Wheeling, W. Va. - Earlier today, we unveiled our Wheeling University Football All-MEC First Team honorees after the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their All-MEC awards Tuesday. Rounding out the list for the Cardinals are five players who earned either All-MEC Second Team or All-MEC Honorable Mention honors, bringing the team postseason award total to eight. Wide Receiver Lowell Patron, defensive lineman Brandon Munoz, defensive back Rich White III, and kick returner Chris Canaday earned All-MEC Second Team honors while linebacker Jayvon Johnson earned All-MEC Honorable Mention for their work this season.
Lowell Patron was the Cardinal's top receiving target this past season as he brought home the first All-MEC honors of his career. He finished the year with a career-high 56 catches for 726 yards and six receiving touchdowns. Patron was over 50 yards receiving in eight of the team's 11 games this season and had one 100+ yard receiving effort. That game came against Alderson Broaddus where Patron finished the day with eight catches for 172 yards and a touchdown. He fell just six yards shy of the single game receiving yard record, which he set against that same Alderson Broaddus team a season ago. Patron was a top target for the Cardinals this season and made some acrobatic catches on his way to earning the award.
Brandon Muñoz was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball and took home his fourth All-MEC honor of his career and his first career All-MEC Second Team ranking. Muñoz was a menace to opposing backfields, leading the Cardinals with 15.0 tackles for loss and finishing second on the team with 3.0 sacks. He was tied for the conference lead with 15.0 tackles for loss and, although his sack numbers were down, he was still getting pressure in the backfield. His biggest game came against Concord when he finished with 3.0 tackles for loss and four total tackles. He also picked up his first career interception in the game against Charleston while adding 7.0 total tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss.
Rich White III dealt with some injury issues throughout the season but was a mainstay in the Cardinal's defensive back field throughout the season. He finished second on the team with 10 pass breakups while sitting in a three-way tie for second on the team with two interceptions. White came out of the gate hot for the Cardinals in weeks one and two, 7.0 and 8.0 total tackles respectively, as well as 2.0 tackles for loss across the two games. His first interception of the year came against West Virginia Wesleyan, and he added another in the game against West Liberty. He finished tied for eighth in the league in pass break-ups on his way to earning his fourth All-MEC honor of his career.
While Chris Canaday had also been a top receiver for the Cardinals throughout the season, he took home his second All-MEC award of his career. Canaday finished the season with a total of 12 punt returns for 103 yards for an average of 8.83 yards per return. On the kick-off side, Canaday would have 19 returns for 489 yards, averaging 25.73 yards per return. Canaday ranked fourth in the conference in punt return yards and fifth in kick return yards as he put together his best season as a returner of his career.
Rounding out the Cardinal's All-MEC list was linebacker Jayvon Johnson, who took home the first All-MEC honors of his career during his senior season. Johnson was the Cardinal's leading tackler this past season, finishing with 79.0 total tackles, including 9.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. Johnson set career highs in almost every defensive category during the season and broke the Wheeling University Single-Game tackling record when he picked up 14.0 tackles against Charleston. He was all around the field all season long and finished the year with 19 assisted tackles between the final two games to round out a strong showing.
With the Football All-MEC honors announced, Wheeling has now had 18 student-athletes that were honored as All-MEC players during the Fall season. Football has the most of the group, with Volleyball having four honorees, Women's Cross Country and Men's Soccer having three each, and Women's Soccer having one. The Cardinals had 33 All-Conference award winners last season and are already more than halfway to that point as they enter the spring season.
The next home athletic event will be tonight when the Wheeling University Men's Basketball team battles D'Youville with tip-off at 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
