Tornados Rack Up 10 Postseason Awards, Land Five on First Team; Canady Named USA South Defensive Player of the Year

Tornados Rack Up 10 Postseason Awards, Land Five on First Team; Canady Named USA South Defensive Player of the Year

OFFICIAL USA SOUTH RELEASE LINK

BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College football team collected 10 total postseason awards from the USA South Conference for their performance during the Fall 2021 season.

Five Tornados – Dante Anderson, Jerome Bass, Steffon Canady, Stamati Damalos, and Brandon Unangst - landed on the All-Conference First Team. Toby Naylor, Brandon Norris, and Mitchell Yoder were all named Second Team selections, while Luis Alvarez represented Brevard on the All-Sportsmanship Team.

Steffon Canady was voted as the league's Defensive Player of the Year, giving the Tornado football program its first major award from the USA South since 2018 when fellow senior Dalton Cole was voted as league Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Canady, a Glendale, Arizona senior linebacker becomes the first Tornado to earn USA South football defensive player of the year honors in the program's short time in the Conference. He tied for the conference lead in sacks with 10.5 and was second with 18.5 tackles for a total loss of 95 yards. He totaled 66 tackles, broke up three passes, recovered two fumbles while causing a co-League-high four fumbles this season. Against USA South opposition, Canady finished the year with a League-best 17.5 tackles for a loss and four forced fumbles. Canady's behind-the-line of scrimmage disruptions caused 93 total lost yardage and included 10.5 sacks of opposing quarterbacks. For his efforts, Canady was named an All-Conference linebacker for the third consecutive year. Finally, he collected USA South Defensive Player of the Week accolades twice this fall en route to his Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors.

The senior linebacker has put together a stellar three-year career at BC, beginning with 2019. Canady totaled 66 tackles and a single-season school record 11 ½ sacks that were a part of 14 tackles-for-loss. Canady was selected to the USA South All-Conference Second Team before earning First Team All-ECAC honors. Canady was one of two Tornados who earned a nomination for the Cliff Harris Award that season. The then-junior linebacker helped lead the Tornados to a program-best 8-2 record and the school's first-ever bowl game appearance. Canady tied a school single-game record in the Scotty Whitelaw Bowl in Pittsburgh with four sacks en route to a Scotty Whitelaw Bowl MVP trophy as the Tornados defeated Carnegie Mellon. This season, Canady was selected to D3football.com's Team of the Week twice.

All told, Canady's 23 ½ career sacks and 38 ½ career tackles-for-loss are both school records, while his six forced fumbles place hin atop the BC football career record books as well. Canady's 18 ½ tackles-for-loss in Fall 2021 are the second-most in a single season behind his teammate Bass, who tallied 20 this season. Canady's 18 ½ tackles-for-loss was 10th in all of Division III football.

Bass, a senior defensive lineman from Red Springs, N.C., helped lead BC's dominant defense that led the USA South in many team statistical categories including points allowed-per-game (15.4), total points allowed (154), total yards allowed-per-game (234.9), rushing yards allowed-per-game (67.5), sacks (36), and defensive touchdowns (three). BC's defense was third in the country for team tackles-for-loss (92), second for solo TFL's (70), fifth for TFL yardage (366), fourth for TFL-s per-game (9.2), tied-for-fifth in team sacks (36), and tied-for-fifth in sacks-per-game (3.6).  

Bass led all Tornados with a school-record 20 tackles-for-loss in Fall 2021 to go along with 58 total tackles and eight sacks, which ranked fourth in the conference. Additionally, Bass' 20 tackles-for-loss ranked tied-for-fifth in the entire country at the DIII-level, while his TFL's per game ranked top-10.

Bass proved himself to be a versatile asset to the Tornados, recording snaps on offense and special teams along with his defensive duties. The senior had five rushing attempts for 42 yards, caught two passes for nine yards that included a goal-line shovel-pass TD, and even had a pair of kickoff returns for 40 total yards.

