AUSTINTOWN – Two Wilmington College football players have earned all-Ohio Athletic Conference recognition, the league announced today (November 24, 2014).

Junior linebacker Nick Williams (Cleveland, OH/Fairview) and sophomore running back Chase Manica (Shelbyville, KY/Shelby County) were named honorable mention.

“It is a great honor to receive recognition from the other coaches in the OAC,” said Wilmington head coach Stacey Hairston. “I am very happy for both Nick and Chase. They are both very deserving of the Honorable Mention award. The OAC is a conference loaded with talent, and although we did not have the season we liked to have had, it is good to see some of our players get noticed for their individual efforts this season. In the future, as we become a team that wins consistently, we will have many more student athletes get the recognition they deserve.”

Manica finished the season with 861 yards rushing, eighth in the OAC. He rushed for more than 100 yards in four games, including a stretch of three consecutive. Manica rushed for a career-high 158 yards on just 13 first-half carries against Baldwin Wallace.

“This season there were a lot of great running backs in the OAC, which in turn made it more difficult to earn a first or second team award,” said Hairston. “There were several good backs this season that, like Chase, missed out on one of the higher awards.”

For the first time in his career, Williams was able to play in all 10 games for Wilmington, and the results showed his ability. He finished fourth in the OAC in tackling with a team-high 95. Williams started the season with double-figures tackles in four straight games, and recorded the feat six times this season.

“At linebacker, the competition was even greater (than at running back) as several OAC schools had defenses that were ranked best in the country in many different categories,” said Hairston.

Wilmington finished 0-10 overall, 0-9 in the OAC.