average and 18 kickoffs for 507 yards,
including a 90-yard touchdown.