Eastern defensive stalwarts are now eligible for Academic All-America Accolades

Local products Jeff Minnerly (pictured) and J.C. Sherritt from the Eastern Washington University football team have been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII squad as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA). Their names are now forwarded to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors.

Minnerly is a 2008 graduate of Ferris High School in Spokane where he was a 4.0 student, and is currently an accounting major at EWU with a 3.91 grade point average. The sophomore free safety will be selected to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team for the second time in 2010.

Sherritt, a 2006 graduate of Pullman (Wash.) High School, was a consensus All-American on the field in 2009 and is a leading candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the top defensive player in FCS. The senior linebacker is a secondary physical education/health and fitness major with a 3.46 GPA, and will be selected to the Big Sky All-Academic team for the fourth time this fall.

Eastern football players have now been honored 52 times since 1989 on the All-District VIII squad, and seven players have gone on to win nine Academic All-America honors. Last season, defensive end Jacob Kragt from Ritzville, Wash., earned first team Academic All-America honors after being selected to the All-District VIII team for the third-straight season.

The qualifying standards include having a minimum 3.3 grade point average at Eastern and being a significant contributor to the team.

The District VIII university division includes all NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams from nine western states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

A converted quarterback playing free safety for the first time, Minnerly is fifth on the team with 41 tackles and also has a pair of interceptions, three passes broken up and a forced fumble. He has helped Eastern rank second in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision with 16 interceptions, and the Eagles are fourth nationally in takeaways with 25.

Minnerly had a team-high eight tackles in his starting debut versus Nevada on Sept. 2, then had four tackles, a forced fumble and his first career interception in a 21-14 win over Northern Arizona on Oct 9. His other interception came on Oct. 23 versus Sacramento State.

Interestingly, Minnerly's high school classmate (as well as football and basketball teammate), Jared Karstetter, was honored on the All-District VIII team as a receiver for Washington State University.

Sherritt currently is eighth in FCS in tackles per game (11.8, total of 106) after leading FCS in 2009 (14.1) when he finished second in voting for the Buchanan Award. He also has three interceptions, three passes broken up, a pair of sacks, nine total tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback hurries.

Sherritt was EWU's scholar-athlete for September, and in back-to-back weeks was the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week and a College Sporting News National All-Star. He had 16 tackles, an interception and sack versus Northern Arizona on Oct. 9, then had 14 tackles, a sack and an interception versus Northern Colorado a week later. Eastern is currently 47th in FCS in rushing defense (140.9), in addition to second in interceptions (16) and fourth in takeaways (25).

Here are EWU's 2010 nominees (only one Eastern player per position was nominated among those who met the criteria):

4 -J.C. Sherritt  - Linebacker - 5-10 - 220 - Sr. - 3L* - Pullman, Wash. (Pullman HS '06)
7 - Jeff Minnerly - Defensive Back - 6-1 - 190 - So. - 1L*  - Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS '08)
76 - Will Post - Offensive Line - 6-6 - 295 - So. - 1L*  - Portland, Ore. (Southridge HS '08)
82 - Matt Martin - Tight End - 6-2 - 240 - Sr. - 3L* - La Crosse, Wash. (La Crosse-Washtucna HS '06)
1 - Brandon Kaufman - Wide Receiver - 6-5 - 205 - So. - 1L - Denver, Colo. (Heritage HS '09)
44 - Paul Ena - Defensive Line - 6-2 - 230 - So. - 1L - Kenmore, Wash. (Inglemoor HS '09)
92 - Mike Jarrett - Kicker - 5-9 - 165 - Jr. - 1L* - Puyallup, Wash. (Puyallup HS '07)

Others Meeting Criteria but Not Nominated . . .
48 - Grant Williams - Linebacker - 6-1 - 225 - So. - 1L*  - Puyallup, Wash. (Rogers HS '08)
43 - Rusty Haehl - Linebacker - 5-11 - 205 - So. - 1L*  - Bellevue, Wash. (Bellevue HS '08)
47 - Bobby Gentry - Linebacker - 5-11 - 200 - Jr. - 2L* - Seattle, Wash. (Kennedy HS '07)
68 - Kevin Miller - Kicker - 6-2 - 195 - So. - 1L - Portland, Ore. (Centennial HS '09)