Ashley (Owensboro, Ky. / Owensboro Senior HS) was selected both the Team and Offensive Most Valuable Player, while Claybourn (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) was voted the Special Teams MVP and also shared the Academic Award.
Ashley has been named to six All-America teams — including collecting first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, Associated Press and I-AA.org — this winter after claiming first-team all-Gateway Football Conference accolades for the third consecutive season. He was a two-time GFC Offensive Lineman of the Week honoree.
Claybourn set the school season record for punting average while ranking fourth nationally in the category, earning first-team all-conference honors for the second consecutive season. He was named third-team All-America by both The Sports Network and AP after finishing his career ranked second on the Hill in punts, total yards and punting average. Claybourn was also on the Gateway’s second-team All-Academic squad.
Charles Thompson (Louisville, Ky. / Central HS) was the Toppers’ Defensive MVP after being named to the I-AA.org All-Star Team. A first-team all-Gateway selection, he concluded his four-year career ranked fourth all-time on the Hill with 411 total tackles.
Ashley, Claybourn and Thompson were also recognized after serving as team captains during the 2004 campaign.
Erik Losey (Hixson, Tenn. / Soddy-Daisy HS) earned the Offensive Tenacity Award, with Deont Smith (Louisville, Ky. / St. Xavier HS) picking up the Defensive Tenacity Award. Losey was named second-team all-league in his first year on the Hill, while Smith earned first-team all-conference honors after leading the Hilltoppers with 112 total stops.
The Al Almond Award, given to the player who displays the same devotion to character, loyalty, ability and love of fellow man exhibited by Almond, the longtime coach at Western’s University High School, was awarded to Ryan Thomas (Orchard Park, N.Y. / Orchard Park HS). Thomas was selected honorable mention all-Gateway following his senior season.
Jami DeBerry (Franklin, Ky. / Franklin-Simpson HS) shared the Academic Award with Claybourn, while Montaze Trumbo (Louisville, Ky. / Waggener Traditional HS) was given the Community College Distinguished Citizenship Award.
The program’s Big Brother Award went to Justin Haddix (Jackson, Ky. / Breathitt County HS), and the Power Hour Award was earned by Greg Ryan (Murray, Ky. / Calloway County HS). Brad Cloud (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County HS) was the Offensive Scout Team MVP, while Jack Rafferty (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman HS) was selected the Defensive Scout Team MVP.
And, for his support of the program, Norm Johnson was given the 12th Man Award.
The Hilltoppers finished the 2004 season 9-3 while ranking 11th in the final national polls. WKU qualified for the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, the second-longest active streak in the country.
