Marquis Sumpter on RMAC first team, Mustangs' offensive MVP; T.J. Sumpter named WNMU defensive scout player of the year

Marquis Sumpter was named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team for football and was also selected as Western New Mexico University's offensive most valuable player.

The 2009 Fallbrook High School graduate is one of three brothers on the Western New Mexico football team. T.J. Sumpter, who graduated in 2008, was selected as the Mustangs' defensive scout team player of the year. (The third Sumpter brother, Juwan, graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2011 and was also on the scout team as a redshirt.) The team post-season awards for Marquis Sumpter also included wide receiver of the year.

Marquis Sumpter led the conference with 11 receiving touchdowns while ranking second with 769 receiving yards, third with 63 receptions, and third with 69.9 receiving yards per game. "Definitely think he deserved it," WNMU coach Adam Clark said of Sumpter receiving first-team all-conference honors.

"I worked hard to be first-team all-conference," Sumpter said. "I feel like all my hard work is playing off, so it felt good to be named first-team."

Sumpter was one of five Mustangs to earn all-conference recognition and the only one named to the first team. "He had a really good year and did a lot of positive things and was a reliable player," Clark said. "He's really improved over the past two years."

(Although the 2011 season was Sumpter's third for Western New Mexico, it was Clark's second with the Mustangs.)

The team members vote on the team post-season awards. The team most valuable player award went to senior linebacker Jake Cross, who was also named as the defensive most valuable player and the linebacker of the year. The team members voted Marquis Sumpter, who is a junior, as the offensive most valuable player and the wide receiver of the year.

"It felt great that my teammates voted for me," Sumpter said.

"He made lots of big plays for us, was a pretty reliable guy week in and week out," Clark said.

T.J. Sumpter will have senior status for the 2012 season. He played in 2010 but sat out the 2011 season to focus on academics. "I was really proud about the way he handled the situation," Clark said.

T.J. Sumpter participated on the defensive scout team, which emulates the defensive formations and strategies of the upcoming opponents so that the game day players can be prepared for such defense activity. "I just wanted to help the team the best way I can," he said.

"Even though you're not playing you're still making an impact for the rest of the team," Sumpter said. "That's what I wanted to do."

T.J. Sumpter is a defensive back. "I just wanted to change it to a positive," he said of being on the scout team while working on his academic requirements.

"I still wanted to be a team player," Sumpter said. "That's what I wanted to accomplish and show everyone."

The offensive scout team player of the year, wide receiver Larry Young, attended Morse High School in San Diego. Defensive end Zach Dembrowski, the defensive freshman of the year, is from Lake Elsinore and played at Elsinore High School. The offensive freshman of the year award was shared by center David Vasquez of Oceanside High School and wide receiver Donald Byrd of Long Beach Poly High School. Quarterback David Ingram, who shared offensive back of the year honors, attended Woodbridge High School in Irvine. Cross is from Bakersfield.

"We had a number of San Diego County guys and California guys that showed up in these awards," Clark said.

Clark himself was raised in Santee and played for West Hills High School and Grossmont College before closing out his playing career at St. Ambrose University in Iowa. Including redshirts and former Fallbrook High School player Dwayne Mitchell, who moved to Hawaii after his junior year and graduated from Kalaheo High School in 2009, the Mustangs had 19 San Diego County players including Fallbrook High School graduates Kameron Drawhorn and Johnny Delcoure. The roster also included six players from Riverside County, four from San Bernardino County, two from Orange County, and one from Imperial County.

Clark expects to add Southern California players to the roster on and after Feb. 1, when high school seniors can sign college letters of intent. "I think it will be another fantastic recruiting class," Clark said.

The Mustangs finished their 2011 season with a 5-6 record and were 4-5 in RMAC play.