Three Tigers earn spots on SCAC 15th Anniversary Football Team

November 21, 2005

November 21, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - Three former DePauw football players have been selected to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference 15th Anniversary Football Team.

JaMarcus Shephard was selected as both a wide receiver and a kick returner and is joined by wide receiver Dan Ryan and defensive back David Blackburn. The complete team is available here.

Ryan owns the SCAC record for most career touchdown receptions (41) and ranks second in league history for both receptions (184) and receiving yards (2,913). He had a least one touchdown reception in 16 straight games (spanning the 2001 and 2002 seasons) - an all-Divisions record until broken by Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh in 2003.

Shephard, who played with Ryan for two seasons, ranks fifth on the league's all-time receiving yards list with 2,382. The two-time all-SCAC receiver caught 168 passes with 17 touchdowns. Shephard was a two-time all-American specialist and holds the SCAC career record for kick return yardage (1,430). He set an NCAA Division III single-game record in 2003 with two kick returns for touchdowns (95 & 91 yards) against Millsaps, and his 99-yard touchdown return against Hanover in 2002 is tied for the longest kick return in conference history. Shephard capped his career with a 2004 Hula Bowl appearance, one of just two DIII players selected to play in the contest.

Blackburn, DePauw's only four-time all-SCAC selection, finished his career with 11 interceptions, 51 pass breakups and 169 total tackles. He owns two of the top 13 single-season pass breakup totals in the last six years.

The SCAC’s 15th Anniversary teams were selected in each sport through balloting by present coaches and administrators. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 1991 through the spring of 2004 and had been named to at least two All-SCAC teams were eligible for selection.

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