Dec. 17, 2003

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - Senior offensive center Eugene Amano of Southeast Missouri State University has been named to the American Football Coaches Association I-AA All-America football team.

A four-year starter at Southeast, Amano was one of just five offensive linemen named to the prestigious AFCA All-America team. The other offensive linemen were Dylan McFarland of Montana, Jelani Clement of Hampton, Chris Clark of Pennsylvania and Buster Ashley of Western Kentucky.

The only other player from the Ohio Valley Conference to be named to the 25-man All-America squad was Tennessee State running back Charles Anthony.

"The honor is well deserved," said Southeast offensive line coach Mike Chavez. "Eugene worked extremely hard and I have said all along that he is probably one of the best centers in the nation. He has great overall athletic ability and outstanding strength."

Amano, originally from Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, Calif., was generally regarded as one of the top centers in college football. He earned second team all-OVC honors the past two seasons at center after earning second team all-OVC honors at guard in 2001. A great athlete who runs the 40 in 4.95, Amano made all the blocking calls at the line of scrimmage. He graded out 97% on pass blocking and 91% on run blocking while averaging nine knock downs per game.

"I think it is a great honor to make the All-America team," Amano said. "I think this just shows what a good job Coach Billings has done in bringing in top notch players. I didn't expect to make the All-America team. It is very surprising."

Amano is the second Southeast player to be honored as an All-American this season. Junior defensive back Dimitri Patterson was selected as a second-team All-American by The Sports Network.