WACO, Texas – Guilford College’s Satiir (sah-TEER) Stevenson (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) earned NCAA Division III All-America honors for the second straight season from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Wednesday. Stevenson, who last year became Guilford’s third AFCA All-American, is the Quakers’ first student recognized twice. He and Wesley College’s Sosthene Kapepula are the lone repeat selections to this year’s squad.
The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and honors students in all five college football divisions (FCS, FBS, Division II, Division III, NAIA). AFCA teams feature just one team of All-Americans and are elected exclusively by head football coaches. Schools may only have one student selected to the AFCA’s All-America unit.
Stevenson, a 5-11, 200-pound safety, earned First Team All-South honors from D3football.com Monday and was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) Lou Wacker Defensive Player of the Year last month. He earned First Team All-ODAC recognition for the third straight year, a first for a Quakers’ defender. A second-team all-league pick as a rookie, the senior captain is Guilford’s first defender named All-ODAC four times and joins Junior Lord as the only other Quaker tabbed to three first-team squads.
Stevenson ranked second on the team with a career-high 92 tackles, four interceptions and five pass breakups in 2014. He finished fourth in the league in tackles and fifth in interceptions per game. Stevenson had five games with nine or more tackles this fall, including a 22-stop, one-interception performance versus Washington and Lee University that clinched his third career ODAC Defensive Player of the Week honor, plus a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week. Stevenson played regularly on special teams and averaged 5.8 yards on 11 punt returns. He averaged 15.3 yards per kickoff return on a club-best 13 returns.
Stevenson increased his tackles output every season and ranked no lower than fourth on the team each year. He led the Quakers with 81 stops in 2013 and was Guilford’s Most Valuable Player as a sophomore in 2012. Stevenson twice led the ODAC in interceptions and concludes his career with 14 thefts, the fourth-highest total in Guilford history. He also leaves ranked fourth among Guilford’s career punt return average leaders (8.1). Stevenson started a school-record 40 games amassed 303 career tackles (183 solo). He broke up 20 passes in addition to his 14 career interceptions.
Coach Chris Rusiewicz’s Quakers matched the school record for overall and league wins in a season with an 8-2 record (5-2 ODAC). Guilford, which set 11 school records this year, shared first place in the conference standings for the first time since 1997. Rusiewicz could return as many as 15 starters next fall.
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