AM
Austin Mital
  • Physics
  • Class of 2017
  • Ginter, Pa.

Five Lycoming College football players have earned a slot on the 2016 All-MAC team

2016 Dec 13

After leading the Middle Atlantic Conference in rushing for a second straight year, senior Blake Bowman (Valley View, Pa./Tri-Valley) claimed first-team honors. Senior offensive lineman Bailey Hughes (Forest City, Pa./Carbondale) and junior offensive lineman Brad Stubbs (Curwensville, Pa./Curwensville Area) earned Second Team All-MAC honors and senior offensive lineman Austin Mital (Ginter, Pa./Moshannon Valley) and junior defensive back Mike Ward (Edgewater, Md./South River) were named Honorable Mention All-MAC.

Bowman led the Middle Atlantic Conference in rushing yards for the second year in a row, averaging 93.6 yards per game, while his 12 rushing touchdowns also led the league for a second straight year. He finished second in the league with an average of 113.5 all-purpose yards. He finished his career second in school history with 31 rushing yards, fifth with 2,516 rushing yards and third with an average of 5.16 yards per rush. In two years as a starter, Bowman earned two All-MAC honors and two MAC Offensive Player of the Week awards to go with CoSIDA Academic All-District Team accolades.

Bowman continues a string of 10 straight years that a Warrior tailback has earned all-conference honors, continuing the string from Josh Kleinfelter (2007-10) to Parker Showers (2011-12) to Craig Needhammer (2013-14) to Bowman (2015-16).

Hughes, a left tackle for the Warriors, Stubbs, the team's center, and Mital, the team's left guard, each started all 10 games on the line. The unit became one of the best in the MAC, as they helped the team average 333.2 yards of total offense, 147.4 rushing yards and 185.8 yards of passing yardage per game. Mital, who earned Second Team All-MAC honors as a junior, was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District Team honoree.

It was the sixth straight year that Lycoming had two offensive linemen earn all-conference accolades.

Ward led the team defensively, as the ballhawk is still the national leader in fumble recoveries with five. He also forced two fumbles and picked off two passes. He established a school record by being a part of a turnover in each of the team's first six games. For good measure, Ward also led the team with 73 tackles, 2.5 for loss and he added two pass breakups.

He is the first Warrior defensive back to earn all-conference honors since Tanner Troutman was a second-team selection in 2014.

The Warriors finished 3-7 overall under ninth-year head coach Mike Clark in 2016.