Wheaton leads the 2020 D3football.com Preseason All-America Team with six selections

Wheaton, Ill. – Six members of the Wheaton Thunder football team have been selected to the 2020 D3football.com Preseason All-America Team, as announced by the website on Thursday morning. Wheaton has a school-record six players on this year's D3football.com Preseason All-America Team, the most of any program. The six honorees for the Thunder is followed by five selections from UW-Whitewater, and four each from North Central College, Delaware Valley University and University of Mary-Hardin Baylor.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic the majority of NCAA Division III football programs are not playing in the traditional fall season, including Wheaton and the other nine CCIW football institutions. However, the opening weekend slate of games for the original schedule of the 2020 Division III football season would have kicked off this weekend. With that in mind, D3football.com has announced the players that made the 2020 Preseason All-America Team had the season opened as planned. The website said of selecting this year's Preseason All-America Team, "No matter how many teams play and no matter how many games get played, there will be no normal 2020-21 Division III football season. However, we recognize the top players at each position who were projected to return when the fall football season was canceled."

Wheaton's six Preseason All-Americans comes off a record-setting 2019 campaign that saw a school-record five Thunder players in All-America recognition from D3football.com. Four of Wheaton's six selections were on the website's 2019 All-America team at the conclusion of the 2019 postseason: Dallas McRae, Spencer Rowland, Jake Hibben and Ryan Schwartz. Defensive tackle Jake Holaday and guard Gabriel McGill join the quartet on this year's Preseason All-America Team.

McRae was honored as a First Team All-American at defensive tackle on this year's Preseason All-America Team. The 2019 D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year, McRae was a First Team All-America pick by D3football.com last season. He was a unanimous 2019 Division III First Team All-American, earning a First Team spot on all three Division III All-American Teams last season: American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Associated Press and D3football.com. McRae, the 2019 CCIW Defensive Player of the Year, was also named the 2019 D3football.com North Region Defensive Player of the Year. The defensive tackle led Division III's top-ranked defense in 2019 with 18.5 tackles for loss (-102 yards), including 8.5 quarterback sacks (-72 yards). He recorded 52 total tackles, including 36 solo stops. McRae registered a team-high eight quarterback hurries, forced one fumble and recovered a fumble last season.

Rowland, a cornerback, joins McRae on the First Team defensive unit of the Preseason All-America team. He was a Third Team All-America pick by D3football.com at the conclusion of the 2019 season and also earned First Team All-America honors last year from the Associated Press. Rowland led the Thunder, and the CCIW, in 2019 with 18 passes defended. He also contributed a team-high 14 passes broken up. He tied for Wheaton's team lead in interceptions with four picks that he returned for 65 yards. He recorded 36 total tackles in the campaign, including 29 solo stops.

The selections of Hibben and McGill represent a talented Wheaton offensive line. Hibben was a Third Team honoree at center on the 2019 D3football.com All-America Team and is a Second Team selection on this year's Preseason All-America Team. McGill is a Third Team member of the 2020 Preseason All-America Team. Hibben and McGill anchored a Wheaton offensive line in 2019 that averaged 483.8 yards per game to rank 10th in Division III in total offense. Wheaton ran for 219.5 rushing yards per game and averaged 262.8 yards per game.

Linebacker Ryan Schwartz and defensive tackle Jake Holaday represent the Thunder defense on the 2020 Preseason All-America Second Team unit. Schwartz was a Third Team All-America honoree from D3football.com in 2019. He led the Wheaton defense with 80 total tackles, including 57 solos in 2019. The linebacker had six tackles for loss (-25 yards), including one quarterback sack (-8 yards). He had two interceptions, forced one fumble and recovered one fumble. Holaday joins fellow defensive tackle McRae on the 2020 Preseason All-America squad. Holaday ranked third on the Thunder defense in 2019 with 63 total tackles, including 34 solos. He registered 15 tackles for loss (-50 yards), including 5.5 quarterback sacks (-33 yards).

Originally published by Wheaton College Athletics: /news/2020/9/3/wheaton-leads-the-2020-d3football-com-preseason-all-american-with-six-selections.aspx