Don Hansen's Football Gazette National All-Americans (.pdf)

PITTSBURG, Kan. - Redshirt freshman fullback Kevin Herod, senior punter Kyler Ford and senior split end Mike Harris were recognized on Monday as selections to the 2009 Don Hansen's Football Gazette national All-America teams.

Herod, who completed his first season of competition with the Red Raiders in 2009, was selected a Second Team All-American at fullback. He is the only freshman named to either the First, Second or Third Team Offensive squad and is one of just two first-year players recognized overall by the publication.  

In his first full year of the Shippensburg Wing-T, Herod ranked seventh in the PSAC for total rushing yards (727) and scored five touchdowns. Herod also finished second on the team with 188 total offense plays, missing one game due to injury. The tough-nosed, north-to-south runner averaged 3.9 yards per carry and took the handoff for 37 percent of SU's rushes this season. Only 15 of his 188 rushes (eight percent) went for negative yards.

Ford was pegged a Third Team All-American as a punter. The four-year veteran finished his career with the school record for career punts (245) and punting yards (9,768) in addition to school records for points by a kicker in one season (77) and successful extra points in one season (47).

He finished the year among the top five punters in the nation for net average, having unfurled 55 punts for 2,302 yards (an average of 41.9 yards per punt). Ford also unleashed season-long punts of 76 and 78 yards this season that rank among the Top 5 in school history. Fourteen of his punts landed inside the 20-yard line and 13 sailed over 50 yards.

Harris, the PSAC Eastern Division Offensive Player of the Year and an AFCA All-American, was an honorable mention pick by the Football Gazette. He concluded his tenure at Shippensburg as just the 14th player in PSAC history to compile 3,000 receiving yards (197 career receptions, 3,000 career receiving yards).

Just the second player in program history to record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season, Harris's 62 receptions for 1,018 yards during the 2009 season marks just the second time in school history that a player has also achieved this feat in back-to-back campaigns. Harris and Jamie Ware are the only two players to record these honors in a Red Raider uniform.

Harris also finished his career with the school record for the most career games with a touchdown reception (20), breaking Ed Noon's mark. His 25 career touchdowns are also just one short of Ware's school record. He is the third Red Raider to compete in the Cactus Bowl over a six-year span, joining current NFL players John Kuhn (2005) and Brent Grimes (2006).

The national publication of Don Hansen's Football Gazette has selected NCAA Division II All-America teams since 1988.