ANGOLA, IND. -- Trine University football players Lamar Carswell (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) and Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Ross) have both earned first-team All-American honors by the Associated Press (AP).
[2018 AP Division III All-American Teams]
The AP All-American honor is just the latest for Carswell in an already impressive list this postseason that includes first-team All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association accolades as well as the MIAA Offensive "Most Valuable Player," D3Football.com All-Region and AFCA All-American status. Carswell was also named one of four national finalists for the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy last week which recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service.
Carswell led the nation in rushing with 2,294 yards and was a school single-season record and his 208.5 yards per game average is also tops in the nation. He is currently second nationally in rushing TD (32) and scoring (18.5 points per game). Carswell also set single-season marks in rushing TDs (32), yards per game (208.5), all-purpose yards (2,319), all-purpose yards per game (210.8), total points scored (204) and total touchdowns scored (34; 32 rushing & two receiving). Carswell also set a Trine and MIAA single-game record in rushing yards with his 359-yard performance against Kalamazoo (Mich.) College in the regular-season finale.
In all, Carswell ended his career with a combined 26 Trine career, season, single game and conference records that include being the program's all-time leader in rushing (5,364 yards), rushing TDs (74), rushing yards per game (137.5) and yards per rush (7.7).
Barnett has also accumulated in impressive list of postseason awards that includes: first-team All-MIAA honors as both a wide receiver and return specialist for the third straight season, his third All-Region honor (first-team in 2018) of his career and was an AFCA All-American selection.
Barnett was one of the top kickoff return threats in the nation who averaged 39.0 yards per return which ranks second highest among Division III schools. He also set Trine single-season records with three returns for touchdowns and kick return average (39.0). His three kickoff returns for TD currently rank as most recorded this season in the nation. In only 15 attempts, he racked up 585 yards which rank as the fourth highest in program history. In his career as a kick returner, Barnett holds the school record for kick returns for TD (five), return average (28.96) and ranks second all-time in number of return attempts (75) and total yards (2,172).
In addition to his role as a kick returner, Barnett was the top target for Trine quarterbacks with a team-high 35 receptions for 719 yards and four touchdowns this past fall. He averaged 20.5 yards per catch, which led the conference. Barnett posted two games of 100 or more receiving yards during his final season, highlighted by a season-high 147 yards against Olivet (Mich.) College. Also during the season, Barnett became the Trine all-time leader in receiving yards and ended his career with 2,907. In addition, he finished second all-time in receiving TDs with 22.
