POCATELLO, Idaho- The Big Sky Conference released its all-conference football team as voted on by the coaches in the league. The Bengals had a program record 16 players receive recognition, highlighted by
Justin Arias,
Madison Mangum and
Xavier Finney being named to the first-team and
Mario Jenkins being named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year.
Jim Bagley,
Christian Diehm,
Tyler Kuder and Jenkins were named to the second team while
Josh Cook,
Austin Graves,
Mitch Beckstead and
Taison Manu were named to the third-team.
KW Williams,
Wesley Wingrove,
Nick Albano,
Terrence Carey and
Vai Peko received honorable mention honors.
This is the first all-conference honor for Arias who became only the ninth quarterback in the history of the conference to throw for over 4,000 yards. The 4,076 passing yards and 38 touchdown passes was an ISU school record. He led a Bengal offense that finished with 6,744 yards of total offense. That mark is also a Big Sky record for a 12-game schedule. Arias set a single-game touchdown record with six touchdown passes at No. 2 Eastern Washington and threw for a career-high 465 yards in a win vs. Southern Utah.
Mangum caught the third most passes in ISU history with 83 and he finished with 1,234 receiving yards, the third best-mark in program history. He was second in the conference in receptions per game at 7.5 and he finished first in receiving yards per game at 112.2. He had seven games with 100 or more receiving yards, including a career-best 174 vs. Sacramento State.
Finney became the first ISU football player to lead the league in rushing as he averaged 124.6 yards a game on 259 carries and 14 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,495 yards, a new ISU single-season record. The 259 carries and 14 touchdowns were ISU school records. He had nine games where he rushed for over 100 yards, including a career-high 236 yards at Northern Colorado. Finney earned honorable mention all-conference last year.
Bagley, Diehm, Wingrove and Carey led an offensive line unit to a record setting offense and they only allowed 15 sacks on the season. Carey earned honorable mention honors last year while this is the first all-conference accolades for Bagley, Diehm and Wingrove.
As a freshman, Jenkins finished with 120 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions, four pass breakups, seven pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. His 120 tackles is the most by any freshman in the nation and he is a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, an honor that goes to the best freshman in FCS football.
After earning honorable mention honors last year, Kuder earned second-team honors by being the force in the middle for the Bengal defense. He finished the season with 56 tackles.
Cook earned third-team honors after being named to the honorable mention team last year. He led all tight ends in the conference with 37 catches for 524 yards and three touchdowns.
Graves and Beckstead both earned honorable mention honors last year. Beckstead finished second on the team in tackles with 117. He had 9.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Graves had 78 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks.
Manu earned honorable mention all-conference as a freshman and finished his junior season with 110 tackles and eight tackles for loss.
Williams was second on the team in receiving yards with 922 on 65 receptions. He caught 10 touchdowns.
This is the second-straight year Albano has earned all-league honors while this is the first all-conference honor for Peko, who had four interceptions.
The league coaches voted Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams the Offensive Player of the Year, Montana's Zack Wagenmann the Defensive Player of the Year and SUU quarterback Ammon Olsen the Newcomer of the Year.
Individual Award WinnersOffensive Player of the Year – Vernon Adams Jr., Jr., QB, Eastern Washington
Defensive Player of the Year – Zack Wagenmann, Sr., DE, Montana
Freshman of the Year –
Mario Jenkins, LB, Idaho State
Newcomer of the Year – Ammon Olsen, QB, Southern Utah
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE Wide Receivers #Cooper Kupp, So., Eastern Washington
^#DeAndre Carter, Sr., Sacramento State
Madison Mangum, Jr., Idaho State Tackles Jake Rodgers, Sr., Eastern Washington
Ian Joseph, Sr., UC Davis
Guards Aaron Neary, Jr., Eastern Washington
JP Flynn, So., Montana State
Center Cornelius Edison, Sr., Portland State
Tight End Tiai Salanoa, Sr., Montana State
Quarterback #Vernon Adams Jr., Jr. Eastern Washington
Justin Arias, Sr., Idaho State Running Backs Xavier Finney, Jr., Idaho State Jordan Canada, Sr., Montana
Fullback Nick Butier, Jr., Northern Arizona
Placekicker Brad Cornish, Jr., Sacramento State
Return Specialist Alex Tillman, Sr., North Dakota
FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERChad Newell, So., Montana State.
