AFCA Release
MARYVILLE – Amazing players accomplish a great season by working as a team but also having tremendous individual campaigns. That description fits Maryville's
Grant Henderson, who on Tuesday was named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America First Team.
Henderson is Maryville's first football All-American since offensive lineman Rance Hightower made the 2013 AFCA squad. One year later, defensive lineman Zach Capehart was named to a D3football.com All-America Honorable Mention. Other recent Maryville All-Americans are Clarence McLean in 2024 men's track and field, Myles Rasnick in 2022-23 men's basketball and Ndubueze Henry in 2021 men's soccer.
MC's senior cornerback ranks fourth in the country in passes defended, which combines interceptions with pass breakups. The Miami native intercepted four passes and compiled 15 pass breakups. The latter figure missed by one of tying a Scots program record.
Henderson played in all 11 games for Maryville, finishing third on the team with 50 tackles. In Saturday's NCAA Division III Football Championship Second Round game at DePauw, Henderson led the Scots with nine tackles, eight of which were solo. He deflected two passes in that game to establish a personal season best of 15 and fall just one shy of the program mark set by Nick White in 1995.
Listed Twice on Season PBU Chart
After compiling 13 PBUs in 2022, Henderson becomes the first Scot to earn placement twice on Maryville's Pass Breakups in a Season top 10 chart. His 15 PBUs this season tie for second all-time and his 13 in 2022 tie for fifth.
Henderson was a key contributor to Maryville's rock solid defense in 2024. He intercepted four passes, returning one 58 yards to spark the team's 44-16 thumping of Huntingdon. During Maryville's return to the NCAA playoffs at Berry, Henderson picked off one of three MC interceptions.
Last month, Henderson was named to the All-USA South First Team.
National statistics are not yet final, but Maryville ranks second in Division III in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 94.06, 10th in total defense at 234.6 yards, 18th in rush defense at 73.6 yards and 23rd in scoring defense at 14.5 points.
The Scots finished 9-2 for the second nine-win season in program history and the first since 1946. Maryville won in the NCAA playoffs for the first time and compiled a perfect 7-0 record in its final season of USA South competition. Next year, Maryville joins the Southern Athletic Association for football.
