The Waynesburg University football team saw nine of its players receive Presidents’ Athletic Conference All-Conference laurels from the PAC for their play during the 2017 season. Five defensive players garnered accolades, while two offensive and two special team’s players picked up recognition from the PAC.

Junior defensive back Justin Willkow was the team’s lone recipient of Second-Team All-PAC honors. Willkow finished the season with 27 tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions, one of which was a 44-yard touchdown return against Saint Vincent. Head coach Chris Smithley felt Willkow was one of the best cornerbacks in the PAC this season as many opposing quarterbacks opted not to throw in his direction in many instances as he covered each team’s top wide receiver.

Leading off the eight honorable mention selections are each of Waynesburg’s three starting linebackers. Junior John-Glen Davis was fourth in the conference with a team leading 91 tackles, nine tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries. Seniors Brent Blacharczyk and Tristan Sandrosky finished the season with 72 and 56 tackles respectively, and each tied for second on the team with 2.0 sacks.

“These three guys are the three we’ve talked about all year,” Smithley said. “These are the guys that made a lot of things happen for us defensively. I’m glad that they got their honor on the PAC teams, I think that they’re well deserving of it. All three are guys that really got us to the next level.”

Davis’ breakout season came after two years of not having a consistent role on the defense. He said a big reason for his success not only came from his drive to be one of the best, but also the teammates that surrounded him.

“I just wanted to beat everyone across from me, everybody I went against—linemen, quarterbacks running backs, receivers—just everybody. I wanted to beat every single person,” said Davis. “The biggest thing is that you have to play for your friends…Me performing well doesn’t change anything [this season]. We all have to perform together.”

Rounding out the defensive players that were recognized was senior defensive lineman James Roundtree III. Roundtree led the Jackets with 4.0 sacks and finished second on the team in tackles for loss with 7.5. He also recorded a total of 30 sacks on the year. Smithley said that one of Roundtree’s greatest attributes was his ability to step up in big situations and excel in his leadership role.

“He played his best football in games that we needed him to play his best football,” Smithley said. “That really helped us defensively to play well…I can’t say enough for how he’s handled himself as a senior, the way he held onto a leadership role here, how he handled being a team captain the entire season.”

On offense, sophomore offensive lineman Alex Paulina was lauded for his, as Smithley described, dominant performance as a blocker in his first season as a Yellow Jacket after transferring from Pitt. Sophomore Chad Walker was recognized as an all-purpose honorable mention for his play as both a running back and receiver throughout the season. Walker led the team in catches with 28 and ran for 171 yards on the ground, which was third on the team, finding the end zone three times collectively along the way.

“You could see about halfway through the season how [Paulina] changed, took on a leadership role and how he really worked to be a dominant player at this level,” said Smithley. “Chad’s a guy that wants to do whatever it’s going to take to make this team go…His mentality, the way he plays the game and how much he cares about this program is something that I would put in front of what he does on the field at this point. He’s always going to work hard and do a great job at what his job is, but his leadership skills and the way he’s handled himself as a man has been really impressive.”

Senior punter R.J. Leon and freshman wide receiver JaWuan Jones, who was selected as a returner, were the final two honorable mention selections for the Yellow Jackets.

Leon averaged 38.8 yards per punt, which placed him fifth in the conference, and also added 4.0 tackles on the year and a key 2-yard rush on a fourth-and-one fake punt that helped Waynesburg seal a win against Saint Vincent Nov. 4. Jones emerged as one of the top returners in the conference, averaging 21.8 yards per return on 18 kickoffs and 19.6 yards per return on 11 punt returns.

“I guarantee our coaches will look back on this year and go ‘man, it’d be nice to have a punter like R.J. again,’ and that’s because of how he changed the field and he was a leader out there,” Smithley said. “He ran that punt team—he was the quarterback out there,”

For Smithley, Jones has a lot of positive qualities that could help the Jackets in the future.

“[In regards to Jones], I think that he’s a great kid that has a lot of assets to him—he has a lot of story to him that can be told,” Smithley said. “I have a lot of respect for him with being a dad, having a lot of priorities on his plate with football, his academics and his child. He’s a guy that we’re going to look to in the future to be a tremendous leader for our guys here.”