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
Tackles Tonga Takai, Sr., Montana
Lexington Smith, Sr., Northern Colorado
Ends $Zack Wagenmann, Sr., Montana
James Cowser, Jr., Southern Utah
Outside LBs Alex Singleton, Sr., Montana State
Cameron Ontko, Sr., Cal Poly
Inside LBs Nick Dzubnar, Sr., Cal Poly
#Ronnie Hamlin, Sr., Eastern Washington
Cornerbacks Deonte Flowers, Sr., Montana State
Marcus Alford, Jr., Northern Arizona
Safeties Tevin McDonald, Sr., Eastern Washington
Matt Hermanson, Sr., Montana
Punter #Kyle Loomis, Sr., Portland State
$Three-Time First Team All-Conference
#Two-Time First Team All-Conference
^Unanimous Selection
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
Wide Receivers Jamaal Jones, Jr., Montana
Nnamdi Agude, Jr., Sacramento State
Shaydon Kehano, Sr., Weber State
Tackles Jim Bagley, Sr., Idaho State Joe Gurski, Sr., Northern Arizona
Guards Quinn Catalano, Sr., Montana State
Nick Enriquez, So., Cal Poly
Center Christian Diehm, Jr., Idaho State Tight End Beau Gardner, Sr., Northern Arizona
Quarterback Garrett Safron, Sr., Sacramento State
Running Backs Kori Garcia, So., Cal Poly
Quincy Forte, Sr., Eastern Washington
Fullback Brandon Howe, Sr., Cal Poly
Placekicker Jonathan Gonzales, So., Portland State
Return Specialist Shawn Johnson, Sr., Montana State
SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERNick Butier, Jr., Northern Arizona
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
Tackles Tyler Kuder, Jr., Idaho State Taylor Sheridan, Jr., Montana State
Ends Samson Ebukam, So., Eastern Washington
Jaycee Totty, Sr., Sacramento State
Outside LBs Mario Jenkins, Fr., Idaho State Kendrick Van Ackeren, Jr., Montana
Inside LBs Darnell Sankey, Jr., Sacramento State
Chinedu Ahanonu, So., Southern Utah
Cornerbacks Josh Dennard, Sr., Montana
Aaron Sibley, Jr., Portland State
Safeties Kyle Griffin, Sr., Northern Colorado
Miles Killebrew, Jr., Southern Utah
Punter Jake Miller, Sr., Eastern Washington
THIRD TEAM OFFENSE Wide Receivers Shaq Hill, Jr., Eastern Washington
Ify Umodu, Sr., Northern Arizona
Dimitri Stimphil, Sr., Northern Arizona
Tackles John Weidenaar, Jr., Montana State
Aleksander Milanovic, Jr., Sacramento State
Guards Eric Rodriguez, So., Northern Arizona
Derek Nielsen, Sr., Sacramento State
Center Joel Horn, Jr., Montana State
Tight End Josh Cook, So., Idaho State Quarterback Chris Brown, Jr., Cal Poly
Dakota Prukop, So., Montana State
Running Backs Gabe Manzanares, Sr., UC Davis
Shawn Johnson, Sr., Montana State
Fullback Bo Bolen, Sr., Weber State
Placekicker Reid Taubenheim, Fr., North Dakota
Return Specialist Cooper Kupp, So., Eastern Washington
THIRD TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERNick Moyer, Sr., Cal Poly
THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
Tackles Marcus Paige-Allen, So., Cal Poly
Dylan Zylstra, Sr., Eastern Washington
Ends Austin Graves, Sr., Idaho State Dustin Martin, Sr., Weber State
Outside LBs Cole Moore, Sr., Montana State
Dominick Sierra, Sr., Northern Colorado
Inside LBs Mitch Beckstead, Sr., Idaho State Jeremiah Kose, Jr., Montana
Cornerbacks Courtney Hall, Sr., Northern Colorado
LeShaun Sims, Jr., Southern Utah
Safeties Taison Manu, Jr., Idaho State Rob Marshall, Sr., Montana State
Robbie Kendall, Sr., Sacramento State
Punter Ryan Hawkins, Jr., Northern Arizona
HONORABLE MENTION OFFENSE
Wide Receiver – Jordan Hines, Jr., Cal Poly; Chris Nicholls, Sr., Cal Poly; Kendrick Bourne, So., Eastern Washington;
KW Williams, So., Idaho State; Mitch Griebel, Jr., Montana State; Alex Holmes, Jr., Northern Arizona; Stephen Miller, So., Northern Colorado; Sean Leslie, Jr., Northern Colorado; Kasey Closs, Sr., Portland State; Chris Robinson, Sr., Southern Utah; Ramon Vargas, Jr., UC Davis; Cameron Livingston, So., Weber State.
