Virginia football players Quin Blanding and Micah Kiser have been named College Award winners by the Touchdown Club of Richmond. Blanding has been named the Touchdown Club’s defensive back of the year and Kiser was named the Touchdown Club’s linebacker of the year.
Blanding (So., Virginia Beach, Va.), a first-team All-ACC honoree, finished the regular season No. 2 in the ACC and No. 20 in the nation with 115 tackles. It’s the second year in a row Blanding finished No. 2 in the ACC in tackles after posting 123 as a true freshman in 2014. Blanding registered double-digit tackles in seven of 12 games and led UVA with 38 tackles on passing plays. The sophomore also recorded 76 of his tackles on rushing plays. He was named ACC Defensive Back of the Week after leading UVA with 15 stops against Georgia Tech.
Kiser (So., Baltimore, Md.), a first-team All-ACC honoree, finished the regular season No. 1 in the ACC and No. 17 in the nation with 117 tackles. Kiser led UVA with 82 tackles on rushing plays and recorded double-digit tackles in seven of 12 games. He was named ACC Player of the Week after setting a career high with 17 tackles against Duke.
Blanding and Kiser the only teammates in all 10 FBS conferences to finish the regular season ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in tackles in their respective leagues.
Blanding and Kiser are the first UVA sophomores to be named first-team All-ACC since Heath Miller in 2003. They are the first defensive Cavaliers to be named first-team All-ACC as sophomores since Anthony Poindexter in 1996. They are the first Cavalier sophomore duo to be named first-team All-ACC since Terry Kirby and Chris Slade in 1990.
The Touchdown Club of Richmond also recognized a trio of Richmond Spiders. Jacobi Green was named the offensive back of the year, Brian Brown was named wide receiver of the year and Nick Ritcher garnered offensive lineman of the year honors. Virginia Tech’s Luther Maddy was named the defensive lineman of the year. William & Mary’s DeVonte Dedmon was named the specialist of the year.
The Dudley Award Banquet is open to the public and will be held Wednesday, December 9, at the Hilton Richmond Hotel, 12042 West Broad Street, 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $40.00 each and may be purchased by emailing [email protected].
Also at this event, the Dudley Award and the Lanier Award will be presented to the top collegiate player in the state with the Dudley Award going to a NCAA Division I player and the Lanier Award presented to a player from a NCAA Division II, IIII, NAIA and IUSCAA college.
The Dudley Award is named for the late Bill Dudley, an NFL Hall of Famer who starred at Virginia while the Lanier Award is named for Willie Lanier, also an NFL Hall of Famer who graduated from Richmond’s Maggie Walker High School. The Touchdown Club of Richmond is a sports-social organization that serves to promote the best interests of the American game of football and sports in general, under the guidance of elected officers with the predominate purpose being to recognize worthy athletes for their accomplishments and to encourage them to continue their education and athletic careers.
Support AFP
Share
Contributors
