SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — Susquehanna University freshman cornerback Antonio Nash (at left and #16 right) (Washington, D.C./Spring Brook, Md., H.S.) is the 1999 Division III Defensive Back of the Year and a First Team All-American by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette, also earning first-team honors on the Hewlett-Packard Division III All-American Football Team. He was the lone freshman selected to the two All-Americans first-teams.
Both teams were announced Wednesday and selected by a national panel of Division III sports information directors.
Nash was also recently named the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth League Rookie of the Year, as well as a first-team league All-Star at defensive back, and a second-team All-Star as a return specialist. He was also Susquehanna’s defensive and special teams player of the year. A transfer from Division II Cheyney University, the 5-9, 170-pounder tied the Susquehanna school record for single-season interceptions with 10 (Other Record Holders: Mike Fabian, 1971; Cory Mabry, 1988; Jeremy Zeisloft, 1996), leading the MAC while tying for third in NCAA Division III (1.0 per game). Nash also led the team in pass break-ups with seven, also blocking a kick and posting 50 tackles (33 solo) — two of them for losses of two yards. He also led the MAC and was tied for 17th in Division III punt return average at 13.2. That average was third-highest in a season at Susquehanna, and includes 224 yards in 17 returns with a touchdown. Nash was one of just two players to repeat as the team’s Gus Weber Crusader Player of the Week Award, sponsored by the Golden Corral Family Restaurant.
“We’ve had a lot of guys come through here, but I don’t think we’ve ever had any make a bigger impact than Antonio. He did a lot of things for us and is a big reason why we repeated as league champions,” said 10th-year head coach Steve Briggs. “We felt he had an All-American type season and hoped he would be rewarded for it. It’s tough to get those honors as a freshman, which is why I’m so pleased to see him get the recognition.”
An accounting major, he is the son of Joann and Sampson, Nash, Jr.
Nash helped Susquehanna repeat as MAC Commonwealth League champions while posting the program’s third-straight winning season and 14th-straight non-losing season – going 7-3 overall and 4-1 in league play. Under the direction of Briggs (68-34, .667), the Crusaders were ranked 40th in the final regular-season Division III rankings by Football Gazette.
22nd Annual Hewlett-Packard Division III All-American Football Team
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