Football | 11/22/2016 3:54:00 PM

ABILENE – ACU junior middle linebackerand junior placekickerwere each voted first team all-Southland Conference, a squad that was announced Tuesday by the league office.Denmark's selection is his second straight first team accolade, while, for Grau, this marks the first time he has been selected first team all-conference. Other Wildcats named to the team were offensive linemenandand linebacker, all of whom were named honorable mention all-conference.Sam Houston State junior quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe – who has led the No. 1 Bearkats to an undefeated regular season and the Southland Conference championship – was voted the league's Player of the Year and first team all-conference. Briscoe has thrown for an FCS-best 4096 yards and 52 touchdowns. He is on pace to break the all-time FCS single-season touchdown record of 56 set in 1984 (tied in 2005).?The Bearkats headlined nearly all of the individual awards with junior defensive end P.J. Hall being named Defensive Player of the Year and junior wide receiver Yedidiah Louis earning Offensive Player of the Year. Fellow wide receiver Nathan Stewart was also voted Freshman of the Year. Anchoring the front line of the Bearkat offense is senior offensive lineman Bridge Blount, the Southland Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year.In his third season with Sam Houston State, head coach K.C. Keeler was named Southland Coach of the Year. His regular season record with the Bearkats now stands at 33-9 (23-3 Southland). Keeler has made two straight FCS semifinal appearances and has the Bearkats in the playoffs again in 2016.? ?Sophomore quarterback James Tabary from McNeese was tabbed as Newcomer of the Year in his first year following a transfer from Arkansas State. In his debut season for the Cowboys, Tabary threw for 3036 yards and 23 touchdowns. He ranks second behind only Briscoe in passing yards per game (282.8).Denmark – a preseason first team all-Southland Conference selection – finished second in the league in total tackles (111) and tackles per game (10.1) and tied for third in solo tackles (48). Denmark now has 326 career tackles and will enter his senior season 0f 2017 needing just 63 tackles to break Ryan Boozer's career tackles record of 388.Denmark had four games with double-digit tackle totals in 2016, including a season-high 17 in ACU's 55-52 loss to Northern Colorado on Sept. 10, and 16 more in the Wildcats' Nov. 5 win over Northwestern State in ACU's final home game at Shotwell Stadium.Grau, meanwhile, had the best season of his career, coming off a 2015 season that was shortened to one kick in the season-opener because of a back injury that required surgery last year. He didn't kick in the season-opener at Air Force, but got his job back in the second game against Northern Colorado and finished the season 13 of 14 on field goals and 21 of 21 on PATs.Grau led the Southland in field goal percentage (93 percent) and was tied for sixth in the league in both scoring (60 points) and points per game (6.0). Grau – who has one year left to play if he chooses – is third in ACU history in PATs made (124) and attempted (130) and in career points by a kicker (235). He is fourth in ACU history in field goals made (37) and fifth all-time in scoring by all players with those 235 points.