Sutton to Play in Hula Bowl, Earns All-American Honors With Drushal

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The College of Wooster’s Tony Sutton (Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban), who helped the Team USA Div. III All-Stars defeat the Mexican National Team 23-7 this past Saturday night (Dec. 11) at the Aztec Bowl in Cancun, Mexico, has accepted an invitation to play in the 2005 Hula Bowl — the annual all-star game in Maui, Hawaii, matching-up some of the best college football players against each other — announced the American Football Coaches’ Association Monday.

Also on Monday, the first in a series of NCAA Div. III All-America Teams was released, and as expected, Sutton earned first-team honors from the Football Gazette for the second year in a row, while sophomore offensive lineman Rick Drushal (Lakeville, Ohio / West Holmes) picked up second-team mention, marking the first All-American citation of the left tackle’s young career. Of the Football Gazette’s 78 honorees, Sutton and Drushal were the lone representatives from the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Sutton, who led Div. III in rushing (186.7 ypg), scoring (16.5 ppg), and all-purpose yardage (219.5 ypg) for the second consecutive season, will actually become the second player in Wooster history to compete at the Hula Bowl, as he joins placekicker Bob Macoritti (1973).

The 2005 Hula Bowl will be played on Saturday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. EST (2 p.m. HST). The annual all-star classic, which dozens of NFL personnel directors and scouts regularly attend, has featured some of today’s top professional players, including Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Kevin Carter, Duce Staley, and Zach Thomas. It will be broadcast by ESPN2 and Westwood One/CBS Radio.

At the Aztec Bowl, Sutton ran one in early in the second quarter from 11 yards out to give Team USA a 9-0 lead and he would go on to cap the game’s scoring with a nine-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth. The two rushing touchdowns tied an Aztec Bowl record with Buena Vista Collge’s Ben Smith (1999), while overall, Sutton netted 31 rushing yards on 10 attempts.

Sutton, a two-time Football Gazette North Region and North Coast Offensive Player of the Year (2003, 2004), re-established his own conference records in rushing yards (2,240), rushing touchdowns (31), total touchdowns (33), scoring (198), and all-purpose yardage (2,634) for a single-season this fall. His 2,240 rushing yards were the fifth-highest total by a Div. III player, while his 198 points tied for the third-best scoring mark and his all-purpose yards ranked seventh.

Drushal, who earlier was tabbed with first-team all-region and all-conference accolades, graded out as Wooster’s top offensive lineman. He started all 12 games, anchoring a unit that helped set offensive school records for scoring (510 points), first downs (258), rushing yards (3,188), average per rush (5.7), touchdowns rushing (43), total offense (5,248), and average per play (6.3 yards) among others. Additionally, Wooster’s offensive line yielded just 17 sacks as a whole.

The duo were two of the leaders of a Fighting Scot team, which finished the regular season 10-0 for the first time in school history, won the outright NCAC championship (7-0), and reached the second round of the NCAA Div. III Football Championship before being bounced out by Carthage College 14-7.