Over the course of his three-year playing career at Brevard, Bass was honored by D3football.com's Team of the Week in 2019 and earned an All-West Division Team selection in the Spring of 2021 to go alongside this Fall's All-Conference First Team honor.

Anderson, a senior safety from Hartwell, Georgia, earned the second USA South All-Conference First Team honor of his career with this Fall's selection to go alongside a plethora of awards including First Team All-ECAC, a nomination for the Cliff Harris Award in 2019, D3football.com Team of the Week and an All-West Division Team selection in Spring 2021, and NFF's Hampshire Honor Society.

The senior DB has totaled 238 total tackles in his 34 games at Brevard College, including 159 solo tackles, five sacks, 20 ½ tackles-for-loss, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, five interceptions, 25 pass breakups, and a blocked kick. Anderson's 159 solo tackles are a BC football career record, while his 238 total tackles rank sixth all-time. Anderson's 25 career pass breakups are tied for the most in BC history, while his four forced fumbles are tied for second behind teammate Canady.

This season, Anderson tallied 69 total tackles (51 solo, 18 assisted), with a career-best 2 ½ sacks and two interceptions. Anderson's 51 solo tackles ranked fourth in the USA South.

Unangst, a senior offensive lineman from Bostic, North Carolina, earned All-Conference First Team honors after being selected to the All-West Division Team in Spring 2021. The senior primarily lined up at left tackle in his four years as a Tornado, playing in 34 total contests. Unangst was part of the BC offensive line that was selected to D3football.com's Team of the Week in Spring 2021 after the Tornados totaled 319 yards on the ground in a 44-14 victory over NC Wesleyan – Brevard's most rushing yards since 2016.

Damalos, a senior place-kicker from Tarpon Springs, Florida, broke out for a career season in Fall 2021 en route to his first-career All-Conference First Team selection. Damalos accounted for 69 total points, leading the USA South, with a perfect 27-of-27 mark on point-after-tries to go alongside a 14-of-19 mark on field-goal attempts.

Over the course of his career, Damalos has totaled 24 made field goals on 36 attempts with a school-record long of 47 set on Senior Day vs. Averett, has made 68 extra-points on 76 attempts, and has scored 140 points. Damalos has made the most field goals, attempted the most field goals, and has the longest field goal in school history. Additionally, Damalos ranked second in all of NCAA DIII Football in field goals-per-game (1.4) and total field goals made (14) in the Fall 2021 season, while also leading the USA South in several statistical categories.

Naylor, a junior linebacker from Southampton, England, was selected to the All-Conference Second Team after an impressive junior campaign. Naylor totaled career-highs with 35 solo tackles, 25 assisted tackles, and 60 total tackles while averaging six tackles-per-game and racking up career-highs in sacks (four), tackles-for-loss (10 ½). Naylor also recorded his first-career forced fumble and first interception this season.

Naylor earned an All-West Division selection in the Spring of 2021 before becoming BC's first All-Region in any sport since joining the NCAA DIII ranks with an All-Region Second Team selection from D3football.com. Naylor also earned D3football.com Team of the Week honors in the Spring of 2021.

Yoder, a junior running back from Columbus, North Carolina, was selected to the All-Conference Second Team for the first time in his career after a breakout junior season. Yoder led all Tornado ball-carriers with 565 rushing yards and six touchdowns while averaging 62.8 rushing yards-per-game. The junior also caught six total passes for 36 yards.

Yoder eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark twice in Fall 2021, including a career performance on October 30 at Methodist. The junior accounted for 220 of Brevard's 299 total rushing yards in the contest, which is the most by a single player since BC joined the DIII ranks and places him fourth all-time in BC football history for a single game. The historic day came by way of 14 carries and included a 97-yard touchdown rush – which marks the longest play from scrimmage and longest rush in BC football history.

