AP Names Little All-America Team

Dusty Bonner, Valdosta State's quarterback who set an NCAA Division II record with 54 touchdown passes, and college football's career rushing leader R.J. Bowers of Grove City are the headliners

Tuesday, December 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Dusty Bonner, Valdosta State's quarterback who set an NCAA Division II record with 54 touchdown passes, and college football's career rushing leader R.J. Bowers of Grove City are the headliners on The Associated Press Little All-America team.

Bonner, who transferred from Kentucky when he lost his starting job before this season, completed a remarkable 72.8 percent of his passes, hitting 317 of 435 for 3,907 yards, with just six interceptions. The 6-foot-2, 217-pound Bonner won the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II's top player in leading his team to a 10-2 record.

The 6-foot-1, 238-pound Bowers ran for 1,733 yards and 16 touchdowns and closed out his career at the Division III school with 7,353 yards and 562 points â€” two of his eight all-divisions records.

Joining Bowers in the backfield was Lamar Gordon of North Dakota State, who ran for 1,727 yards and scored 22 touchdowns. In three playoff games, the 6-1, 213-pound junior added another 401 yards and five TDs, giving him 2,128 yards rushing and 27 TDs.

The receivers on the team announced Tuesday were Clarence Coleman of Ferris State, Matt Holmlund of Augustana (S.D.) and Adam Marino of Division III national champion Mount Union.

Coleman caught 97 passes for 1,519 yards and 15 touchdowns; Holmlund had 104 grabs for 1,365 yards and 16 TDs; and Marino caught 77 passes for 1,167 yards and 13 scores. Marino added 33 catches for 476 yards and five TDs in four playoff games.

The offensive line was anchored by center Robert Garza of Texas A&M-Kingsville. Also on the line were Ryan Burkholder of Northern Colorado, Clay Clevenger of Carson-Newman, Mack Hay of Augustana (Ill.), and Abed Taha of West Georgia.

Tony Miles of Northwest Missouri State was the all-purpose player for the second straight season after totaling 1,858 yards and 14 TDs. The 5-9, 180-pound senior caught 60 passes for 1,074 yards and 10 TDs, ran for 208 yards and three scores and also returned a punt for a touchdown.

Cameron Paterka of North Dakota was the kicker, making 17 of 24 field-goal attempts and all 43 extra point attempts.

The team, chosen from players in Divisions II and III and the NAIA, consists of 18 seniors and eight juniors. Bowers, Garza and Miles were repeaters from the '99 team.

The defense was led by end Todd DeVree of Hillsdale College. The 6-4, 252-pound junior had 16 sacks, five forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. He's joined along the line by Aaron Becker of Northwest Missouri State, Sky Blake of Division III Whitworth and DeVonte Peterson of Catawba.

Wes Baker of Pittsburg State, heads up the linebacking corps, along with Mike Borisenko of Indiana (Pa.), Steve Cedor of New Haven and Kevin Nagle of East Stroudsburg. Baker had 105 tackles for a defense that allowed 15.3 points per game.

Hillsdale's Tim Mustapha, who led Division II with 11 interceptions, heads up the secondary. He was joined by James Rooths of Shepherd, Rory Bell of Division II national champion Delta State and Ben Matthews of Bethel (Minn.). Bell had 138 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Adam Ryan of Fort Hays State was the punter. The native of Melbourne, Australia, led Division II with a net average of 43.2 yards per punt.