Posted: Jun 22, 2021
Ocampo, Gooden named All-Americans by D3football.com; Bell picks up All-Region honor
SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran student-athletes Juan Ocampo and Nike Gooden are the 94th and 95th All-Americans in TLU Football history after being named Monday to the 2020-21 D3football.com All-America Team.
Ocampo, a junior place-kicker from Lockhart, Texas (Lockhart), was selected as a First Team All-American.
Gooden, a senior offensive tackle from Bryan, Texas (Rudder), received a spot as a Second Team All-American.
Senior safety James Bell (Houston/Lamar) was selected to the D3football.com First Team All-Region.
Ocampo, TLU's Junior-Year Student-Athlete of the Year for his accomplishments on the field and in the classroom, is an All-American for the first time. He was a First Team All-Conference selection in the American Southwest Conference this year.
In the 2020-21 football season that was shortened to five games and moved to the spring due to COVID-19, Ocampo led the ASC in total scoring and in kick scoring, with 38 total points (7.6 points per game).
An Academic All-America nominee and First Team Academic All-District selection this year, Ocampo claimed his second All-ASC First Team selection and his third overall selection to the All-ASC squad. The three-year starter missed one kick all season. He was 7-for-8 in field goal attempts, with a long make of 44, and he was 17-for-17 on point-after attempts.
Gooden starred at right tackle for the Bulldogs. He led an offensive line that was the driving force behind a rushing attack that led the ASC in rushing yards per game, at 244.8. The Bulldogs were third in total offense with 18 touchdowns scored and an average of 5.3 yards per play.
Behind the blocking of Gooden and a strong overall offensive line, TLU carried the ball a league-high 277 times and scored 12 rushing touchdowns. TLU had three rushers (running backs Chris Monroe and DaKory Willis and quarterback Seth Cosme) ranked among the ASC's top-15 ball carriers for total yards. As a team, TLU averaged 4.4 yards per rush.
A four-time All-ASC First Team selection, Bell also claimed his fourth All-Region honor from d3football.com.
A 2021 May graduate of TLU, Bell played and started in 33 career games as Bulldog. He collected 199 total tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, and 11 interceptions.
In the 2020-21 season, Bell secured 43 total tackles (8.6 per game) and had four tackles for loss.
TLU went 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the American Southwest Conference West Division in the abbreviated 2020-21 spring football season. TLU was the ASC West runner-up and played in the No. 2 seed ASC playoff game against East Texas Baptist.
The 2021 spring season was Head Coach Ricky Matt's first season at the helm of the program.