TOPEKA, Kan. – Senior linebacker Scooter Baker and sophomore defensive end Brett Karhu picked up First Team and Second Team All-Region honors, respectively, by the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) on Thursday.
They are the first defensive players to earn an All-Region nod in OBU's Division II era. Additionally, it is the first career regional award for both players.
Baker, a native of Jacksonville, Texas, turned in one of the best season's from the line-backing position in program history. For his efforts, he became the first linebacker to claim a spot on the All-GAC First Team since Oklahoma Baptist joined the conference in 2015.
Baker amassed a school-record 121 tackles this season, averaging 11.0 per contest, in 11 games. Of that figure, 73 stops were assisted, breaking the OBU single-season assisted tackles record. He finished the regular season as the Super Region 3 and GAC leader in tackles while ranking second in the country.
The bruiser posted double-digit tackles six times, including back-to-back games with 19 stops. That total broke the school record (18) for tackles in a single game.
Baker was equally disruptive in the opponent's backfields, as his 10.5 tackles-for-loss ranked ninth in the GAC. He also added 4.0 sacks, which finished second on the team, and three pass break-ups. Furthermore, Baker earned GAC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice, the most of any linebacker in a season in OBU history.
Karhu, a native of Frisco, Texas, also turned in a historical resume this season. He paired a program record (DII era) of 11.5 sacks with 18.5 tackles-for-loss. Those figures were also worthy of All-GAC Second Team honors.
Karhu led the GAC in both categories, something no Bison has done in school history. Nationally, his sacks total finished sixth, while the TFL mark was 13th.
Karhu added the sixth-most tackles on the team (41) and seven quarterback hurries. Karhu kick-started the year with a 3.0 sack and 4.0 TFL performance against Arkansas Tech, earning him conference Player of the Week honors.
Two games later, he'd begin an eight-game streak with either a sack or a half-of-sack that concluded in the final of football.
