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Sports Center Arizona Western College AWC - Rex Sharpe earns NJCAA 1st Team Preseason All-American Honors
Sports Center Arizona Western College AWC - Rex Sharpe earns NJCAA 1st Team Preseason All-American Honors Todays is : Thursday, 28 August 2008
| AWC - Rex Sharpe earns NJCAA 1st Team Preseason All-American Honors |
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| Written by Sports News Southwest | |
| Monday, 16 July 2007 | |
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(SNSWS) Yuma, Arizona – Arizona Western College announced today that Matadors’ football player Rex Sharpe has been named to the NJCAA 2007 Preseason All-American team. Sharpe was one of only 12 defensive players around the country to be named as 1st Team Preseason All-American by the NJCAA, and one of only four players from the Western States Football League to have that honor bestowed upon them.
The announcement comes just a little over three weeks before Sharpe and the rest of Matador Football’s returning sophomores come back to Yuma to begin preseason training camp August 5th.
Sharpe is a true study in earning your playing time, since that’s exactly what he did for the Matadors in 2006. Born and raised in the Birmingham suburb of Bessemer, Alabama, Sharpe came to Yuma last summer after redshirting at Butler Community College in 2005. Sharpe impressed the coaches during the Mats’ 2006 preseason training camp, but still began the season 3rd on the depth chart at linebacker. However, it didn’t take long for Sharpe to earn quick playing time, and by the third game of the season against Air Force JV, Sharpe was inserted into the Matadors’ starting lineup for the first time at weakside linebacker. Sharpe continued to battle for playing time, but on October 7th solidified the belief that he should remain a starter with a monster game against the Matadors’ archrivals, Eastern Arizona College. After surprising the favored Gila Monsters by shutting them out in the first half, Sharpe ended any chance that the Matadors would lose their momentum coming out of the halftime locker room by stopping the Gila Monsters’ initial possession of the second half, scooping up a loose ball near midfield and rumbling 49 yards for what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown.
This year, with All-WSFL performer Max Fairclough as well as Juron Greer, Tysan Pa’aga and Mason Gibbs graduating, Sharpe will become one of the fulcrums of the defense, and his coach thinks he’s ready for that challenge. “We’re pleased that Rex can represent Arizona Western College on a national level,” said AWC Head Football Coach James Pryor. “But although this is a great honor, Rex knows that he and the Matadors still have a lot of work to do.” The Matadors officially open preseason training camp July 31st when the first-year players arrive, and Sharpe and the returners follow a week later. The Matadors officially open the 2007 regular season September 1st when they travel to Mesa to face the Mesa Thunderbirds in a non-league matchup. |
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