Burnsville grad and UNI lineman named Player of the Year
Former Burnsville football, basketball and track and field star James Ruffin can add collegiate Defensive Player of the Year to his accolades.
The junior defensive tackle for the University of Northern Iowa was named Missouri Conference Defensive Player of the Year Thursday.
He was also named an American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision first team All-American and a second-team Associated Press FCS All-American also on Thursday.
In 2008, Ruffin, a 6-foot-4-inch, 265-pound lineman, had a team-high 18 tackles for losses and 10 sacks, with 69 solo tackles.
In 2007 he had 20 solo tackles and eight sacks with 3.5 passes knocked down.
He was a 2007 All-Gateway Conference selection, with 47 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in 13 games.
He made the 2006 All-Gateway Conference All-Newcomer squad with 26 tackles, three tackles for losses and one sack in 11 games, seven of which he started.
Jason Olson is at sports.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
