Football
Catalon first Hogs’ freshman on writers’ freshman All-American team since Greenlaw
Arkansas defensive back Jalen Catalon has been named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American first team.
Arkansas redshirt freshman defensive back Jalen Catalon has been named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American first team.
He’s the first Razorback FWAA Freshman All-American since Dre Greenlaw in 2015.
Catalon was the only FBS player to total 95+ tackles with three interceptions in the regular season, and the first SEC freshman since Tennessee’s Eric Berry in 2007 to have at least 86 stops and three picks.
The dynamic defensive back tied for the FBS freshman lead with 99 total tackles while also posting 2.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. His 9.9 tackles per game also tied for the FBS freshmen lead and ranked fourth among all SEC players.
He made a career-best 16 tackles against LSU, totaling five games of 12 or more tackles, second in the country behind All-American teammate Grant Morgan.
Catalon became the first Hog to intercept passes in back-to-back games since at least 1997 when he did so against LSU and Florida. He has also been named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America first team and Phil Steele All-American third team.
Catalon earned AP All-SEC first team and coaches’ All-SEC second team honors, and is one of 32 student-athletes named to the 20th annual FWAA Freshman All-American Team.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
| Thu, Aug 29 |  | vs UAPB (Little Rock) | W, 70-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | @ Oklahoma State | L, 31-39 2OT |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | vs UAB | W, 37-27 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | @ Auburn | W, 24-14 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Texas A&M (Arl) | L, 21-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | vs Tennessee | W, 19-14 |
| Sat, Oct 19 |  | vs LSU | L, 34-10 |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | @ Mississippi State | W, 58-25 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | vs Ole Miss | L, 63-31 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Texas | L, 20-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | vs Louisiana Tech | W, 35-14 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | @ Missouri | 2:30 PM SEC Network |
| Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll: | ||||
| OVERALL | Record | Pts | Prv | |
| 1. | Bryant (25) | 10-0 | 268 | 1 |
| 2. | Greenwood (2) | 10-0 | 234 | 3 |
| 30 | Conway | 9-1 | 202 | 2 |
| 4. | Little Rock Parkview | 9-1 | 171 | 4 |
| 5. | Bentonville | 7-3 | 162 | 5 |
| 6. | Benton | 9-1 | 148 | 6 |
| 7. | Fayetteville | 8-2 | 111 | 7 |
| 8. | Pulaski Academy | 8-2 | 89 | 8 |
| 9. | Rogers | 7-3 | 43 | 9 |
| 10. | Joe T. Robinson | 9-1 | 22 | — |
| Others receiving votes: Valley View 8, Mountain Home 7, Cabot 6, Little Rock Catholic 6, Shiloh Christian 6, Elkins 1, Farmington 1. | ||||
| CLASS 7A | ||||
| 1. | Bryant (27) | 10-0 | 135 | 1 |
| 2. | Conway | 9-1 | 102 | 2 |
| 3. | Bentonville | 7-3 | 81 | 3 |
| 4. | Fayetteville | 8-2 | 45 | 4 |
| 5. | Pulaski Academy | 8-2 | 39 | 5 |
| Others receiving votes: Rogers 3. | ||||
| CLASS 6A | ||||
| 1. | Greenwood (27) | 10-0 | 135 | 1 |
| 2. | Benton | 9-1 | 108 | 2 |
| 3. | Mountain Home | 8-2 | 62 | 3 |
| 4. | Shiloh Christian | 7-3 | 49 | 4 |
| 5. | Little Rock Catholic | 9-1 | 34 | 5 |
| Others receiving votes: Marion 6. | ||||
| CLASS 5A | ||||
| 1. | Little Rock Parkview (27) | 9-1 | 135 | 1 |
| 2. | Joe T. Robinson | 9-1 | 106 | 2 |
| 3. | Valley View | 10-0 | 79 | 3 |
| 4. | Farmington | 9-1 | 48 | 4 |
| 5. | Hot Springs Lakeside | 8-2 | 20 | 5 |
| Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 7, Harding Academy 7, Morrilton 3. | ||||
| CLASS 4A | ||||
| 1. | Elkins (20) | 10-0 | 126 | 1 |
| 3. | Arkadelphia (5) | 8-2 | 91 | 3 |
| 2. | Little Rock Mills (1) | 10-0 | 68 | 2 |
| 4. | Warren | 8-2 | 55 | 4 |
| 5. | Dardanell (1) | 9-1 | 23 | — |
| Southside Batesville | 10-0 | 23 | — | |
| Others receiving votes: Malvern 12, Gravette 5, Highland 2. | ||||
| CLASS 3A | ||||
| 1. | Bismarck (12) | 10-0 | 105 | 1t |
| 2. | Fordyce (10) | 10-0 | 96 | 1t |
| 3. | Prescott (1) | 9-1 | 70 | 4 |
| 4. | Osceola (2) | 8-1 | 54 | 3 |
| 5. | Booneville (1) | 9-1 | 39 | 5 |
| Others receiving votes: Mansfield (1) 23, Rivercrest 10, Rison 4, Salem 4. | ||||
| CLASS 2A | ||||
| 1. | Carlisle (20) | 10-0 | 127 | 1 |
| 2. | Conway Christian (7) | 10-0 | 115 | 2 |
| 3. | Des Arc | 8-2 | 59 | 5 |
| 4. | East Poinsett Co. | 7-3 | 52 | — |
| 5. | Bigelow | 6-4 | 18 | 3 |
| Murfreesboro | 7-3 | 18 | 4 | |
| Others receiving votes: Mount Ida 6, Junction City 4, Cross County 3, Poyen 3. | ||||
| 8-MAN SANCTIONED | ||||
| 1. | Strong-Huttig (27) | 5-0 | 81 | 1 |
| 2. | Midland | 9-0 | 53 | 2 |
| 3. | Cedar Ridge | 8-1 | 25 | 3 |
| Others receiving votes: Woodlawn 3. | ||||