7 LHU Bald Eagles headline All-PSAC Football Team
LOCK HAVEN – A total of seven Lock Haven University football players have earned All-Conference honors including five who earned a spot on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division First Team.
Redshirt-senior quarterback Caleb Walton (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central), junior tight end Del’Vaughn Dennis (Enola, Pa./East Pennsboro), redshirt-senior wide receiver Shawn Seif(Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg), redshirt-junior offensive lineman Trent Fielding (Sunbury, Ohio/Urbana) and redshirt-senior linebacker Kevin Chapple (Columbus, Ohio/Urbana) were all named to the First Team.
Redshirt-sophomore defensive back Isaiah Flamer (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) and true-freshman return specialist Nysir Minney-Gratz (Easton, Pa./Easton) both earned Second Team honors.
The seven total All-PSAC players are the most since LHU had seven total honorees in 2001. The five first-teamers are the most since 1982 when LHU also had five.
Walton, Dennis, Seif and Fielding’s All-PSAC First Team Offensive selections marked the most for LHU since Lock Haven put four on the First Team PSAC West Offense in 1979. The four led a Lock Haven offense that broke nearly every major single-season record. Highlighting the offensive charge was a school record in total points (323 pts.), total offense (4,954 yds.) and team passing offense (3,158 yds.).
Walton is also LHU’s first quarterback to earn First Team honors since Dan Spittal in 1979.
Minney-Gratz is the first Bald Eagle to earn All-PSAC honors since Rafael Smith (WR, Second Team West) in 2003.
Walton was sensational in 2016 and capped a record-breaking career in style. In all, Walton threw for 3,115 yards this past season, becoming LHU’s first quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards in a single season. Walton’s 283.2 passing yards per game led the PSAC East, ranked fourth overall in the PSAC and are the 14th most in NCAA Division II. His 3,115 yards were the 10th most in DII at the end of the regular season. On the season, Walton threw for 21 touchdowns and rushed for five more. The 26 total TDs tied his own single-season school record.
Walton finished his career with 8,971 passing yards, the second-most in school history. His 68 career passing TDs and 79 career touchdowns accounted for are both school records.
Seif became just the second player in school history to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. His 1,282 receiving yards set a single-season record as did his 11 TD-receptions. Seif finished the season with 128.2 yards per game, which ranked first in the PSAC and fifth in Division II. His 64 catches ranked fifth in the PSAC, tops in the PSAC East and highlighting his season was a four-TD effort in the historic win over East Stroudsburg.
Seif’s 128.2 receiving yards per game ranked 13th among all collegiate football players (FCS, FBS, DII & DIII).
Dennis, a Second Team pick last season at tight end, had another big season for the Bald Eagles this year. In nine games, he made 36 catches for 523 yards (58.1 yds./game) and caught three TD passes, all of which came in three different games.
Fielding (OG/C) led the way on the offensive line and did all the work to pave the way for the high-flying, strong-running and potent offense. He started every game for the Bald Eagles and played every position on the O-line. Fielding registered 156 knockdown blocks and anchored an offensive line that ranked No. 1 in the PSAC and 15th in Division II in sacks allowed. LHU ranked No. 1 in the PSAC and 11th nationally in sacks allowed per pass attempt. In 389 pass attempts, Fielding did not allow a sack.
Chapple led the Bald Eagles on defense. He finished his one season with LHU with 96 tackles. His 8.7 tackles per game were sixth most in the PSAC (2nd most in PSAC East) and his 63 solo stops ranked second in the PSAC, and 24th in the NCAA. Chapple added 16.5 tackles for loss (4th PSAC) and 5.5 sacks.
Chapple finished his DII career (44 games) with 1.47 TFLs per game, which is No. 3 among all active DII players.
Flamer finished the season with 79 tackles (59 solo) and ranked third in the PSAC in tackles per game with 7.2. He had four interceptions, which led the team.
Minney-Gratz earned a spot on the Second Team as a return specialist. On 18 kick returns he racked up 493 yards (27.4/game) and on four punt returns he averaged 16.2 yards per return (65 total). In the Homecoming-win over Millersville, Minney-Gratz returned a kick 98 yards, which powered LHU to the win.
