2021 ALL-GAC FOOTBALL TEAMS

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — After posting its second-straight nine win season, No. 22 Henderson State had 13 players named to the 2021 All-Great American Conference teams on Wednesday afternoon.

The headliner for the Reddies was senior receiver L'liott Curry, who earned unanimous First Team All-GAC honors for the second-straight season and was HSU's only First Team honoree. Curry, who was also a nominee for GAC Offensive Player of the Year, was the only player in the conference on either side of the ball to receive unanimous selection from the league's coaches. The pride of Guthrie, Oklahoma caught 91 passes for 1297 yards and 16 touchdowns this fall — all of which rank second-most in a single season in GAC history.

Six Henderson players earned Second Team All-GAC recognition: senior quarterback Adam Morse, junior receiver Xavier Malone, senior tackle Blake Dybala, sophomore safety Patrick Jones, freshman defensive back Cameron Thomas, and sophomore long snapper Thomas Hathorn.

In his first season as the starter, Morse led the GAC and finished No. 6 nationally with 3403 passing yards. The Groves, Texas product threw for 28 touchdowns while completing a conference-best 66.9% of his passes and was twice named the league's Offensive Player of the Week. His 522 passing yards against Arkansas Tech were the most by an NCAA DII player this season.

Malone, in his first year with the program, caught 68 passes for 970 yards and three touchdowns. He had four games with 100 or more receiving yards, including a 200-yard game against Arkansas Tech.

A dependable presence on the offensive front, Dybala started every game for the Reddies this season at right tackle and ended his career on a 35-game streak of starts that dated back to the 2018 season.

Jones compiled 65 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery from his safety spot this year for HSU. The sophomore came on strong late in the year and had eight or more stops in four of the last five games for Henderson.

In his first playing season of college football, Thomas was excellent for the Reddies and made 34 tackles, four pass breakups and three interceptions. The Shreveport, Louisiana native also served as the primary punt returner for HSU and did not muff a kick all year.

Hathorn was incredibly reliable for Henderson in the kicking and punting game. The Reddies did not have a bad snap to a holder or punter this season.

An additional six Reddies earned spots on the Honorable Mention Team, as sophomore h-back Ayden Shurley, senior center Hunter Nobbs, junior defensive end Jayden Ford, senior linebacker Jake Chatman, junior defensive back Deldric Shields and senior kicker David Heaton each received the first All-GAC nods of their careers.

Shurley caught 10 passes for 136 yards and a score this fall while also playing a key role as a blocker in Henderson's explosive offense. Nobbs started every game at center for the Reddies and was HSU's highest-graded offensive lineman throughout the season. Ford led the team with nine tackles for loss and finished Top-10 in the GAC with five sacks.

Chatman, who played in 34 games in his career for the Reddies, made 65 tackles in 2021 and had two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Shields was twice named GAC Defensive Player of the Week this fall and had 4.5 tackles for loss against SNU — the most by a Henderson player since 2011. Heaton relieved starter Temo Martinez in week eight and did not miss a field goal in four games. He made a 43-yarder to win the game for HSU on the road at Oklahoma Baptist.

Henderson's 13 All-GAC honorees were the third-most of any program in the conference and surpassed the Reddies' total of 12 All-Conference selections from 2019.