Pair of local standouts honored for work on gridiron, in classroom

It was a banner year for the Newberry football team as it earned its first outright South Atlantic Conference (SAC) title since 2006.

But for junior offensive lineman Sam Hall, the fall semester just became that much better.

The former Conway standout was recently named a first-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

A biology major, Hall became the football program’s third player to receive the Academic All-America nod. He has a 4.0 cumulative GPA.

Earlier this season, he was named the inaugural recipient of the SAC’s Elite 18 Award for football. The honor is given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA in each of the conference’s 18 sports.

On the gridiron this past season, Hall started 10 of 12 games for Newberry, grading over 80 percent and finishing 15 pancake blocks. He also was part of an offensive line that set schools records for points per game, total offense and passing yardage.

Also being honored for his work in the classroom is former Carolina Forest standout Ryan Yurachek.

The Marshall junior tight end was named to the Conference USA All-Academic team last week. A marketing major, he sports a 3.46 GPA.

One of the nation’s top tight ends, he had 28 catches this past season for 298 yards and five touchdowns.

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Pair of local standouts honored for work on gridiron, in classroom."