Tackle – Weston Walker, Jr., Cal Poly; Clay DeBord, Jr., Eastern Washington; Marcus Piechowski, So., Northern Colorado; Kyle Smith, So., Portland State.
Guards – Wesley Wingrove, Jr., Idaho State; Cam Keizur, So., Portland State; Dan Fleischman, Jr., Southern Utah; Joe Hawkins, Jr., Weber State.
Center – Stephen Sippel, Jr., Cal Poly; Jase Butorac, Sr., Eastern Washington; Logan Hines, Sr., Montana; Parker Smith, Jr., UC Davis; Alex Land, Sr., Weber State.
Tight end – Zach Wimberly, So., Eastern Washington; Mitch Saylor, Sr., Montana; Zach Adler, Jr., North Dakota; Chris Broadnax, Sr., Sacramento State; Mark Martindale, Sr., UC Davis.
Quarterback – None.
Running Back – Travon Van, Sr., Montana; Jer Garman, Sr., North Dakota; Casey Jahn, Jr., Northern Arizona; Robert Holland, Sr., Northern Colorado.
Fullback – Jamal Wilson, Jr., Montana; Chad Newell, So., Montana State; Quinn Zamora, So., Northern Colorado; Dalton Turay, Sr., UC Davis.
Placekicker – Tyler McNannay, Jr., Eastern Washington; Daniel Sullivan, Jr., Montana; Luke Daly, Fr., Montana State; Ryan Hawkins, Jr., Northern Arizona.
Return Specialist – John Nguyen, So., Montana; Gunnar Brekke, So., Montana State; Ellis Onic II, Fr., Northern Colorado; Bo Bolen, Sr., Weber State.
HONORABLE MENTION SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER
Cody Hecker, Sr., Eastern Washington;
Nick Albano, Sr., Idaho State; Russell Smith, So., Sacramento State; Mike Sharp, So., Southern Utah.
HONORABLE MENTION DEFENSE
Tackle – Chris Lawrence, Sr., Cal Poly; Matt Sommer, So., Eastern Washington; Revor Rehm, Sr., Montana; Deon Young, Fr., Northern Arizona; Joe Lopez, Sr., Portland State; Junior Alexis, Jr., Portland State; Robert Torgerson, So., Southern Utah; Connor Myers, Sr., Weber State.
Ends – Josh Letuligasenoa, So., Cal Poly; Chris Judge, Sr., Cal Poly; Tyrone Holmes, Jr., Montana; Odin Coe, Jr., Montana State; Brandon Dranka, Fr., North Dakota; Mikhail Dubose, Jr., Northern Colorado.
Outside Linebacker – Miquiyah Zamora, So., Eastern Washington; Herbert Gamboa, Jr., Montana.
Inside Linebacker – Cody McCarthy, Sr., Eastern Washington; Will Ratelle, Jr., North Dakota; Austin Hasquet, Sr., Northern Arizona; Jeremy Lutali, Jr., Portland State; Henry Fernandez, Sr., Sacramento State; Emmett Tela, Fr., Weber State.
Cornerback – Chris Fletcher, Jr., Cal Poly; Karlton Dennis, Jr., Cal Poly; Victor Gamboa, Fr., Eastern Washington; Nate Harris, Jr., Montana; Alex Tillman, Sr., North Dakota; Blake Bailey, Sr., Northern Arizona; Brandon Lenoir, So., Northern Colorado; Xavier Coleman, So., Portland State; Deon'tae Florence, Sr., Weber State.
Safeties – Jordan Williams, Sr., Cal Poly; Zach Bruce, So., Eastern Washington; Darius Lewis, Jr., Northern Arizona; Taylor Risner, So., Northern Colorado; Josh Burton, So., Weber State.
Punter – Trevor Bolton, Jr., Montana State; Colby Wadman, So., UC Davis; Blake O'Neill, Jr., Weber State.
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