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Big South OVC All-Conference Team

Eastern Illinois football wrapped up the 2024 season this past Saturday and on Tuesday (Nov. 26) the Panthers had six players named to the Big South OVC Football Association All-Conference team
 
MJ Flowers, Cooper Willman and Nicholas Oliveira-Chace were all named to the first team.
 
Drew Wilder, Anthony Shockey and Jacob Horvath were all second team selections.
 
Flowers was a first team selection at running back for the second straight year.  He was second in the Big South OVC with 865 rushing yards with a season high of 194 against Western Illinois.  Flowers had seven rushing touchdowns and then added three more touchdown receptions.  He hauled in 45 passes for 347 yards to finish with 1,212 all-purpose yards.  Flowers set the EIU single game record for receptions by a running back during the game against Southeast Missouri. 
 
Willman was a two-position first team selection earning the honor as both a wide receiver and all-purpose player.  At wide receiver Willman was second in the league with 66 receptions with his 955 yards ranking third in the Big South OVC.  He hauled in eight touchdowns.  From an all-purpose standpoint, Willman had 1,019 all-purpose yards serving as the Panthers punt returner and then primary kick returner for the second half of the season.   During the year he set the EIU single season record with 291 yards receiving at Gardner-Webb.
 
Oliveira-Chace was a force up front for the Panthers as he led the defense in both tackles for loss and sacks this season.  Oliveira-Chace was third in the Big South OVC with six sacks adding ten tackles for loss as part of his 40 tackle season.  He was a first team selection at defensive line.
 
Wilder was a mainstay for the Panthers offensive line this season starting all 12 games at center and playing nearly every snap of the 2024 campaign.  He was the lone EIU offensive lineman to start all 12 games this season as the unit featured several different offensive line combinations through the season.  Despite that Wilder blocked for an offensive unit that ended the year with 3,000 yard passer, only the fourth player in program history to hit that mark.  The offense also featured two first team performers in running back MJ Flowers and wide receiver Cooper Willman.  He was a second team selection at offensive line.
 
Shockey wrapped up his career at linebacker making 11 tackles in the final game at Tennessee Tech to become the 40th player to record 100 or more tackles in a season.  Shockey finished right at the 100 tackle mark which ranked third in the conference this season.  He added 4.5 tackles for loss.  He was a second team selection at linebacker.
 
Horvath came up just short of setting the EIU single season record for punting average as he posted a 44.3 yards per punt average.  That mark placed second in the Big South OVC this season while ranking in the top 15 in the FCS.  He had 15 punts of more than 50 yards with a long punt of 76.  He was a second team selection at punter.
 
EIU finished the season with a 3-9 record including a 2-6 mark in the Big South OVC.