RIPON, Wis. – Nine different Midwest Conference football players were honored today as they were named to the 2011 D3football.com All-West Region Team. The MWC had two first team award winners as well as four on the second team and three on the third team.
The teams, selected in balloting by West Region sports information directors and D3football.com
staff, were chosen from 212 nominations by Division III member schools. A total of 75 players
were chosen.
Monmouth, after winning the MWC Championship, had a league-high four honorees led by a pair of first team selections in quarterback Alex Tanney and guard James Allen. Tanney holds nearly every Monmouth College passing record and ended his career as the national leader with 157 touchdown passes. He also set the Division III yardage record, throwing for 14,249 yards. The 6-foot-4 signal caller ended his career with a 162.9 pass efficiency rating after completing more than 71 percent of his passes this season. Allen was a key cog in the offensive unit that finished as the nation’s top offense, averaging more than 520 yards per game. Monmouth’s 44.7 points per game ranked them fourth and their 332 yards passing each contest ranked the team third in the division.
Receiver Mike Blodgett (second team) and running back Trey Yocum (third team) were the other two Fighting Scots on the list after a pair of record breaking years. Blodgett broke 19 Fighting Scots records throughout his career. He caught more passes and gained more yards in his career than any prior Scot. He also set the new Monmouth career scoring record, posting 260 points over four years. He finished his career catching a pass in his 45th consecutive game to rank third in the NCAA in that category. Blodgett’s 155 receiving yards per game ranked him second among all Division III receivers. Yocum scored more touchdowns and points in a season in 2011 than any other Fighting Scot in the history of the program. His 11.7 point per game average ranked him seventh in Division III. He rushed for more than 100 yards eight times, tying Ron Baker’s 1974 record. Yocum ran for more than 1,400 yards, averaging nearly 120 yards per game.
Five other schools were represented which includes second team selections Mike Hendrick (linebacker, Knox), Mike Dziewit (linebacker, Carroll) and Eric Fisher (safety, Illinois C.) and third team honorees Chris Jarmon (guard, Grinnell) and Luke Butts (safety, Lake Forest).
Hendrick was named MWC First Team All-Conference on defense after setting three new Knox football records. He finished the season leading all of NCAA Division III in total tackles, solo tackles, assisted tackles, and average tackles per game. Hendrick owns four tackles records at Knox and his name is associated with 10 all-time top 10 marks for tackles. He broke the all-time single-season tackles record of 141 set in 1991 by Tracy Rodgers during the first half of the Prairie Fire’s season finale at Monmouth
Dziewit led the Pioneers with 97 tackles on the season. He also recorded eight sacks, two interceptions and forced three fumbles. Dziewit was a first-team All-Midwest Conference selection and garnered Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Fisher tallied 77 tackles during the 2011 season, the third-highest total among Illinois College players; his 44 solo tackles led the team. Fisher also led the team and the Midwest Conference with six interceptions. Fisher intercepted a pass in the first two games of the 2011 season, giving him a streak of nine consecutive games with at least one interception, dating back to the 2010 season.
Butts led Lake Forest with 80 tackles and ranked 8th in the MWC with 7.6 stops per game. He also has 6.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, and four pass breakups. His 329 career tackles rank fourth in program history.
Jarmon was an anchor of an offensive line that passed for more than 3,000 yards, second-best in the league.