Wednesday, November 23, 2016 | Valley Football
MVFC Announces Specialty Awards
South Dakota State's Taryn Christion is the league's Offensive Player of the Year and UNI's Karter Schult has been voted the league's top defensive player in a vote of league coaches, sports information directors and media, as announced by the conference office today.
Chris Streveler of South Dakota is the Newcomer of the Year, Christian Rozeboom of South Dakota State is the Freshman of the Year, and coach John Stiegelmeier has been tabbed "Bruce Craddock" MVFC Coach of the Year. The full MVFC All-Conference Team will be announced Monday, Nov. 28. The MVFC All-Newcomer Team will be announced Tuesday, and the MVFC All-Academic Team will be unveiled Wednesday.
Four league teams earned selection to the 2016 NCAA Division I Football Championship, which begins Saturday (playoff notes are below and are attached on the PDF to the right.)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
QB Taryn Christion, South Dakota State, So.
Led the league in passing yards per game (306.3), pass efficiency (158.5) and total offense (341.3 yards per game) … threw for 300-plus yards in six games, including school-record 466 yards at SIU … set top three single-game total offense outputs in program history in 2016 … ended regular season with school records of 3,369 passing yards and 3,754 yards of total offense …. threw 29 TD passes, including two five-TD games … STATS Walter Payton Award candidate … MVFC All-Newcomer Team in 2015
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
DE Karter Schult, UNI, Sr.
Leads NCAA in sacks and TFLs with 17.0 and 24.0, respectively… active career leader in the FCS in sacks with 35.5 … at least one sack in 10 games … school record for career TFLs with 56.0 … school record in single-season TFLs with his 24.0 in 2016 … No. 2 all-time at UNI in career and single-season sacks … tied UNI record for single-game TFLs with 5.5 against #14 Montana, finishing with a career-high 10 tackles … ended year with 6 consecutive games with a sack … earned CoSIDA Academic All-District first-team.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
QB Chris Streveler, South Dakota, Jr. (Minnesota)
Valley’s third-leading rusher and sixth-leading passer … No. 6 nationally in points responsible for … completed 164 of 273 passes for 1,947 yards … had 22 TD passes … ranks 25th nationally in pass efficiency (140.0) … rushed 161 times for 823 yards and nine touchdowns … averaged 82 rush yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry … twice threw four TDs in one game … accounted for six TDs in a win against Weber State … had five 100-yard rushing games (USD had four such efforts by QBs from 2006-15).
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
LB Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State, R-Fr.
Started all 11 games … leads team with 107 tackles … five TFL and three sacks … returned first career interception 37 yards for TD vs. Western Illinois … second interception of season set up first-quarter TD against Youngstown State … registered 10 or more tackles in a game five times, including season-high 20 at Southern Illinois … two-time MVFC Newcomer of the Week (Oct. 1, Oct. 15) … finalist for STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award as top freshman
‘BRUCE CRADDOCK’ COACH OF THE YEAR
John Stiegelmeier, South Dakota State
Led SDSU to a share of their first-ever MVFC title and the league’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. SDSU’s 7-1 league record tied for the best mark in program history, matching the 2009 squad. Stiegelmeier will lead the Jackrabbits into their sixth postseason appearance since 2009 and fifth in a row -- one of only four programs with an active streak of five FCS playoff berths. His career record now stands at 136-93 in 20 seasons, including a 49-23 mark in MVFC play.
That is all
