HALIFAX (CFL.ca wire) — Atlantic University Sport announced on Thursday the 2007 football major award winners as selected by the conference’s head coaches.
Quarterback Erik Glavic of the No. 4-ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies is the Atlantic University Sport Most Valuable Player. Glavic, a second year pivot from Pickering, ON, led the first-place Huskies to a 7-1 record this season, including a perfect 6-0 versus Atlantic conference opponents. Erik threw for 1843 yards this season and led the conference in completion percentage (64.0 percent), pass efficiency (162.8), touchdown passes (16) and total offensive touchdowns (21). On the ground, the versatile QB rushed the ball 62 times for another 478 yards and five TDs. His Huskies squad led the CIS in total offence with 4235 yards and an average of 529.45 yards per game. Erik’s 2007 completion percentage of 64.0 percent is the second-best percentage in school history, trailing only Chris Flynn’s 66.3 percent in 1989. Glavic was only sacked twice this season, the fewest times among all CIS starting QBs in 2007. This marks the third year in a row a native of Pickering, ON, has won the award. Erik joins a long list of Huskies QBs as the conference’s top player, including Steve Panella (’04), Ryan Jones (’00), David Sykes (’93) and three-time winner Chris Flynn (1988, ’89, ’90). Mount Allison’s Eric Lapointe is the most recent Atlantic conference player to take home the Hec Crighton Trophy as the outstanding player in CIS. Lapointe won the award both in 1998 and 1996.
The 2007 Defensive Player of the Year is Saint Mary’s linebacker Tim St. Pierre. Tim, in his fourth year of eligibility, is known throughout the league as one of the conference’s most physical players. The stingy Saint Mary’s defence surrendered a CIS-low 252.9 total yards per game, including just 82.2 rushing yards per contest. His 33.9 tackles in just seven games led all Huskies players and his tackles per game average of 5.6 was second only to Acadia’s Elliot Richardson. He also recorded 4.0 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery this season. St. Pierre, a two-time conference all-star at linebacker, was also the 2006 nominee for the Russ Jackson Award. In his four years at Saint Mary’s, Tim has recorded 111.0 career tackles, 12th on the conference’s all-time list and just a half tackle shy of Jeff Moodie’s school mark of 111.5. (Note: Tackles have been tracked officially since 1999) St. Pierre is nominated for the Presidents’ Trophy. StFX’s Adam MacDonald was the last Atlantic conference winner of President’s Trophy, which he was awarded in 2002.
StFX offensive lineman Stewart Walsh is the 2007 Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year. A first year student from Antigonish, NS, Stewart has made an immediate impact with the StFX offence, starting all 8 regular season games for the X-Men this year, and he will be making his 10th start of the year in this Saturday’s Loney Bowl. Walsh, a graduate of Dr. J.H. Gillis High School, is the first StFX player to be named Rookie of the Year since Jeremy Steeves in 2001 and the first offensive lineman to win the award since Acadia’s Adam Rogers in 2004. Steeves (2001) is also the most recent winner of the Peter Gorman Trophy as the top Rookie in CIS football.
For the second consecutive season, the Atlantic University Sport Lineman of the Year is Acadia offensive lineman Adam Rogers. Rogers, a fourth year guard from Woodville, ON, was the 2004 Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year and was the veteran anchor this season of an Acadia offensive line that lost a number of starters from the previous conference championship teams. Adam, now a conference all-star in each of his four seasons at Acadia, will once again represent the conference as the nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy which was last brought back to the AUFC in 1997 when StFX’s Mike Kusnir was named the CIS’s top lineman.
Saint Mary’s head coach Steve Sumarah has been selected by his peers as the Atlantic conference Coach of the Year. Sumarah, in just his second year at the helm of the Huskies’ program, led the team to a first place finish with a 7-1 regular season record, including a perfect 6-0 against Atlantic conference teams. His Huskies led the nation in total offence and the Saint Mary’s defence also gave up the fewest yards in the CIS this season. Steve, a native of Halifax, NS, is a former receiver at both StFX and Saint Mary’s, and has been a coach with the Huskies program for a total of 10 years. In 1999, he was chosen as the Football Nova Scotia Coach of the Year and in 2000, he was named the Atlantic University Sport Volunteer Coach of the Year as a member of Blake Nill’s staff. In two seasons as head coach, Sumarah has compiled a 10-5 regular season record and is 11-6 overall, including playoffs.
Jonathon Rory Campbell, a four-year starter and captain with the StFX X-Men, has been selected as the Atlantic University Sport nominee for the Russ Jackson Award. Named after CFL quarterback Russ Jackson, the award recognizes a Canadian university football player who excels on the field, in academics, and in community service.
On the field, Campbell, a 6’2″, 290-pound guard, has been a consistent presence for the X-Men for four years and this past spring, was selected to play in the 2007 East-West Bowl.
Academically, Rory is a two-time Dean’s List student with a 3.35 GPA. He also volunteers his time with a number of worthy initiatives, including the StFX “X-Out Bullying” program, the Alzheimer Society canvassing campaign, the Canadian Cancer Society’s Run for the Cure and is a regular tutor for his fellow student-athletes. In the off-season, Campbell is a volunteer coach with the X-Men summer football camp and this past year travelled to the West Indies to work in local schools and help organize after school programs for local children in the area.
Joe Taplin of the Saint Mary’s Huskies is the recipient of the Phil Hughes Award as the Atlantic conference’s Volunteer Coach of the Year and has been nominated for the Gino Fracas Award. Joe, an RCMP officer, has been coaching most of is life and has been with the Huskies coaching linebackers for the past six seasons. Prior to joining the Huskies staff in 2002, Taplin coached at StFX for two seasons (linebackers – 2000 & ’01), was the head coach of the Prince Andrew High program in Dartmouth, NS, in 1998 and 1999, and had previously spent eight years as a high school coach in Alberta.
In 1994, Joe was awarded the Government of Alberta Volunteer Award for contributions to football and baseball in the province. In addition to his on-field duties with the Huskies, Taplin is responsible for coordinating the D.A.R.E. program in conjunction with the RCMP and team leaders, where players go to schools to talk about self-esteem, staying in school and being drug free. He also coordinates the anti-bullying program between police and student-athletes, who give presentations to local schools on preventing bullying, and has been involved in the school’s mentoring program with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, helping student-athletes become volunteers in the program.
The 2007 Atlantic University Sport championship game, The Loney Bowl, is taking place this weekend in Halifax, NS. The Saint Mary’s Huskies (7-1) host the StFX X-Men (4-5) to battle for the Jewett Trophy, Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm (EastLink). The winner will advance to the Uteck Bowl the following weekend in Halifax and face either the Laval Rouge et Or or the Concordia Stingers.
