East Coast Bowl All-Stars Shine in Cactus Bowl

Petersburg, VA – Several participants from the most recent East Coast Bowl were selected to play in the Division-II all-star game, the Cactus Bowl.

On January 9th in Kingston, TX the west team defeated the east by a score of 28 to 27. The East team participants from the East Coast Bowl were; Jeremy Ashcraft (Arkansas Tech), Julius Pruitt (Ouachita Baptist), Dyshaun Edwards (Tiffin), Darren Banks (West Liberty State), Roderick Jones (Elizabeth City State), Dante Dunn (Wayne State), Jaliem Cuttino (Southern Connecticut State), Chris Dowdell (Mars Hill), Desi Mayner and Matthew Black (Saginaw Valley State) The west participants were Blake Freese (Minnesota State-Mankato), Jerome Mann and Gregory Toler (Saint Paul’s).

Standouts from the game were Gregory Toler who had four tackles and one interception with a Cactus Bowl record return of 44 yards. Dante Dunn led the East team with eight tackles one for a loss and a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Jeremy Ashcraft was named offensive lineman of the game. Roderick Jones and Darren Banks each had an interception and Matthew Black helped out with seven tackles.

The East Coast Bowl game has quickly become a Thanksgiving tradition in Petersburg, VA and was played Saturday, November 29th at 12 noon, The Committee gathered nominations from schools in just about all 50 states, which was narrowed down to the top 75 Division I-FCS, II, III and NAIA athletes. The game itself is set-up as a scholarship event, with all of the revenue generated going into a fund for a local high school senior who plans on attending a Division I-FCS, II or III college. For more information visit www.petersburgsports.com .