Bahar, Armstrong Headline 2019 Preseason All-Conference Team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) –- Monmouth redshirt-senior quarterback Kenji Bahar (Baltimore, Md.) and Kennesaw State redshirt-junior linebacker Bryson Armstrong (Marrietta, Ga.) have been voted the Big South Conference’s 2019 Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head football coaches and media panel, it was announced today at the Big South Football Media Day Kickoff Luncheon at the Renaissance Suites Hotel in Charlotte.
Bahar is Monmouth’s first-ever Big South preseason Player of the Year honoree during the Hawks’ five year football affiliation with the league. A Second-Team All-Conference performer in 2018, Bahar led the Big South last season with a school-record 2,626 passing yards, a 139.6 pass efficiency rating, 238.7 passing yards per game, 20 passing TDs, 2,769 total offensive yards and 251.7 total offense yards per game. He started all 11 games for the Hawks in 2018, and tied the Big South single-game record with five touchdown passes in the season-finale at Gardner-Webb where he was 20-of-30 passing for 407 yards. Bahar threw for more than 200 yards in a game seven times a year ago, including 326 against Hampton and 334 vs, Lafayette. The Sept. 17 Big South Offensive Player of the Week threw a TD in nine consecutive games last year and posted a league-best six multi-TD pass efforts -- including three games with at least three. He had a league-high three games with 300+ yards of total offense, and ranked third in the conference with 23 touchdowns responsible for.
Bahar enters this season needing 185 passing yards to move into the Big South’s all-time Top 10, as well as 2,042 to become just the fifth player in league history with 8,000 in a career. He is also 10 scoring strikes away from becoming the sixth in conference annals with 50 career TD passes. Bahar received 17 first-place votes and 37 total points in the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Kennesaw State running back Shaquil Terry (two first-place votes and 15 points).
Armstrong is a back-to-back recipient of the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honor. A two-time First-Team All-Conference selection in his first two years at KSU, Armstrong tied for eighth in the Big South last season with 75 total tackles -- 56 of which were solo stops (second-most in the league). He finished the campaign with 10.0 tackles-for-loss (minus-28 yards) as well as 2.5 sacks, three passes defended and three quarterback hurries. In Big South games, he totaled 25 hits (21 solo) and helped the Owls limit Big South opponents to just 8.2 points per game and 185.0 yards of offense. Armstrong posted nine tackles in a game three times in 2018 -- in the season opener at Georgia State plus victories over Samford and Charleston Southern. He recorded the game-winning interception in the end zone in Kennesaw State’s five-overtime triumph over No. 6/7 Jacksonville State at SunTrust Park on Nov. 17.
The 2017 STATS Jerry Rice Award Winner as the FCS National Freshman of the Year, Armstrong enters his junior season 11 tackles shy of 200 in his career, 1.5 quarterback sacks away from becoming the 11th Big South player with 15.0 in a career, and 26 solo stops from entering the league’s all-time Top 10 in the category. He collected 17 first-place votes and 34 points from the panel, ahead of Campbell defensive end Damien Dozier (five first-place votes and 10 points).
Bahar and Armstrong were also voted to the preseason All-Conference First-Team, which is comprised of 12 offensive and defensive positions, plus specialty positions. A preseason Honorable Mention squad features the next highest vote-getters at each position where available. Kennesaw State and Campbell tied for the most preseason selections with nine, followed by Monmouth (6), Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian with four each, and Hampton and North Alabama with two honorees apiece. The 2019 preseason All-Conference team appears below.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST-TEAM
OFFENSE
QB - Kenji Bahar, R-Sr., Monmouth
RB - Juwon Farri, Soph., Monmouth
RB - Pete Guerriero, R-Jr., Monmouth
WR - Caleb Snead, R-Soph., Campbell
WR - Keith Pearson, Jr., Presbyterian
WR - Jakobi Byrd, R-Soph., North Alabama
TE - Michael Wooten, R-Sr., Campbell
OL - Zack Evans, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
OL - Jacob Cuddington, R-Sr., Campbell
OL - Brandon Leahey, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
OL - Gibril Ghee, R-Sr., Hampton
OL - Matt Price, R-Sr., Campbell
DEFENSE
DL - Damien Dozier, R-Jr., Campbell
DL - John Singleton, R-Soph., Gardner-Webb
DL - Desmond Johnson, R-Sr., Kennesaw State
DL - Andrew Butcher, Sr., Kennesaw State
LB - Bryson Armstrong, R-Jr., Kennesaw State
LB - J.D. Sosebee, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
LB - Colby Campbell, Jr., Presbyterian
LB - Darien Reynolds, Jr., Gardner-Webb
DB - Tymere Berry, R-Sr., Monmouth
DB - Dorian Walker, Sr., Kennesaw State
DB - Cincere Mason, R-Soph., Kennesaw State
DB - Dorian Jones, Soph., Campbell
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Matt Mosquera, Sr., Monmouth
P - Brad Dennis, R-Sr., Campbell
KR - Isaac Foster, Soph., Kennesaw State
PR - Isaac Foster, Soph., Kennesaw State
LS - Ethan Ray, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
QB - Christian Lopez, Sr., North Alabama
RB - Shaquil Terry, Jr., Kennesaw State
WR - Ronald Bell, Gr., Hampton
OL - Eli Teeselink, R-Sr., Presbyterian
DL - Josh Ramseur, Gr., Gardner-Webb
LB - Jarrett Nagy, Soph., Presbyterian (tie)
LB - Charlie Patrick, Jr., Kennesaw State (tie)
DB - Justin Terry, Jr., Monmouth
PK - Colin Gary, R-Sr., Campbell
P - Kyle Reighard, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
LS - Jackson Hayes, Soph., Campbell
PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kenji Bahar, R-Sr., QB, Monmouth (Baltimore, Md.)
PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryson Armstrong, R-Jr., LB, Kennesaw State (Marietta, Ga.)