Dec. 2, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky University football players Jeremi Johnson and Casey Rooney were both selected to the Gateway Conference All-Newcomer Team released by the league office Monday.
It's the second time in as many years that the Hilltoppers have had two members on the squad honoring first-year players in the conference, as sophomores Buster Ashley and Brian Claybourn made the 2001 edition.
Johnson, a 5-11, 275-pound fullback who transferred to the Hill from Indiana University prior to the start of the season, is Western's third-leading rusher this fall with 558 yards on just 75 carries and is also one of the top pass-catchers on the team with 19 receptions - the most by a Topper running back since 1986 - for another 205 yards. The senior from Louisville, Ky., has scored three touchdowns (two rush, one pass), is averaging a team-high 7.4 yards per carry and stands second on the squad with 763 all-purpose yards.
He is coming off a career-high 160-yard rushing performance in WKU's 59-20 victory over No. 23 Murray State in the opening round of the NCAA I-AA playoffs.
Rooney, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior from Sioux City, Iowa, is the Hilltoppers' leading receiver this year with 23 catches for 437 yards and two touchdowns. He ranks 10th in the Gateway with 36.4 yards per game while posting the most receptions by a WKU player since 1997. The only Topper to catch at least one pass in all 12 contests, Rooney has led Western in receptions in seven games and has recorded 50 yards or more on three occasions.
He sat out last season after transferring to WKU from the University of Memphis.
The 15th-ranked Hilltoppers (9-3, 6-1 Gateway), who earned a share of their first league championship in Western's second year in the conference, travel to face No. 2 Western Illinois in the quarterfinals of the NCAA I-AA playoffs Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) in Macomb, Ill. The Leathernecks (11-1, 6-1 Gateway) defeated WKU, 14-0, in Bowling Green on Sept. 14.
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