NORMAL, Ill. - After posting its second-straight winning season under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack in 2010, the Illinois State football team handed out its annual postseason team awards Sunday at the Kaufman Football Building.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Brown took home the most prestigious honor of the evening, as he was chosen as the team's most valuable player. The Marion, Ill., native set new single-season career-highs with 2,665 yards passing and 22 touchdowns during the 2010 season. His 2,665 yards passing are the fourth-highest single-season mark in school history and the 22 touchdown passes are tied for the second-best single-season effort at ISU. Brown completed 64.2 percent of his passes, the second-highest single-season total in school history, and posted three games with over 300 yards passing.
Juniors Marvon Sanders and Eric Brunner took home the Carter Harris Awards as the offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively. A long-time member of the university janitorial department, Harris was an avid football fan and donated a trophy in the fall of 1933 to be awarded each year to the most valuable player on the team. Since 1984, the award has been given to the offensive and defensive players of the year.
Sanders, a transfer from Eastern Michigan, led all Redbird receivers with 73 receptions, the fourth-highest single-season mark in school history, and tallied 754 yards and two touchdowns on the season. The Ypsilanti, Mich., native averaged 68.5 yards per game and posted four games with over 100-yards receiving on the season. He tallied a career-high 167 yards receiving on 12 catches against Missouri State and tied the school single-game record with 14 receptions against Youngstown State.
Brunner was the leader on the defensive line for the Redbirds and ranked fifth on the team with 53 tackles, including 23 solo stops. The Greendale, Wis., native also recorded four sacks, a career-high 9.5 tackles-for-loss and was credited with two quarterback hurries and fumble recovery. He recorded seven tackles in five different games and dominated in the team's Homecoming win over No. 14 North Dakota State (Oct. 16), with two sacks and two tackles-for-loss against the Bison.
Junior wide receiver Marcus King was tabbed as the special teams player of the year for the Redbirds. King was a standout on all aspects of special teams, recording eight tackles on the kickoff coverage team. The Normal, Ill., native also blocked a pair of punts on the season that were returned for touchdowns, including one against Youngstown State which earned him MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors (Nov. 7).
Junior center Cal McCarthy was honored with the Fred Cleland Award, an honor given to the player that showed inspiration and strength throughout the season. The award is named in honor of Cleland, a former Illinois State football player who passed away during surgery to repair a dislocated neck two days after being injured during a fall scrimmage prior to the start of the 1970 season.
McCarthy missed the end of the 2009 season and missed all of spring practice after recovering from knee surgery, but worked hard throughout the year and started all 11 games at center in 2010. McCarthy was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week (Nov. 8), after helping the team amass 488 yards of total offensive and Brown throw for five touchdowns in a win over Youngstown State.
Rounding out the honors were awards for the offensive and defensive scout team players of the year. Freshman running back Anthony Boddy and freshman defensive lineman Rickey Simpson took home the honors in the respective categories for their hard work and efforts in practice to prepare their teammates for the upcoming week's opponent.
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