Dec. 16, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- There were many firsts for the Old Dominion football team in 2009 and now you can add a Monarch All-American to that list. Redshirt freshman punter Jonathan Plisco (Newport News, Va.) was named a FCS First Team All-American by the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Plisco finished the 2009 season averaging a nation-leading 44.84 yards per punt. Consistently ranked among the top punters nationally in the FCS throughout the year, he made 57 punts with 18 going 50 yards more, 26 inside the opponent 20, and seven for a touchback. Plisco averaged over 50 yards per punt in games with Chowan and Savannah State and posted a career-high 76-yard punt in victory over Campbell as the left footer helped ODU to a 9-2 overall mark as the winningest FCS start-up program in history.
"This is an amazing accomplishment for Jonathan to not only be recognized at the national level, but to become the very first Monarch to earn All-American honors," said head coach Bobby Wilder. "Our coaches, team, and Monarch Nation knew how special Jonathan was to our team in its start-up season and now the entire country will know."
Associated Press First Team All-American
Offense
Quarterback - Armanti Edwards, senior, 6-foot, 185 pounds, Appalachian State.
Running backs - Deji Karim, senior, 5-11, 205, Southern Illinois; Pat Paschall, senior, 6-0, 198, North Dakota State.
Linemen - Derek Hardman, senior, 6-6, 300, Eastern Kentucky; Matt McCraken, senior, 6-3, 300, Richmond; Vladimir Ducasse, senior, 6-5, 330, Massachusetts; Jeff Hansen, senior, 6-4, 292, Montana State; Kyle Mutcher, senior, 6-3, 300, Weber State.
Tight end - Clay Harbor, senior, 6-4, 243, Missouri State.
Wide receivers - Terrell Hudgins, senior, 6-2, 235, Elon; Marc Mariani, senior, 6-0, 185, Montana.
All-purpose player - Matt Szczur, junior, 5-11, 195, Villanova.
Kicker - Matt Bevins, sophomore, 6-2, 185, Liberty.
Defense
Linemen - James Ruffin, senior, 6-4, 265, Northern Iowa; Arthur Moats, senior, 6-2, 250, James Madison; Austen Lane, senior, 6-6, 250, Murray State; Dane Fletcher, senior, 6-2, 242, Montana State.
Linebackers - Brandin Jordan, senior, 5-11, 230, Southern Illinois; J.C. Sherritt, junior, 5-10, 220, Eastern Washington; Mike Morales, senior, 6-0, 230, UC Davis.
Backs - Terrell Whitehead, senior, 6-2, 200, Norfolk State; Mark Legree, junior, 6-0, 200, Appalachian State; Jeromy Miles, senior, 6-2, 215, Massachusetts; Josh Morris, senior, 6-0, 180, Weber State.
Punter - Jonathan Plisco, freshman, 6-0, 200, Old Dominion.
Jonathan Plisco Game-By-Game Stats
| Punting | ||||||||||
Date Opponent no. yds avg long blkd tb fc 50+ in20 Sep 05, 2009 CHOWAN 4 205 51.2 61 0 1 1 2 3 Sep 12, 2009 VIRGINIA UNION 3 124 41.3 52 0 0 0 1 3 Sep 19, 2009 at Jacksonville 6 242 40.3 52 0 0 0 1 2 Sep 26, 2009 MONMOUTH 7 305 43.6 60 0 1 0 2 4 Oct 03, 2009 at Fordham University 10 492 49.2 59 0 2 3 5 5 Oct 10, 2009 PRESBYTERIAN 4 162 40.5 47 0 0 2 0 0 Oct 17, 2009 CAMPBELL 7 318 45.4 76 0 1 3 2 3 Oct 24, 2009 at Savannah State Univ. 7 353 50.4 64 0 1 0 3 3 Oct 31, 2009 GEORGETOWN 4 155 38.8 46 0 0 0 0 2 Nov 07, 2009 N.C. CENTRAL 5 230 46.0 55 0 1 0 1 1 Nov 21, 2009 at VMI 5 194 38.8 50 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 62 2780 44.8 76 0 7 9 18 26