Bears Athletics - Quintez Smith Named Player of the Year

Quintez Smith Named CIAA Defensive Player of the Year

Five Bears Named to First Team All-CIAA; Four to Second Team

(Raleigh, NC) – Cornerback Quintez Smith was today named the CIAA’s Defensive Player of the Year. He joins four other Bears on the All-CIAA First Team. Four Bears were named to the All-CIAA Second Team.

First team representatives for Shaw are Smith (Sr, Dublin, GA) at defensive back, Edawn Coughman (Jr., Riverdale, GA) on the offensive line, Raymond Williams (Jr., Cleveland, OH) at running back, Fred Sparkman (Jr., Columbia, TN) at linebacker, and Vincent Pacifico (So., Palm Coast, FL) as the punter.

Shaw players on the second team are Markus McElveen (Jr., Norwalk, CT) on the offensive line, Isaiah Thomas (Sr., Winston-Salem, NC) and DeMarcus Roberson (So., Chapel Hill, NC) on the defensive line, and James Duplessis (Sr., Covington, LA) at linebacker.

Quintez Smith tied a Division II record this year by returning four interceptions for touchdowns, is tied for first in D-II in interceptions with nine, and has 302 return yards. He has 49 tackles on the season and also scored two touchdowns on fumble returns.

Against Elizabeth City State in week one, Smith set a Division II single game record with 194 interception return yards. He tied the single game record of three interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Smith was named CIAA Defensive Back of the Week three times this season, and was named d2football.com’s National Defensive Player of the Week during week one.

This is the third year in a row that a Bear has been named Defensive Player of the Year. Louis Ellis won the award in 2007 and 2008.

Edawn Coughman anchored a staunch Shaw offensive line that allowed the Bears to lead the CIAA in scoring offense (42.1 points per game) and total offense (387.4 yards a game). Coughman was CIAA Offensive Lineman of the Week this past week.

Raymond Williams led the Bears in rushing with 811 yards in nine games. His 12 touchdowns led the CIAA in that category and he was second in the conference in total scoring. He had a total of 1,233 all-purpose yards on the season. Williams was a Pre-Season All-CIAA selection.

Fred Sparkman led the Bears in tackles with 63, which included 11 tackles for a loss and three and a half sacks. He was named CIAA Linebacker of the Week twice.

Vincent Pacifico led the conference in punting with a 39.6 yards per punt average – a Shaw single-season record. His long punt on the season was 55 yards.

Shaw and Elizabeth City State lead the way with five representatives each on the first team. Bowie State has four.

Shaw finished the season 8-2, 5-2 in the CIAA, finishing second in the Western Division behind Fayetteville State.