Seven Southland Football Student-Athletes Named Preseason All-America

CHICAGO – Seven Southland Conference football standouts were named to the 2019 FCS Preseason All-America Team, announced by STATS on Tuesday.



Defensive linemen Sully Laiche of Nicholls and Chris Terrell from Central Arkansas, along with Sam Houston State wide receiver Nathan Stewart landed on the first team. Abilene Christian linebacker Jeremiah Chambers earned second-team honors.



The third-team defense featured Nicholls linebacker Evan Veron and Sam Houston State defensive back Zyon McCollum, and Southeastern Louisiana was represented by kick returner Juwan Petit-Frere.



A Second-Team All-Southland honoree in 2018, Stewart picked up his third all-league honor in as many years in a Bearkat uniform after hauling in 58 catches for 1,063 yards and five touchdowns. Just the fourth player in FCS history to record 1,000-yard seasons as a freshman, sophomore and junior, Stewart is 228 yards shy of becoming the all-time Southland Conference receiving yards leader.



Also a three-time all-conference honoree, Laiche earned first-team honors after totaling 46 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks, which ranked third behind all-Americans Derick Roberson and BJ Blunt. Laiche begins his senior campaign as the active FCS leader in career sacks (25.5).



Terrell, who received his second-straight First-Team All-Southland nod in 2018, nearly matched Laiche’s numbers with 48 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks as the anchor for the Bears’ front line. UCA surrendered the fewest rushing yards (1,226) and yards per carry (3.0) of any Southland institution.



A First-Team All-Southland pick in 2018, Chambers finished third in the league in total tackles (113), a tally which tied for 10th-most in single-season program history. Joining Chambers on the all-conference first team was Veron, who ranked third in the FCS in tackles for loss with a Southland-best 22 stops.



McCollum, the Bearkats’ lone returner to earn first-team all-league honors in 2018, started all 11 games at cornerback last season and finished with 44 tackles and a team-high three interceptions.



An All-American in each of his first two seasons as a Lion, Petit-Frere led the Southland Conference with 128.8 all-purpose yards per game and ranked 16th in the FCS with a 26.2 kickoff return average in 2018.