Showalter, Bilbo named All-Americans

PERKINSTON — Two Mississippi Gulf Coast players were named to the 2023 NJCAA All-American football team.

Gabriel Showalter earned national honors for the second season as the First Team kicker, and Dayan Bilbo was named to the Honorable Mention team as the return specialist.

It's the second straight year Gulf Coast has had two members of the All-American team. The Bulldogs have had 64 selections since 1968.

Showalter, a sophomore from St. Martin, finished fifth among NJCAA kickers with 75 points. He made all 48 of his PAT attempts, the highest number among those with 100-percent accuracy. For his career, he made 90 of 91 point-afters and 17 of 23 field goals.

The Bulldogs ranked fourth in the country with an average kickoff of 60.5 yards, and he had touchbacks on 30-of-56 kicks.

Showalter was a Second-Team All-American as a freshman. He's the fifth Gulf Coast player to be named to the team twice, joining kicker Sean Brauchle (2007-8), wide receiver Javon Bell (2010-11), D'haquille Williams (2012-13) and kicker Joshua Rowland (2015-16).

Bilbo, a sophomore from Vancleave, was a threat any time he touched the ball on returns. He ranked fifth in the country by averaging 10.5 yards per punt return, and he had a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. He was two returns short of qualifying for the NJCAA leaderboard in kickoff returns, but his 32.2-yard average would rank him second.

Bilbo also had 27 catches for 285 yards and two touchdowns. He's the first Bulldog player to be named to the All-American team as a returner.

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