SIAC Predictions: Albany State's Small and Washington Named SIAC's Top Players; Albany State and Tuskegee Tabbed to Win East and West

By ADD SEYMOUR JR. 

It’s not hard to see where Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference coaches see where a lot of the league’s talent is coming from.

Last season’s top offensive player, Albany State running back Jarvis Small, and the the conference’s top tackler, teammate Tavaris Washington, were named the SIAC’s preseason offensive and defensive players of the year.

They lead an Albany State team that saw nine players picked for the preseason All-Conference team and was picked to win the SIAC West Division race this season.  

Small led the SIAC in rushing last season with 1,196 yards while running for 13 touchdowns.   Washington, a longtime defensive star for the Golden Rams, led the SIAC with 93 tackles, 17.5 behind the line of scrimmage.

Last year’s SIAC champs, Tuskegee, also placed nine players on the All-Conference team and were picked to win another SIAC East title in 2015. 

The SIAC's second best defense from last year has six players on the first or second All-Conference team, including the Golden Tigers leading returning tackler in Osband Thompson. Thompson had 80 tackles in a year he was named the SIAC Freshman of the Year. 

Central State, a team that won only three conference games in 2014, had nine players chosen for the preseason squad and was picked by coaches to finish fourth in the SIAC West. 

Here is the full All-SIAC Preseason All-Conference teams and the predicted order of finish:

2015 SIAC FOOTBALL PRE-SEASON ALL CONFERENCE
 
Pre-Season Offensive Player of the Year
Jarvis Small (Albany State)

Pre-Season Defensive Player of the Year 
Tavarius Washington (Albany State)


OFFENSE

FIRST TEAM			SECOND TEAM
Josh Straughan	Stillman	QB	Monqavious Johnson	Morehouse
Jarvis Small	Albany State	RB	Otis Brown	Fort Valley State
Jonathan Clark	Miles	RB	Isaiah Grooms	Central State
Drelon Freeman	Fort Valley State	WR	Christopher Murray	Central State
Marquel Gardner	Tuskegee	WR	Devon Mann	Morehouse
Zach Thomas	Central State	TE	Leonard Walker	Albany State
D'Mon Tucker	Lane	OL	Kenneth Averhart	Albany State
Javoris Wilburn	Albany State	OL	Devin Radcliffe	Central State
Tyree Bell	Stillman	OL	Michael Brown	Fort Valley State
Kelvin Shelton	Tuskegee	OL	Justice Thomas	Morehouse
Terrence Owens	Miles	OL	Montell Collins	Miles
DEFENSE
Braysean Jones	Miles	DL	Darian Hall	Tuskegee
Artrell McMillan	Central State	DL	Grover Stewart	Albany State
Julian Morgan	Tuskegee	DL	Tayvin Ziegler	Central State
Jack Ndem	Albany State	DL	Gabriel Mass	Lane
Lydell Simon	Kentucky State	LB	Osband Thompson	Tuskegee
Jewell Ratliff	Tuskegee	LB	Gervell Morgan	Central State
Tavarius Washington	Albany State	LB	Trevon Spencer	Kentucky State
Will Lacy	Lane	DB	Okoye Bozeman	Central State
Brian Walker	Fort Valley State	DB	Dashad Tucker	Central State
Michael Robinson	Tuskegee	DB	Jermaine Graham	Kentucky State
Nick Scott	Albany State	DB	Cedric Cuff	Tuskegee
Juan Serna	Fort Valley State	K	Zachery Gayden-Holley	Albany State
Juan Serna	Fort Valley State	P	Temitayo Argoro	Morehouse
Corey Slaughter	Kentucky State	KR	Darrius Mitchell	Lane
Darius Mitchell	Lane	PR	Devozea Gaines	Tuskegee

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
EASTERN DIVISION                                           WESTERN DIVISION
Albany State University (6)                               Tuskegee University (10) **
Fort Valley State University (3)                         Miles College
Benedict College (2)                                          Stillman College
Morehouse College                                            Central State University
Clark Atlanta University                                    Kentucky State University
                                                                            Lane College

**2014 SIAC FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS 

Rush, Nuggets will compete for GCAC and Red River titles in 2015

From Ed Cassiere
Xavier University Sports Information
     
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's men's and women's cross country teams will take shots at a pair of conference team championships this year.
     Joseph Moses, beginning his 11th season as head coach, announced Thursday the 2015 schedules of the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets.
     Xavier recently announced its affiliation with the Red River Athletic Conference for cross country only in 2015. The Red River men's and women's champions will qualify automatically for the NAIA National Championships. But Xavier's longtime conference home, the Gulf Coast Athletic, still will offer a league meet, even though it is not an NAIA automatic-qualifying conference this season.
     The GCAC meet — which will be scored as part of the Choctaw Open in Clinton, Miss. — will be Oct. 17. The RRAC meet will be Nov. 6 in San Antonio, Texas.
     Xavier is the nine-time defending GCAC men's and women's team champion.
     For the second straight year, Xavier will begin the season at home in its Big Easy Opener Aug. 28 at nearby City Park. Xavier's other metro New Orleans competition will be Sept. 12 in the Louisiana Army National Guard / ROTC Wolf Pack Invitational in Metairie, La.
     Xavier will compete in two meets hosted by NCAA Division I schools: Sept. 4 in the Southern Miss Invitational and Sept. 19 in the LSU Invitational.
     Charlotte, N.C., will be the site of this year's NAIA national meet. Lawrence, Kan., was the site the previous two years.
     Xavier returns 2014 All-GCAC runners Christopher August and Brent Kitto from the men's team and Hannah Finnegan and Briana Simms from the women's. August and Finnegan were GCAC second-place finishers a year ago.