Six Pride football players selected for All-Heart North honors

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Following the completion of the 2024 regular season, the Heart of America Athletic Conference announced the All Conference Teams as six members of the Clarke University football team received All-Heart North honors.

Earning a First Team selection for the first time in his four-year career was senior linebacker Bryan Valdes, while sophomore defensive back Gabe Guyton and junior receiver Roland Hazard Jr. earned Second Team honors, then the trio of linebacker Steele Fredricks, offensive lineman Ricci Giambruno, and defensive lineman/linebacker Rondell Juba earned Honorable Mention honors for their performances this season.

Valdes, a Florida City, Fla. native, set a new career-high for tackles in a season with 98 to lead the Heart North while also posting a league-best average 8.9 tackles per game, to add a team-high 12.5 tackles for a loss, which was also the third-best mark in the Heart North.

Playing in all 11 games for the third-straight season, Valdes produced five games of 10 or more tackles including a career-high 14-tackle performance that also included 2.5 tackles for a loss, his only better tackle for a loss performance came in the season finale against Culver-Stockton with 3.5 tackles for a loss.

Guyton, a Dublin, Ga. native, was a playmaker on the back end of the Pride defense in his return to the field, tying the Heart North lead for interceptions with five on the season including a two-interception game against Missouri Valley and an interception for a touchdown against Graceland as he totaled 88 interception return yards, broke up two passes, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, and blocked an extra point attempt that led to a two-point return.

Playing mostly at safety, Guyton also finished third on the team with 48 tackles, 25 solos and 23 assists, with his highest tackle total coming at William Penn where he had nine tackles with one of his five interceptions and the forced fumble, fumble recovery combination.

Hazard Jr., a Escondido, Calif. native, became the Pride's go-to receiving target in a deep group of talented receiver as he finished third in the league with his team-high 684 receiving yards while scoring a team-high five receiving touchdowns on the year. Of his team-high 43 receptions, he finished the season with his two-best receiving games as he caught nine balls for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown in each game as he finished with over 100 receiving yards in three different games on the year.

The junior receiver also earned Second Team honors as a kickoff returner, totaling 23 returns on the season for an average of 20.9 yards per return as he also produced the program's first ever kick return touchdown in its six seasons of existence with a 99-yard return touchdown in week two against Missouri Baptist University.

Giambruno, a Parker, Colo. native, closes out his Clarke career with his second-straight All-Heart North selection as the anchor of the Pride offensive line at center. For the season, the Pride allowed just 28 sacks of their quarterback in 2024, their lowest since the 2021 season while averaging 95.5 net rushing yards per game.

Both Juba, a Miami, Fla. natvie, and Fredricks, an Arvada, Colo. native patrol the defensive side of the ball in the top four of the CU tacklers on the season with Fredricks finishing second behind Valdes at 67 tackles on the year while Juba was right behind Guyton at 45 tackles despite missing three games in the middle of the season due to injury.

Fredricks had the fourth-most sacks in the Heart North with five on the year while finishing with a total of 10 tackles for a loss of 51 total yards. Juba had eight tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks while also producing an interception on the season, playing the position labeled the DAWG position by the Pride defense, which is a bit of a hybrid between an outside linebacker and defensive end.

Full Heart Release: https://heart.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2024-25/releases/20241121p1ac3o

Clarke football finished the 2024 season with a 1-10 season with Guyton, Hazard Jr., and Fredricks highlighting the returners for CU heading into the 2025 offseason.