ODU's Noffsinger Recognized at Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet

ODU's Noffsinger Recognized at Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet

Release courtesy of the Ohio Dominican University Media Relations Department

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior running back Mike Noffsinger (Ogemaw Heights, Mich.) was part of a group of local high school and college football players honored at the Columbus Chapter of The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame's 51st annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet.

Awards were given to 13 top high school and seven college football scholar-athletes in the Central Ohio area. The colleges represented included Ohio Dominican, Ohio State, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Capital and Kenyon. Noffsinger was recognized for his excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

The honor marked another postseason accolade for the school's rushing record holder. In the fall, he garnered Second Team All-GLIAC recognition, was named a GLIAC Commissioner's Award winner, selected to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team and the OhioCollegeFootball.com FCS/Division II Co-Offensive Player of the Year. During the season, Noffsinger earned GLIAC Player of the Week honors and was named a Harlon Hill Trophy semifinalist as one of the top Division II players in the country. Last month, he was picked to the all-region team as well.

Noffsinger helped the Panthers to a 7-4 record in 2011, including a 6-4 mark in the GLIAC. He toted the ball a school-record 246 times for 1,242 yards and 12 TDs, averaging 112.9 yards per game on the ground. He was also the team's third-leading receiver with 20 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass as well. He finished with nine 100-yard games this season and set a school-record with 2,714 rushing yards.

The NFF and College Hall of Fame is a member-supported non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the future of amateur football at local, state and national levels. The Foundation, with its chapters, annually awards nearly $1 million in scholarships to over 3,000 high school and college student athletes for continuing education.