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Huntingdon’s Chappell earns All-American recognition

Huntingdon’s Chappell earns All-American recognition

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Defensive tackle D.J. Chappell stepped into a leadership role for the Huntingdon football team this season.

Chappell raised his level of play as a junior and became one of the Hawks' leaders on the field and off. His success was recognized on Saturday with the release of the D3football.com All-American teams. Chappell was named honorable mention All-American and is the first Huntingdon football player to earn a position on the list.

"That is a great recognition," Chappell said. "It's big for me and it helps put our program's name out there. We've got a lot of good players on this team and I couldn't accomplish anything without my teammates. We've all worked hard to make each other better."

Earlier this month, Chappell became the first Huntingdon player to earn first-team All-Region honors when he was named to D3football.com's All-South Region Team.

"This is a great accomplishment for him," Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk said. "He was our first player to be named first-team All-Region and now he is the first player we've had to be recognized on the All-American team. It's big for him and it's big for our program and we're excited that we have him back for another year."

Chappell, who played high school ball at Montgomery's Jefferson Davis High School, came into his own this season. He was third on the team with 54 tackles and led the Hawks with eight sacks and 19 tackles for loss. Entering his senior season, he ranks second in the Huntingdon record books for career sacks and career tackles for loss.

"He deserves this recognition. He's worked hard for everything he's achieved," Huntingdon defensive line coach Landius Wilkerson said. "He's been a dominant player and has developed into a great leader. He's worked hard and it's paying off."