Football 11.19.25 By: Daniel Gallegos

Roland and Whitmore garner First Team All-GAC recognition; Roland adds Freshman of the Year accolades

Wonder Boys total 18 All-GAC honors

Football 11.19.25 By: Daniel Gallegos

Roland and Whitmore garner First Team All-GAC recognition; Roland adds Freshman of the Year accolades

Wonder Boys total 18 All-GAC honors

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced its annual postseason all-conference and superlative awards for football on Thursday, and in that release a total of 18 Arkansas Tech football players were honored.

Headlining that haul for the Wonder Boys was freshman running back Bryson Roland and senior defensive end Israel Whitmore as both were lauded as First Team All-GAC honorees at their respective positions.

For Whitmore, this is his second all-conference honor as he was a Third Team All-GAC honoree last season. This season, Whitmore was a constant disruptive force in the backfield with 8.0 tackles for lost yardage, 2.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries. He would also total 38.0 tackles, broke up a pair of passes and recovered two fumbles.

In addition to Roland picking up his first all-conference honor in his first season, he also added an individual superlative as he was tabbed as the GAC Freshman of the Year. In receiving that award, Roland becomes the first Wonder Boy in the NCAA DII era (1995-pres.) to be named a conference freshman of the year.

The Waco, Texas native quickly made a name for himself on the field this year as he became the Wonder Boys' featured running back early in the season. In that feature role, Roland carried the ball 158 times for 1,054 yards and nine touchdowns. His carries and yards ranked second in the GAC while his rushing touchdowns ranked fourth. Additionally, Roland became the first Wonder Boys running back to run for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2015.

Landing on the Second Team All-GAC list for the Wonder Boys were Jared Long (WR), Jyrin Steward (OLB), Angus Greaves (P) and Carldell Sirmons (RS).

Long would play in all 11 regular season games and was Tech's top wide receiver target as he led the way in receptions (29), yards (477) and touchdowns (5). This is the first All-GAC honor for Long.

From his outside linebacker position, Steward was a mainstay for Tech and led the team in tackles with 73.0. He also added 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks and one interception. Steward is now a two-time All-GAC player after earning Third Team honors last season.

Major factors on the special teams unit, Greaves and Sirmons garnered Second Team All-GAC honors in their first seasons with the Wonder Boys.

As a punter, Greaves was called upon 46 times and he averaged 39.5 yards per punt. While the average yards per punt ranked eighth in the GAC, Greaves blew the league's other punters away with punts inside the 20-yardline with 18 and in punts that were fair caught by the returner with 20. Both of those stat categories led to the Wonder Boys allowing -4 yards of returns on punts this season.

He also had three punts go over 50 yards and had a long of 52 yards.

On the return side of special teams, Sirmons established himself as one of the most dynamic threats out there. Taking over kick returns, Sirmons would have an opportunity to return 13 kicks this season and totaled 330 yards for a 25.4 yards per return average. His long was 43 yards. Sirmons also returned seven punts and totaled 80 yards for an average of 11.4. His long was 37 yards.

In addition to the First and Second Team All-GAC honors, the Wonder Boys had 12 players receive at least one all-conference vote to land as Third Team selections. Listed among those were: Eric Aldridge Jr. (OL), Kylan Crite (CB), Tracy Daniels (UTL), Andrew Hellman (OL), Peyton Henderson (OL), Sam Jackson (ILB), Tyrique Jones (CB), Cam McFarlin (TE), Tyler Mosely (DT), Diego Sanchez (S), Carldell Sirmons (ST), Josh Street (OL) and Gavin Waits (TE).

The Wonder Boys also received numerous academic awards with 23 earning GAC Academic Honor Roll plaudits and two, Peyton Tatum and Gavin Waits, being named a GAC Elite Scholar for an unblemished 4.0 GPA and at least 70 hours completed. Both academic honors are presented by: Conway Regional Health System.