Football November 20, 2019

Wright named GAC Defensive Player of the Year

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Northwestern's Maurice Wright Jr. was named the Great American Conference Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday following a vote of the Great American Conference's head football coaches. The league announced its All-Conference teams and year-end individual awards.

Wright, a native of Luther, Okla., was one of five Northwestern players to receive some level of All-GAC honor. The Rangers had two on the first team and four that received honorable mention.

Earning recognition by the conference coaches for their play, joining Wright (OLB) as a First Team selection is Aharon Barnes (CB). Barnes was also listed as an Honorable Mention selection as a return specialist.

Offensive tackles Jonas Castillo and Sunday Deng and defensive end Marcus Brent joined Barnes as Honorable Mention selections.

First Team

Wright, a senior outside linebacker, led the GAC with his career-high 141 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. Wright also forced a team-high three fumbles and tied for the team lead with two interceptions. He recovered one fumble while breaking up four passes on the season. Wright amassed a career a total of 466 total tackles. He ends his career in Alva as the Northwestern all-time tackles leader. He is the single-game Great American Conference record with 25 tackles. It also represented the highest tackle count in a Division II game in almost four years. He also broke the GAC career solo tackle record this season with 223 in his career. Wright finishes ranked second in career tackles in the GAC, 14 shy of Logan Genz's record set back in 2015. Wright wraps up his career as a three-time all-GAC First honoree.

Aharon Barnes, a senior cornerback from Duncanville, Texas, proved to be one of the top defensive backs and was given a title as the lockdown corner throughout his career. Due to this, Barnes was not tested very much this season and he helped lead the defense to the second-best passing defense in the conference. He totals 44 tackles on the season, 26 of which were solo. He recorded one pass breakup and was a force to be reckoned with blocking four kicks on the season.

Honorable Mention

To go along with his First Team cornerback status, Barnes picked up an honorable mention for his special teams' role. The shifty defensive back was huge for the Rangers after stepping into the kick returner position the last month of the season, returning 14 kicks for a total of 445 yards and an average of 31.79 yards a return. He topped that off with a 99-yard touchdown at Southern Nazarene on Nov. 16. To go with his return game Barnes was huge on the defensive side of special teams aiding the nation's best kick blocking team with four of their nine blocked kicks on the season.

Brent, a senior defensive end out of Tulsa, Okla., finished the year with 38 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Brent collected 15 solo tackles while starting in all 11 games this season and he recovered a fumble. His biggest game this season came against Harding when he wrapped up 10 tackles, one for a loss.

A native of Humble, Texas, Castillo was a key offensive lineman for the Rangers. He started in 10 games this season on the right side of the line holding down the edge for the Black-and-Red.

Deng, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, was a staple on the Northwestern offensive line. He proved yet again why the coaches are high on his abilities and believe he will only continue to earn all-conference awards in his career. Deng has garnered the all-GAC Honorable Mention list for the second straight year.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Aharon Barnes: DB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#7 Marcus Brent: DL; 6' 4"; Senior

#71 Jonas Castillo: OL; 6' 4"; Junior

#24 Maurice Wright Jr.: LB; 6' 2"; Senior

Sunday Deng: OL; Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

#23 Aharon Barnes
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: DB

#7 Marcus Brent
: 6' 4"; Senior
: DL

#71 Jonas Castillo
: 6' 4"; Junior
: OL

#24 Maurice Wright Jr.
: 6' 2"; Senior
: LB

Sunday Deng
: Redshirt Junior
: OL