Five Eagles earn preseason All-MEAC honors; NCCU picked 4th

NORFOLK, Virginia –  Five North Carolina Central University Eagles were named to the preseason all-conference team, while NCCU was picked to finish the upcoming season in fourth place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as voted by the league's head football coaches and sports information directors.

The announcements were made by the MEAC on Friday in Norfolk, Va., during the conference's annual football media day and luncheon.

The five Eagles named to the All-MEAC Second Team are senior quarterback Jordan Reid, senior offensive tackle Charles Goodwin, sophomore safety Ryan Smith, senior punter Matthew Cornelius and junior kicker Oleg Parent.

NCCU is coming off its first winning season since 2007 with a 6-5 overall record and a 5-3 conference mark. The Eagles tied for third place in the MEAC standings a year ago. With a fourth place prediction for 2013, NCCU is listed behind No. 3 North Carolina A&T, No. 2 South Carolina State and No. 1 Bethune-Cookman, the defending conference champion, on the preseason predicted order of finish.

Reid (High Point, N.C.) threw for 1,594 yards and 13 touchdowns, while breaking the NCCU single-season record by completing 62.3 percent of his pass attempts.

Goodwin (High Point, N.C.) started every game at left tackle for the Eagles last season, while recording an average grade of 89 percent with 19 pancake blocks and 28 knockdowns in 11 games.

Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) finished his rookie season as NCCU's second-leading tackler with 65 total takedowns. He also ranked second on the team with three interceptions and third on the squad with eight passes defended (three interceptions, five pass break-ups), while leading the MEAC and tying for second among NCAA-FCS leaders with four fumble recoveries.

Cornelius (Charlotte, N.C.) averaged 35.9 yards per punt with a long of 58 yards. He also placed 16 punts inside the 20-yard line with only two touchbacks.

Parent (Lake Forest, Calif.) was the No. 1 scoring kicker in the MEAC last year with an average of 6.2 points per game. He converted 11 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 40 yards or beyond with a career-long boot of 46 yards.

NCCU opens the 2013 season on Aug. 31 at Duke University inside Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.

The Eagles' first home game is on Sept. 7 against Saint Augustine's University inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. Season tickets to NCCU's six home games are still available for purchase online at www.NCCUEaglePride.com or at the NCCU Ticket Office (919-530-5170) on the lower level of W.G. Pearson Cafeteria.

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION