Austintown, Ohio – November 19, 2010 –Eight Heidelberg University student-athletes earned a spot on the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference football team as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Of its eight honorees, four were named to the first team, with three earning top honors at their respective position and a member of the coaching staff was recognized.
Senior quarterback Andrew Miller (Dalton, Ohio / Dalton) was tabbed the Bob Packard Most Outstanding Offensive Back, while his leading receiver, and fellow classmate, Mike Preston (Euclid, Ohio / Euclid) was named the Ed Sherman Most Outstanding Receiver. Helping to set the stage for a stellar offensive campaign in 2010 was the Ken Wable Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman senior right guard Nate Kater (Villa Hills, Ky. / Covington Catholic).
Rounding out the list of top honors in the OAC was the late Jason Bendekovic. Coach Bendo, as he was affectionately called, passed away on Sept. 27 and he has been honored as the league’s assistant coach of the year. In five seasons at the Berg, Coach Bendo led the offensive line and was the recruiting coordinator.
As a program, the Berg has claimed eight top awards prior to 2010, but it never won more than one in a single season. Walt Livingston (1956), Bob Hunt (1972) and Bryce Tuohy (1988) won the former Mike Gregory Award for the top offensive back, while Chuck Longnecker (1985) and Shaun Martin (1991) claimed the former Mike Gregory Award for the most outstanding offensive lineman.
Preston joins Bob Aleksandrovic (1989) as an Ed Sherman award winner. Rounding out the list of top award winners at the Berg was Tom Coffman (1973) with his nod as the Defensive Player of the Year and Adam Smith (1994) with his selection as the Lee J. Tressel Award winner for most outstanding defensive back or punter.
The Berg coaching staff was previously honored with the coach of the year on four occasions, including Pete Riesen (1972), Dick West (1988, 1993) and current head coach Mike Hallett (2007). In 2007, former assistant coach Jeff Filkovski was tabbed the assistant coach of the year.
Miller, Preston and Kater all earned a nod on the first team offense and were joined by junior left tackle Paul Dunn (Tiffin, Ohio / Mohawk).
Garnering a spot on the second team offense was freshman tailback Germany Woods (Cleveland, Ohio / St. Edwards) and senior linebacker Vaughn Klein (Galloway, Ohio / Central Crossing) was named to the second team defense.
Concluding Heidelberg’s all-league selections was junior right tackle Derrick Arbogast (Tiffin, Ohio / Calvert) and junior linebacker Andy Fadenholz (Grafton, Ohio / Keystone) as honorable mention honorees.
Heidelberg had one of the most veteran offenses in the league this season and it combined to set, and or tie, 20 individual and team records at the Berg. The success of the offense was due large in part to a solid offensive line that was anchored by Kater, Dunn and Arbogast. Kater has started every game he has played in for his career and entered the year voted a preseason All-American by D3football.com. He is picking up his second straight nod on the All-OAC First Team. Dunn and Arbogast are first time honorees and both found a spot in the starting line up three seasons ago and have never left. A few weeks earlier Arbogast earned a spot on the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team and is now on the ballot for Academic All-American honors.
Miller became the all-time leader in passing touchdowns (69), while setting new single game marks for Heidelberg in passing yards (569), passing TD’s (7) and net yards (587). He also tied the completions record of 30. In the OAC he moved atop the single game list for passing yards and net yards. His first team selection joins his spot on the honorable mention team last year.
Preston will graduate with his named inked all over the Heidelberg annuals. He moved atop the career lists for receiving yards (2,748) and receiving touchdowns (27). In the single season record book he set new marks for receiving yards (1,213) and touchdown receptions (15). This is the second straight season that he has been voted to the first team.
Exploding out of the backfield in his inaugural campaign was Woods. He finished the year eclipsing 100-yards rushing in each of the final four games. His streak began with his first 100-yard performance where he ran for a career-best 231 yards and four touchdowns. The four TD’s tied the single game record for rushing touchdowns. He closed out the year with 1,034 yards on the ground, which marked the first 1,000-yard rusher since 2002.
Returning to all-league status in his final campaign was Klein. He previously was honored by the league in 2008. Klein was a four-year starter that led the defense to new heights over his career. Providing depth for Klein in each of the last two years has been Fadenholz, who is a first time honoree. Fadenholz moved into the starting rotation a season ago and has come on strong. He recorded a career-best, and team-leading, 23 tackles at Capital University in October. Fadenholz led the team in tackles with 83 followed by Klein with 75.
Heidelberg closed out the year winners of three of its last four games to stand at 5-5 overall. Its .500 record marked the best record since posting an identical mark in 1997. Within the OAC, Heidelberg went 4-5.