SI.com AP ALL-AMERICA LIST
TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology junior Kyle Kovach (Munster/Andrean) became the fifth Fightin' Engineer football player 1958 to earn Associated Press All-American honors, in results released today.
Kovach was named to the SI.com / Associated Press Little All-America Team as the squad's third-team all-purpose player. The AP Little All-America Team features the nation's best players at the NCAA Division II, III and NAIA levels.
Kovach becomes the fifth Rose-Hulman football player chosen to the AP Little All-America Team. Other Fightin' Engineer AP Little All-Americans include Ed McGovern (1942), Carl Herakovich (1958), Nick Willing (1978) and Grant Sharp (1984).
The Fightin' Engineers have also had three honorable mention AP All-Americans, including two-time selection Mark Gibson. Kovach's award represents the first AP Little All-America Team recognition of any kind on the gridiron since 1984.
Kovach earned Rose-Hulman's 76th All-American award and the 17th All-American accolade for the football program. He becomes the 14th different Rose-Hulman football player to earn All-American honors and the first since Adam Helmerich captured third-team honors from d3football.com in 2006.
Kovach earned the NCAA Division III all-purpose yardage national championship this season by averaging 225.1 yards per game. He earned his second straight HCAC rushing championship this season with 1,213 rushing yards on a school record 298 carries. His efforts included a school record 246-yard performance at Anderson University and the fifth best rushing effort in school history with 221 yards at Kalamazoo.
Kovach ranks third in school history with 3,005 rushing yards and needs 311 yards to become Rose-Hulman's all-time leading rusher. He holds the career school record with 5,192 all-purpose yards and stands third in school history in rushing touchdowns (31) and fourth in total touchdowns (38).
His all-purpose efforts this season included 1,213 rushing yards; 408 receiving yards on 46 catches; 486 kickoff return yards on 24 attempts; and 144 punt return yards on 20 attempts.
Rose-Hulman finished 5-5 overall this season and earned second-place honors in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference to cap the first year for head coach Jeff Sokol.