IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- Five members of the Ellsworth CC football team earned a spot on the All-Conference teams announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, including freshman Jonathan Forson, who was tabbed the ICCAC Defensive Player of the Year. Also, 12 players -- the five all-league performers and seven others -- were given All-Region honors after the just-concluded spring season.
Along with Forson, a defensive back, the other All-Conference selections were running back Ja'Ron Early, offensive lineman Deivi Martinez, defensive lineman Davon Sears and linebacker Andrew Behm.
Forson enjoyed an outstanding season for ECC from his safety position. He led the nation in takeaways with seven on four interceptions and three fumble recoveries, and also scored two defensive touchdowns. Forson recorded 24 tackles and one sack in capturing the league Defensive POY honor.
Early, an all-region pick as a freshman in 2019, was second in the ICCAC this year in rushing yards with 373 and scored three TDs. Martinez was one of five offensive linemen on the all-league team as a freshman. The defensive choices, along with Forson, were Behm, a freshman whose 70 tackles were tops in the conference and 7th in the nation and who also made 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage that included two solo and one assisted sacks. Behm also forced three fumbles. Sears, a sophomore, had a pair of sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss from his defensive tackle position.
In addition to the all-conference teams, each school also received an allotment of players to tag with all-region honors. Ellsworth had seven on the 1st team -- Early, Martinez, Sears, Behm, and Forson as well as freshman defensive lineman Deaundre Brown and sophomore linebacker Michael Moore. Picked for the all-region 2nd team were wide receiver J.D. Czech, offensive lineman Liam Stone, defensive lineman Tanner Cromer, and defensive backs Daveion Crawford and Derion Simon. Czech and Crawford are redshirt freshmen and Stone, Cromer and Simon are true freshmen.
After the 2020 fall season was postponed until the spring, a number of changes took place regarding the conference schedule. An 8-game schedule was allowed by the NJCAA, over a 9-week period. Ellsworth and the other ICCAC teams in recent years had been in a scheduling agreement with the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and were forced to create a new schedule for this year. The ICCAC squads played each other twice and filled in the rest of the slate with various opponents. Ellsworth's foes included No. 1 ranked Snow College and Southern-Shreveport, whom the Panthers defeated on the road.