FLORENCE, Ala. (December 8, 2023) – The United Athletic Conference released its first-ever all-conference team on Friday, as three football players from the University of North Alabama were honored.
 
The awards are voted on by the league's nine head coaches and consists of a first team and second team. The league also awards an offensive, defensive, special teams, freshman and coach of the year.
 
Redshirt sophomore safety Edwin White Schultz was UNA's representative on the first team defense. The sophomore had a breakout year with a team-high 87 tackles — just one shy of UNA's FCS record for tackles in a season. He had four games with double digit tackle totals, including a career-high 14 tackles in his UNA debut against Mercer at the FCS Kickoff. His 7.9 tackles per game ranked fifth in the UAC.
 
In addition to his 87 tackles, White Schultz added 6.0 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. He also had three pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a QB hurry.
 
Senior defensive lineman Philip Ossai landed second team honors on the defensive line. Ossai totaled 63 tackles this season with a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. He had five QB hurries to lead the Purple Swarm, as well as two fumble recoveries and two pass breakups. The two fumble recoveries both came against Tennessee Tech, set UNA's FCS era record for recoveries in a game.
 
For the season, Ossai had multiple tackles in every game and had at least one tackle for loss in seven of his 11 games. He also totaled a sack and a hurry in four different games. His season-high of eight tackles came against Chattanooga, Austin Peay and Tarleton State.
 
True freshman Adam Watford was named the second team all-conference punter. Watford averaged 42.0 yards per punt to rank 22nd in the nation. The Dothan, Ala. native ranked second in the nation among freshman punters in average yards per punt and led all freshman in total punt yardage. The Lions also ranked 15th in net punting with Watford at the position.
 
As a rookie, Watford's longest punt of the season went 57 yards in a 41-27 win over Chattanooga. He had three of six punts in than game go over 50 yards for an average of 48.0 yards per punt in his home debut.
 
For the season, Watford had a punt of at least 47 yards in every game. He had at least one punt of 50 yards or more in five of his 11 games. He averaged at least 40 yards per punt in 10 of 11 games for the season.
 
In addition, Watford was recently named an FCS Football Central Freshman All-American.
 
Austin Peay's Mike DiLiello was named Offensive Player of the Year, while Central Arkansas defensive lineman David Walker garnered the defensive honor. Abilene Christian's Kyle Ramsey was the Specialist of the Year, Utah Tech receiver Beau Sparks was Freshman of the Year and Tarleton State's Todd Whitten was Coach of the Year after an 8-3 finish.
 
Academic All-Conference selections will be announced on Monday, Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.
 
To view the entire all-conference team, click here.
 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.