A dozen College of Wooster football student-athletes earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors on Thursday. Defensive tackle D'Andre Brown headlined the honorees as a repeat first-team selection, while sophomore tight end Cole Hissong and sophomore quarterback Mateo Renteria joined the Fighting Scots' senior standout on the first team. Senior defensive end Robert Alvarez, sophomore running back Troy Baughman, junior defensive back Mark Herron, senior defensive back Christian Santos, and senior wide receiver Nick Strausbaugh were second-team selections, while senior left tackle Mick Appel, freshman placekicker Lake Barrett, junior defensive back Beau Greenwood, and junior linebacker Kea'Shaun Phillips were honorable mention selections.
Brown served as the anchor of a unit that's currently 34th nationally in scoring defense (16.2 points per game) and fifth nationally in red zone defense (48.5 percent of drives ending in scores). As a group, the Scots held the opposition to 162 points and 3,433 yards this season, the program's lowest totals since 2008 and 2011, respectively. Individually, the mathematics major had 37 tackles on the year, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. Of note, he's Wooster's first repeat All-NCAC first-team selection since running back Robert Flagg, defensive back Quinton Howard, and defensive lineman Dan Terhune earned top billing in 2010 and 2011.
Hissong's currently fifth in the NCAC with 527 yards receiving, and his touchdowns are tied for fifth within the conference. The local product erupted for a career day at DePauw University, where he turned seven receptions into 194 yards and two touchdowns. Wooster's now had the first-team tight end in back-to-back years.
Renteria is the current leader in the NCAC with 2,483 passing yards, while his 17 touchdowns are tied for the second-most in the league. The sophomore completed 202-of-333 passes this season, and his completions and yards are the third-most in program history. Of note, Wooster's had the first-team quarterback in two of the last three years.
Alvarez finished the year as the team's co-leader in tackles amongst the defensive linemen with 47, which marked a career-high for the computer science major. He had three sacks on the year, with two of them coming against NCAC tri-champions Denison University and Wittenberg University.
Baughman scored nine touchdowns on the ground this year, with that total ranking second in the NCAC. The sophomore totaled 781 yards over 191 carries, marks that are currently fourth and second, respectively, within the NCAC. He had two 100-yard games this season, including at Kenyon College, where he toted the pigskin 20 times for 141 yards.
Herron, who was elevated to second-team all-conference, finished as the team's co-leader with 55 tackles. The history major recorded one of Wooster's two blocked kicks on the season and had a season-best 10 tackles in a 16-14 win over Ohio Wesleyan University, which at the time was tied atop the NCAC standings.
Santos, one of Wooster's top all-around defenders, also earned an elevation to second-team all-conference. The mathematics major closed out his career with 36 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, and a fumble recovery. He had a season-best 11 tackles during Wooster's 24-10 win over Wabash College, in what marked the Scots' first victory against the Little Giants since 2004.
Strausbaugh continued to rewrite Wooster's receiving records this season, during which he surpassed Brandon Good's career records for yards and touchdowns. The three-year standout is currently second in the NCAC in both yards (891) and touchdowns (6). Over his career, Strausbaugh had 167 receptions, 3,178 yards, and 31 touchdowns.
Appel debuted on the all-conference team this fall, and he was part of a unit that accumulated the fourth-most yards per game in the conference at 374.7. Appel started all 40 games of his career, with 30 coming at right tackle and 10 at left tackle.
Barrett exploded onto the scene with a record-setting season, during which he made a single-season program-best 11 field goals. Barrett's currently 15th nationally in field goals per game (1.1) and 16th in percentage (78.6).
Greenwood, who transitioned over to cornerback this season, repeated as an honorable mention all-conference pick. He's currently tied for second in the NCAC with three interceptions, while the communication studies major tied for second on the team with five breakups.
Phillips ranked seventh on the team with 44 tackles, and his stat line included 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He was the NCAC Defensive Player of the Week on September 16 after logging a team-high eight tackles during Wooster's 17-0 win over Oberlin College.
Of note, Wooster's 12 all-conference selections are the most since the program had 14 in 2008.