Football | 7/18/2022 3:59:00 PM

FLOWER MOUND, Texas – The Mississippi Valley State University football program saw five players earn HBCU Sports All-SWAC Preseason honors just days before SWAC Football Media Day as Caleb Johnson and Ronnie Thomas made First Team while Jacory Rankin, Jalen Bell, and Orlando Fernandez got Second Team selections.
 
Johnson, a redshirt junior running back from Memphis, Tennessee, is currently 14th among all active FCS players in career rushes per game (14.50), was a HERO Sports FCS Sophomore All-American, All-SWAC and Phil Steele Second Teamer on top of a C Spire Trophy finalist in 2021. The conference's leading rusher from a year ago went for 1,004 yards on the ground to become the first Valley back to surpass 1,000 in a season since 1999 while ranking 18th in the nation for yards per game (91.3) and 47th regarding rushing touchdowns (8).
 
Thomas, a senior defensive lineman from Clinton, Mississippi, was an All-SWAC Second Teamer and Phil Steele All-SWAC Third Teamer who led the Devil defense in sacks (6.5) plus sack yardage (43). He appeared in all 11 games with 22 tackles, eight tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
 
Rankin, a senior wideout from Port Gibson, Mississippi, was named to the Phil Steele All-SWAC Fourth Team as the offense's go-to receiving target, leading the club in receptions (42), yards (682), yards per catch (16.24), touchdowns (4), and yards per game (62.00) as well as hauling in a program record 93-yard scoring strike against Alabama State in Fall 2021.
 
Bell, a junior defensive lineman from Detroit, Michigan, was selected to the Phil Steele All-SWAC Third Team and currently slots 49th among active FCS student-athletes for career tackles for loss per game (0.84). He leads all returning defenders with 9.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries from a year ago in which he took down 39 ballcarriers and sacked four quarterbacks.
 
Fernandez, a senior specialist from Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, made the HBCU Sports Second Team as a punter after a Phil Steele All-SWAC Second Team selection in Fall 2021 when he finished 17th in the country for punting average (43.2) and garnered a SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week accolade on November 15.
 
To view the full article with every selection and individual award winner, click here.
 
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