Ole Miss Senior Evan Engram Receives the 2016 C Spire Conerly Trophy

The 2016 C Spire Conerly Trophy was presented to Ole Miss Senior tight end Evan Engram on Tuesday night at the Clarksdale Country Club.
Engram becomes the first tight end to be awarded the honor, which is presented annually to the most outstanding college football player in Mississippi.
Jackson State defensive end/linebacker Javancy Jones, Mississippi State wide receiver Fred Ross and Southern Miss running back Ito Smith were the other three finalists for the award, named for Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer and Clarksdale native Charlie Conerly.
Also, Mississippi State offensive lineman Justin Senior was awarded the Kent Hull Trophy on Tuesday evening, which goes to the most outstanding offensive lineman in the state. The award is named for the late Kent Hull, a Mississippi State and pro football standout.
Previous winners of the C Spire Conerly Trophy include former and current NFL players such as Dak Prescott, Eli Manning, Anthony Dixon, Patrick Willis, Deuce McAllister, Jerious Norwood and Michael Boley.
JSU Tiger Javancy Jones won the C Spire fan vote receiving over three thousand votes, which accounts for 10 percent of the final tally. Ole Miss’s Evan Engram finished second with 2,862 votes and Mississippi State senior wide receiver Fred Ross was third with 1,995 votes. The other 90 percent of the final tally comes from a select panel of Mississippi sports media who regularly cover the state’s college football teams. The voting is tabulated by an outside auditor.
Other finalists for the C Spire Conerly included Alcorn State’s Darien Anderson, Belhaven University’s Hunter McEachern, Delta State’s Chris Robinson, Millsaps College’s Alex Foust, Mississippi College’s Marcel Newson, and Mississippi Valley State’s Austin Bray.
Evan Engram, a native of Powder Springs, Georgia, is the nation’s leading tight end with 84.2 receiving yards per game. He holds Ole Miss records for most catches, yards and touchdowns in a season and a career by a tight end. This season, Engram racked up 65 catches for 926 and eight touchdowns. He becomes the sixth player from Ole Miss to receive the C Spire Conerly award since the trophy’s beginnings in 1996.