Football: Armstrong named to AFCA All-America Team

OLIVET, Mich. – Olivet College senior defensive lineman Ryan Armstrong has been named to the 2014 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-America Team. He is the first player in school history to earn AFCA All-America honors.

Armstrong, the 2014 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year, led the Comets with 22.5 tackles for loss, including 10 quarterback sacks. He finished the year with 61 total tackles. Armstong's best game was against Kalamazoo College when he had 12 tackles, with seven and one-half for loss yardage, including three and one-half sacks. One of the sacks was in the end zone for a safety.

Armstrong's 2.3 tackles per loss per game currently ranks No. 3 among all NCAA Division III football players, His seven and one-half tackles for loss against Kalamazoo is the second-most in an NCAA DIII football game this season.

Armstong was recently selected to the 2014 D3football.com All-North Region first-team. He is now eligible for D3football.com All-American honors, which will be announced prior to the Stagg Bowl/NCAA DIII Championship game Friday, Dec. 19, in Salem, Va. He is the eighth player in school history to be named to the D3football.com All-North Region team and the first since 2009 when Ryan Patten was a second-team pick.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions, the only teams chosen exclusively by the coaches themselves. The Division III All-America selection committee is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA's nine districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.