Wake Forest Athletics
Four Deacons Selected Honorable Mention Preseason All-American
3/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 7, 2005
Winston-Salem, N.C. - Four members of the Wake Forest football team have been selected as honorable mention Preseason All-Americans, the website NationalChamps.net announced on Monday. The quartet of Demon Deacons includes sophomore linebacker Jonathan Abbate, senior running back Chris Barclay, senior punter Ryan Plackemeier and junior offensive tackle Steve Vallos.
As a conference, the ACC placed four players on the first team, five players on the second team, five players on the third team and had 36 honorable mention selections. Newcomer Boston College led all conference rivals with seven selections. Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami and Virginia Tech each had six. Virginia had five picks while Wake Forest had four selections and NC State had three. Duke, Maryland and North Carolina each had two. Clemson had one selection.
Abbate was an honorable mention All-ACC selection as a freshman and the runner-up in the ACC Rookie of the Year voting. He was only the second Wake Forest freshman to earn All-ACC honors of any kind, after all-time rushing leader James McDougald did it in 1976. The native of Powder Springs, Ga., led the Deacons with 101 tackles, 30 more than any other player and 49 more than any other ACC freshman. He was one of only two freshmen nationally to register at least 100 tackles last season.
Last fall, Barclay was a first team All-ACC selection after leading the league in rushing yards (1,010) and attempts (243) during the regular season. It marked the second straight year that Barclay has led the conference in rushing during the regular season. He was a second team selection as a sophomore. The native of Louisville, Ky., finished his junior year with nine touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards against ACC opponents on four occasions. Barclay tied the Wake Forest career rushing touchdown record of 30 and vaulted into third place on the Wake Forest career rushing yards chart. He needs 906 yards to become Wake Forest's all-time leading rusher.
Plackemeier, a two-time first team All-ACC selection, is the leading punter ACC history. As a junior, the native of Bonsall, Calif., led the ACC in punting for the second consecutive year. He punted 64 times for an average of 43.9 yards per attempt. Plackemeier dropped 17 punts inside the 20-yardline and booted 18 punts of at least 50 yards. Four of his punts went for at least 60 yards.
Vallos, a native of Boardman, Ohio, made the second team as a sophomore in 2004 and was the third-leading vote-getter at offensive guard. Vallos helped pave the way for the Deacons to rank second in the ACC and 19th nationally in rushing offense. He played 766 snaps this season, grading out at 87 percent for the season with a team-high 114 knockdown blocks.
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