FERRIS DUO NAMED TO DAKTRONICS ALL-NORTHEAST REGION TEAMS

FSU Defensive Standouts Kevin Myers and Whitney Bell Claim More Regional Honors

More postseason honors continue for a pair of Ferris State University football student-athletes as junior outside linebacker Kevin Myers (Midland) and junior defensive tackle Whitney Bell (Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Area) were recently chosen as 2003 Daktronics All-Northeast Region Division II Football Team selections.

Myers was among four linebackers to attain first-team recognition while Bell joined two other defensive linemen in garnering second-team kudos. The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) of which Ferris State is a member institution featured a Northeast Region-best 19 overall selections, including a regional-leading 11 first-team picks.

Kevin Myers

The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at all levels of competition. Sports Information directors from the region selected the team. The Northeast Region consists of 49 schools from four conferences along with four independent institutions. Those receiving first-team honors will move on to the national ballot and the Daktronics All-America Team will be released later this month.

For Myers, the honor marked his fourth of this postseason as the two-time FSU tackles leaders has been named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II All-America team, The Associated Press’ (AP) Little All-America team and the D2Football.com Northeast Region First Team to date. This season, Myers registered a career-high and conference-leading 141 stops (87 solo) in 11 contests which represented the most by a FSU player since 1996 and marked the 13th highest total among the Bulldogs’ all-time single-season leaders.

On a national individual scale, Myers currently ranks second in solo tackles (7.9 avg.) while occupying the fourth-place position in both total tackles (12.8 avg.) and forced fumbles (0.45 avg.) at the NCAA-II level. He recorded eight double-figure tackle game performances this campaign, which included a career-best 23 tackles (15 solos) against Findlay (11/1) and 16 stops (12 solo) at nationally top-ranked Saginaw Valley State (10/25). The 5-11, 210-pound linebacker also registered his first career touchdown on a 40-yard fumble recovery return versus Northwood (10/4). Myers, FSU’s Most Valuable Defensive Skill Player this season, averaged 16.5 tackles (66 total) in his last four outings with double-digit tackles in each contest.

Whitney Bell

A 2003 Second-Team D2Football.com Northeast Region honoree, Bell made a career-high 99 tackles (64 solo) in 10 games this season to tie for third place on the squad. The 6-2, 265-pound tackle led all GLIAC defensive linemen in tackles by averaging an 11th-place 9.9 stops per contest while finishing second among FSU’s defensive leaders in both tackles for loss (16.4 for -47 yards) and quarterback sacks (seven for -33 yards). Bell, who was chosen as FSU’s Most Valuable Defensive Lineman this campaign, is currently listed sixth nationally in solo tackles (6.4 avg.), 24th in tackles for loss (1.7 avg.), 30th in forced fumbles (0.3 avg.) and 35th in sacks (0.7 avg.). He produced five double-digit tackle game efforts this year, including a career-best 18 tackles (14 solo) against Findlay (11/1) and also notched his first career touchdown on a 13-yard pass interception return versus Northwood (10/4).

Ferris State concluded its 2003 campaign at 6-5 overall and tied for fourth place in the GLIAC with a 5-5 conference record.