11/27/2009 6:00:54 PM
Petersburg, Va.----Wingate University redshirt senior offensive lineman Ben Benshoof (Huntersville, N.C.) has been selected to play in the ninth annual East Coast Bowl Football Game. Selected players from NCAA Division I-FCS, Division II, Divisoin III and NAIA schools on the East Coast will compete on Saturday, Nov. 28 at historic Cameron Field in Petersburg, Va.
The East Coast Bowl is held every year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. The contest is sponsored by the City of Petersburg and the National Football Foundation. All proceeds derived from the game are used to award scholarships to high school students from the Tri-Cities area that hope to play football on the collegiate level.
A first team All-South Atlantic Conference performer, Benshoof did not allow a sack this season. He averaged an 89 percent pass blocking efficiency. Benshoof allowed only one QB pressure this season.
An offensive captain and three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Benshoof and his teammates helped Wingate average 395.3 total offense yards per game this season. Thanks to the efforts of Benshoof and his offensive line mates, Wingate sophomore running back Vince Jordan (Mt. Gilead, N.C.) rushed for 967 yards in 2009, third on the SAC charts.
In 2008, Benshoof helped Wingate place second in the SAC (and ninth in the NCAA) in passing offense with 238.4 yards per game. Benshoof blocked for redshirt junior running back Nelson Woods (Charlotte, N.C.) as Woods eclipsed the 1000-yard plateau in 2008 and 2007. Woods rushed for 1238 yards on 248 carries in 2008. Woods rushed 232 times for 1,174 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2007.
“We are very excited for Ben Benshoof,” Wingate head coach Joe Reich says. “Our staff believes Ben has much potential to play on the next level. In the East Coast Bowl, he will have an opportunity to see players outside of the South Atlantic Conference…the best of the best.”
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,159 students offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, career discovery and community service.
Wingate offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, communication, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers graduate degrees in business, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration. In addition, the school awards the doctor of pharmacy and the doctor of education degrees.
Bulldog student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past three years.
Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 34 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 43 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.