December 17, 2001

FURMAN LANDS SIX ON SPORTS NETWORK ALL-AMERICA SQUAD;
BOUTON, LITTLEJOHN NAMED FIRST TEAM

GREENVILLE -- The Furman Paladins, who on Friday will play for the NCAA I-AA national championship against Montana in Chattanooga, have placed six players on the Sports Network All-American Team, it was announced today.

Senior linebacker Will Bouton was named to the first first team along with senior offensive tackle Donnie Littlejohn. Earning second team honors were tailback Louis Ivory, center Chris Stewart, guard Marty Priore, and return specialist Brian Bratton.

Bouton, a two-time Southern Conference Defensive Player-of-the-Year selection, paced Furman's defense this year with 129 tackles, 21 tackles-for-loss, and seven sacks. A Greenville native, he has started in 49 games in his Paladin career and currently ranks fourth on the team's career tackles chart with 504 stops.

Littlejohn, a product of Gaffney and four-year starter, was recently named Jacobs Blocking Award winner by vote of Southern Conference head coaches. Ivory paced the Southern Conference in rushing for a second straight season with 1,492 yards and 19 touchdowns before being sidelined with a knee injury in the Paladins' 24-20 first round playoff win over Western Kentucky. The school's all-time leading rusher with 5,353 yards, the Fort Valley, Ga., native ran for a Southern Conference record 301 yards in a 45-10 win over Georgia Southern in 2000 on the way to a league record 2,079 yards. He captured the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in NCAA I-AA football a year ago.

Stewart's and Priore's selections mark the second consecutive year the two have been named All-America. Bratton, meanwhile, was selected after leading NCAA I-AA in kick returns, averaging 37.2 yards per attempt, including three for touchdowns.

Furman's five All-America selections topped all Southern Conference schools.