PEMBROKE — Postseason honors began to trickle in for the UNC Pembroke football team on Tuesday evening when 11 players were honored with Mountain East Conference all-league honors, while Sincere Baines was named as the Mountain East Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year and Jamae Blank was crowned as co-Defensive Player of the Year.

The announcement marks the most all-conference honors in program history for the Black & Gold. It is also the second time that the Braves have had the MEC Offensive Freshman of the year, but the program’s first selection for MEC Defensive Player of the Year.

Trey Dixon, Chris Russell, Jamae Blank, and Sean Hill all earned first-team all-conference honors, Colin Johnson, Sincere Baines, Raydarius Freeman, Saige Ley and Keshawn Pickett picked up second-team honors, while Jadyen Smith and Jacob Perry were honorable mention all-conference.

Blank started in all 10 games and finished the season with 49 tackles (30 solo) broke up six passes, forced three fumbles and recovered three fumbles. The Durham native registered 21.5 tackles for a loss of 110 yards. Blank broke the school record for most sacks in a single season and ranked second in the nation for total sacks tackles for loss yards. Blank had 12.5 sacks for a loss of 88 yards during the season.

A true freshman, Baines saw action in nine games and rushed for 797 yards. The Fayetteville native carried the ball 105 times and averaged 88.56 rushing yards per game. Baines caught 15 passes for 207 yards and finished the season with 12 touchdowns. In the season finale, Baines set the school record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single game with five rushing touchdowns and ranks first in the nation for most yards per carry.

A native of Gibson, Dixon has now been named to the all-conference team for three years. Dixon started in nine games and tallied 734 receiving yards. The graduate student caught seven touchdowns and broke the school record for most receiving touchdowns in a single game. Dixon was also named the D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Week earlier this season.

A key cog on the offensive line for the Black & Gold, Russell helped spearhead the offense that put up 453.2 yards of total offense and 40.4 points per game.

A product of Mooresville High School, Hill started in all 10 contests and finished with a team-high 81 tackles (45 solo). The graduate student had 16 tackles for a loss of 45 yards and helped spearhead a defense that leads the nation in tackles for loss yards.

Johnson saw action in all 10 games and rushed for 760 yards this season. The Sanford native completed 119 of his 213 passing attempts and threw for 1,885 yards. Johnson was responsible for 20 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing touchdowns. Johnson matched the school record earlier this season for most passing touchdowns in a single game with six.

Freeman started in all 10 games and logged a total of 51 tackles (28 solo). The transfer recorded 17 tackles for a loss of 51 yards while also registering seven sacks for a total of 32 yards. The Belhaven native forced three fumbles and recovered a fumble this season.

Ley also was a key force on the UNCP defense seeing action in nine of the contests and recording 47 tackles (23 solo). The graduate student was responsible for 5.5 tackles for a loss of 15 yards.

Pickett saw action in nine contests on defense and finished the season with 27 tackles (14 solo). He broke up eight passes on the season and intercepted two passes. A product of Pratville High School, Pickett’s scored a touchdown on his interception in the fourth quarter.

Smith played in eight games this season and finished the season with 162 yards. The Bakersfield, Calif., native caught a touchdown pass against Wheeling earlier this season and caught a season-best 50-yard pass against Glenville State.

Perry played a pivotal role for the Black & Gold on the offensive line unit scored 54 touchdowns and averaged 7.2 yards per play. The Braves averaged 220.0 rushing yards per game.