Norris, a senior wide receiver from Lumberton, North Carolina, was selected to the All-Conference Second Team as a return specialist to mark his first-career award from the USA South. Norris played in nine contests his senior season, hauling down a career-high 24 receptions for 279 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Norris' great work on special teams led to his All-Conference honor, as the senior returned 14 kicks for 391 yards (27.9 average) and returned 14 punts for 141 yards (10.1 average).

Alvarez, a junior wide receiver from Guadalupe, Arizona, was selected to the All-Sportsmanship Team as BC's representative. The junior played in seven contests this season, totaling 167 total yards and his first-career TD in BC's 31-0 win over Maryville. Alvarez caught a career-high six balls for 67 yards at Methodist.

The Tornados finished Fall 2021 with a 6-4 record that included a school-record six conference victories. BC has earned its third-consecutive winning season – a program-best stretch – under the direction of fifth-year Head Coach Bill Khayat. Khayat and his staff have won 26 games since they arrived at Brevard, the most of any football staff in BC football history.

 

Offensive
Player of the Year

Offensive
Rookie of the Year

Defensive
Player of the Year

Defensive
Rookie of the Year

Special Teams
Player of the Year


Coach of the Year


Landon Cotney
Huntingdon


Trevon Crank
N.C. Wesleyan


Steffon Canady
Brevard


Cameron Grady
LaGrange


Kobe Praylow
Methodist


Mike Turk
Huntingdon


The 2021 USA South Football All-Conference Team:

 

First Team

Second Team

Running Back

Kahari McReynolds, Huntingdon
Keyshaun Pete, Methodist

Trevon Crank, N.C. Wesleyan
Mitchell Yoder, Brevard

Quarterback

Landon Cotney, Huntingdon

Brandon Bullins, Methodist

Wide Receiver

Malachi Harvey, Huntingdon
Xzavier McNeil, Methodist
Jarrod Mosby, Averett

Isaiah Grice, Averett
Chase Nixon, Averett
Kobe Praylow, Methodist

Tight End/H-Back/Fullback

De'queze Fryer, LaGrange

Zack Self, Huntingdon

Offensive Line

Johnny Alston, Averett
Darrell Hixon, Huntingdon
Colin Langford, Huntingdon
Brandon Unangst, Brevard
Nick Wiggins, Methodist

Jace Brittain, Maryville
Elijah Broach, N.C. Wesleyan
Jac Coleman, Methodist
Chris Hatch, N.C. Wesleyan
Clay Sipprell, Huntingdon

Defensive Line

Jerome Bass, Brevard
Tristin Quick, Averett
Johnathan Terrell, Averett
Joe Thomas, LaGrange

Rob Carley, N.C. Wesleyan
JaVon Lofton, Averett
Khalil Patterson, Methodist
Kymani VaiVai, Southern Virginia

Linebacker

Steffon Canady, Brevard
Casey Peppers, Huntingdon
Conner Showalter, Averett

Nicholas Mintz, Averett
Toby Naylor, Brevard
Jason Siaosi, Southern Virginia

Cornerback

Terrell England, Averett
Fred Flavors, Huntingdon

Cameron Grady, LaGrange
DeIrvin Grate, Methodist

Safety

Dante Anderson, Brevard
Nate Jones, Methodist

Miller Park, Huntingdon
Lexie Shaw, Huntingdon

Return Specialist

Kobe Praylow, Methodist

Brandon Norris, Brevard

Place Kicker

Stamati Damalos, Brevard

Will Edwards, Huntingdon

Punter

Bobby Haggerty, Methodist

Zach Allman, Greensboro

 

All-Sportsmanship Team
Wesley Parker, Averett
Luis Alvarez, Brevard
Jacob Doolittle, Greensboro
Miller Park, Huntingdon
Len Spivey, LaGrange
Jacob Cortez, Maryville
Matt Heflin, Methodist
Rob Carley, N.C. Wesleyan
David Tagalei, Southern Virginia

 

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-BC-