Temple University Athletics
Phil Steele Names Five Temple Owls to His All-MAC Teams
12.5.08 | Football
Dec. 5, 2008
CLEVELAND - Phil Steele has named five Temple football players to his 2008 All-Mid-American Conference teams on Friday.
Earning Second-Team honors were senior KOR Travis Shelton (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and junior DE Junior Galette (Spring Valley, N.Y.). Senior center Alex Derenthal (Davie, Fla.), junior LB Alex Joseph (Stamford, Conn.), and sophomore P Jeff Wathne (Ledgewood, N.J.) were named to the Third Team.
Temple's career leader in kickoff return yards, Shelton finished his career with 2,507 KOR yards. The Owls have ranked among the nation's Top 3 all season, holding the No. 1 spot for three weeks. An All-America candidate, Shelton ranks No. 1 in the MAC and No. 3 nationally with a 31.30 KOR average. He had a 92-TD return at Kent State. Shelton also earned Second Team All-MAC honor earlier this week from the MAC coaches.
Galette started eight games this fall. He had 46 tackles, a team-best 10.0 TFL, a team-best 7.5 sacks, three break-ups, a hurry, and a forced fumble. In the win over Ohio, he had a huge night, racking up four solo tackles, two TFL, and two sacks en route to OwlsSports.com Athlete of the Week honors.
A Second-Team All-MAC pick by the coaches, Derenthal finished his career with a school record 47 consecutive starting appearances at center. A candidate for the Wuerffel Trophy, Rimington Trophy, and Rudy Award, he is a two-time team captain. Named to the 2007 AFCA Good Works Team, Derenthal earned the team's Offensive MVP honor in 2007 and Team MVP accolades in 2006 as a sophomore.
A starter at middle linebacker, Joseph finished second in team tackling with 87 takedowns, including 46 solos. He also had 3.5 TFL, four break-ups, and a forced fumble. At Navy, Joseph led TU with 13 tackles, including a career-high nine solo takedowns.
Named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List, Wathne served as the Owls' punter and kickoff specialist all season. He finished with 2,623 yards on 65 punts for a 40.4 average. Nineteen of those punts landed inside the 20, while seven were longer than 50 yards. Wathne also had 3,458 yards on 56 kickoffs (61.8 average). After setting the school record with 11 punts at nationally ranked Penn State, Wathne earned MAC Specialist of the Week honors twice this fall following his performances against Western Michigan and Navy.
