BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — The Mountain East Conference today announced its all-conference teams and top individual award winners for the 2021 football season with Charleston’s Tyreik McAllister earning Offensive Player of the Year honors, and Frostburg State’s Carl Igweh and Notre Dame’s Guam Lee sharing Defensive Player of the Year recognition. Fairmont State’s Mike Floria was selected as the league’s Offensive Freshman of the Year, while teammate Brocton Blair was tabbed as the Defensive Freshman of the Year. Frostburg State head coach DeLane Fitzgerald was recognized as the Coach of the Year.

McAllister, a senior from Latta, S.C., led the MEC rushing this year with 1,090 yards and a league-high 13 touchdowns to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors. He averaged just over 120 yards per game and his 7.62 yards per carry is the third-highest average in the country. He also had 32 receptions for 203 yards out of the backfield this year, and his 142.8 all-purpose yards per game ranks 16th in the NCAA Division II.  

Igweh and Lee shared Defensive Player of the Year honors after impressive seasons. Igweh, a defensive lineman from Taneytown, Md., led the country in sacks this season with 16.0. He also ranked among the NCAA leaders in tackles for a loss with 21.0, averaging 1.9 TFL per game. He set a MEC single-game record with six sacks in a game this season against Wheeling. Lee, a senior linebacker from Farmington, Mich., recorded 78 tackles for the Falcons and had 21.0 tackles for a loss. His average of 1.9 TFL per game, which matched Igweh’s, rank seventh-best in the country. He also had nine sacks, forced four fumbles and recovered three,and also had an interception for the Falcons.

Floria, a native of from Prince Frederick, Md., is the MEC Offensive Freshman of the Year after throwing for 1,406 yards and 15 touchdowns in just six games this season for Fairmont State. Despite the limited action, his 1,406 passing yards were sixth-most among MEC quarterbacks. He averaged nearly 17 yards per completion and had multiple TD games in five of the six games he played. 

Blair, a native of Huntington, W.Va., is the MEC Defensive Freshman of the Year after recording 83 tackles from his linebacker spot for Fairmont State. His tackle total ranked first among league freshmen and also were 11th-most among freshmen in NCAA Division II this season. He also had 8.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks.

Fitzgerald is the MEC Coach of the Year for the first time after leading Frostburg State to a 10-1 record and a share of the Mountain East Conference title in its third and final year of reclassifying to NCAA Division II. The Bobcats earned their first national ranking in Division II this season and finished the regular season at No. 15 — its highest NCAA Division II ranking. He led a FSU squad that was second in the conference in scoring (39.8) and third in scoring defense (16.4) — both of which rank among the top 25 in the country.

In addition to the individual awards, the league also announced the All-MEC teams. Regular season champions Notre Dame and Frostburg State led the way with 10 and seven first-team honorees, respectively, followed by Charleston with six honorees. Glenville State placed three on the first team, UNC Pembroke, West Virginia State and Wheeling each had two first-team selections, and West Liberty and Concord had one each. 

Deontre Logan and Trey Milam from the West Virginia Wesleyan football team were named to the All-Mountain East Conference Honorable Mention.

From Summersville, W.Va., Milam also earned All-MEC Honorable Mention honors in 2019. The redshirt freshman offensive lineman held down the left tackle position for the Bobcats this season.

Logan, a sophomore linebacker hailing from Chesterfield, Va., paced the Bobcats with 60.0 total tackles including 35.0 solo. He made team-high 7.5 tackles for loss and added 2.0 sacks.

The all-conference teams and individual award winners are selected by a vote of the league’s coaches.