THREE
SENIORS EARN FOOTBALL HONORLewis earns honor for second straight season
GREENSBORO, NC, November 23, 2005 – Three Aggie football players received good news going into the Thanksgiving Holiday. Defensive lineman Rickie Lewis, linebacker Chamar Milton and offensive lineman Walter Stith – all seniors – earned first-team All-MEAC football honors.
“Hard work in the summer time earns you honors like this. It just doesn’t happen,’’ said Lewis, the first two-time first-team all-conference selection since Maurice Hicks earned back-to-back honors in 2000 and 2001.
“You go into the season trying to make it a team effort as well trying to reach some of those individual goals you set for yourself, like making it professionally. We didn’t have a good season, but I think I did a good job in terms of helping myself go to the next level.”
Not only did Lewis earn back-to-back first-team accolades, but for the second consecutive season he also returned a fumble for a touchdown. Against Tennessee State, Lewis returned a Tigers fumble 70 yards to help the Aggies win 16-3.
Lewis was one tackle shy of also finishing back-to-back years as the MEAC’s leading tackler among defensive lineman. Lewis was second in the conference in sacks (7.5), 10th in tackles for loss (12) and 18th in total tackles (71).
Milton, Lewis’ longtime friend and fellow Greensboro native, will go down as one of the best defensive players in Aggies history. He was fourth in the MEAC in tackles with 106 and led the Aggies in tackles for the first time in his four-year career. He had never finished lower than third on the team in tackles, yet coming into the season he felt there was something missing from his outstanding career.
“My main goal was to win the MEAC Championship,’’ said Milton. It was also important to me that I be a better leader. Leaders earn awards. I felt if I was a better leader, the rewards I was seeking would come. “I wanted to get 100 tackles, top the conference in stats, but most of all I knew if I wanted to earn recognition and lead us in a winning direction, I needed to be a better leader.”
Milton finished his career with 317 tackles, second on the all-time list behind Demetrius Harrison. He is just the third Aggie all-time to exceed 300 tackles for a career since the NCAA made it an official stat in 1978.
Stith transferred to N.C. A&T this season after spending three years at Western Michigan. He started his collegiate career as a 265-pound tight end. He ended his career as a 6-foot-8, 320-pound Aggie.
Stith finished the season with nine pancake blocks and had an average grade, which was based on assignment and execution, of 87 percent. For his efforts, Stith was recently selected to play in the Hula Bowl played in Honolulu, Hawaii on Jan. 21, 2006 on ESPN2. Aggie running backs Brandon Sweeney and Quante Speight had multiple 100-yard rushing games this season and averaged a combined 5.4 yards per carry with Stith leading the way upfront.
This season marks the most first-team selections the Aggies have had since 2001 when seven players made the list.