Santos wins Payton Award as I-AA's top player

Updated: December 14, 2006, 11:22 PM ET

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Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- New Hampshire quarterback Ricky Santos won the Walter Payton Award on Thursday night as the best player in NCAA Division I-AA.

The junior from Bellingham, Mass., threw for 2,681 yards and 23 touchdowns and ran for 385 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season.

Santos threw only five interceptions all season to lead an offense that averaged 249.6 yards and 36.5 points per game.

He led New Hampshire (9-4, 5-3 Atlantic 10) to the playoffs for the third consecutive season, throwing for 318 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-38 win over Hampton before the Wildcats were eliminated with a 24-17 loss to Massachusetts.

Santos got 20 first-place votes from sports information directors and members of the sports media to edge Northern Arizona quarterback Jason Murietta 250 points to 238.

Kyle Shotwell of Cal Poly won the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the best defensive player in I-AA. Adam Hayward of Portland State was fourth while Montana's Kroy Biermann was 11th in the voting.

Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore won the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach, edging Craig Bohl of North Dakota State 256 points to 255. Bohl received 29 first-place votes to 20 for Moore.

The awards were announced at the Division I-AA College Football Awards, held the night before the NCAA Division I Football Championship title game.

On Friday night in Chattanooga, defending champions Appalachian State (13-1) will face Massachusetts (13-1), which is going for its first national championship since 1998.

The winner will be the first to take home the newly named NCAA Division I Football Championship. The NCAA is phasing out the terms Divisions I-A and I-AA that applied to football. I-A is now the Football Bowl Subdivision while I-AA is the Football Championship Subdivision.