Indiana State RB Shakir Bell, a Walter Payton Award finalist and the nation's leading rusher, has been named the Missouri Valley Football Offensive Player of the Year in a vote of league coaches, media and sports information directors. Bell is the first Sycamore to win the top offensive honor since 1991 (Derrick Franklin) and the first-ever sophomore to win the award in league history. Bell had a nation's best 1,670 rushing yards and broke the Indiana State single-season rushing record.
L.J. Fort of UNI has earned the league's Defensive Player of the Year honor. He's the fourth Panther in five seasons to win the league's top individual award on defense. He ranks second in the nation with 151 total tackles and second in the nation with six forced fumbles.
North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl is the league's Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year. A finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, he led the Bison to a conference co-championship, 10-1 overall record, and a No. 2 overall seed in this year's NCAA Division I Football Championship. NDSU spent all 12 weeks ranked in the Top 8 nationally, and achieved a No. 1 ranking for two weeks.
The MVFC will announce its all-Newcomer Team on Tuesday, and the all-Academic Team on Wednesday of this week.
2011 all-Missouri Valley Football Conference Team
(selected by coaches, sports information directors and media panel)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: RB Shakir Bell, Indiana State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LB L.J. Fort, UNI
‘BRUCE CRADDOCK’ VALLEY FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Craig Bohl, North Dakota State
FIRST TEAM
QB -- Kurt Hess, Youngstown State 6-3 235 So. Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade-Julienne High
Tirrell Rennie, Northern Iowa 6-0 201 Sr. North Lauderdale (Fla.) Coconut Creek / Ellsworth CC
RB -- Shakir Bell, Indiana State 5-8 185 So. Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central High
Jamaine Cook, Youngstown State 5-9 205 Jr. Cleveland (Ohio) Midpark High
FB -- Brock Lough, Indiana State 6-0 220 Jr. Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo High
WR - Terriun Crump, Western Illinois 6-3 220 Sr. Country Club Hills (Ill.) Rich Central / DuPage
Jermaine Saffold, Missouri St. 6-1 198 Sr. Grandview (Mo.) High / Univ. of Central Missouri
TE -- Alex Jones, Indiana State 6-3 235 Sr. Centerville (Ind.) High
OL - Bryan Boemer, Southern Illinois 6-2 317 Sr. St. Louis (Mo.) St. John Vianney High
Paul Cornick, North Dakota St. 6-6 309 Sr. Orono (Minn.) High
FN Lutz, Indiana State 6-3 290 Jr. West Lafayette (Ind.) Lafayette Harrison High
Cal McCarthy, Illinois State 6-2 285 Sr. Shorewood (Ill.) Minooka High
Jay Teply, Northern Iowa 6-7 328 Sr. Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Xavier
PK -- Tyler Sieversten, Northern Iowa 6-2 185 So. Cedar Rapids (Iowa) C.R. Kennedy High
DL -- Ben Boothby, Northern Iowa 6-0 280 Sr. Clinton (Iowa) High
Colter Boyer, North Dakota St. 6-4 245 Sr. Hurley (S.D.) High
Eric Brunner, Illinois State 6-2 285 Sr. Greendale (Wis.) High
Ben Obaseki, Indiana State 6-3 235 Jr. Washington (Ind.) High
LB -- Aaron Archie, Indiana State 6-0 235 Jr. Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech
L.J. Fort, Northern Iowa 6-1 232 Sr. Waynesville (Mo.) High
Evan Frierson, Illinois State 6-2 230 Jr. Washington (D.C.) H.D. Woodson High / Univ. of Illinois
Chad Willson, North Dakota St. 5-11 221 Sr. Layton (Utah) High / Snow (Utah) Junior College
DB -- Mike McElroy, Southern Illinois 6-1 212 Sr. Lowell (Mich.) High
Alex Sewall, Indiana State 6-1 210 Sr. Western Springs (Ill.) Lyons Township High
Varmah Sonie, Northern Iowa 5-9 166 Jr. Burnsville (Minn.) Apple Valley High
Marcus Williams, N Dakota St. 5-11 190 So. Minneapolis (Minn.) Hopkins High
P -- Jason Schlautman, S. Dakota St. 6-2 195 Sr. Columbus (Neb.) High / Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha
RS -- Steve Strother, S. Illinois 5-8 170 Jr. Culpepper (Va.) Eastern View High
SECOND TEAM
QB -- Matt Brown, Illinois State 6-4 215 Jr. Marion (Ill.) High
RB -- Jewel Hampton, S. Illinois 5-9 210 Jr. Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central / Univ. of Iowa
Ashton Leggett, Illinois State 5-11 230 Sr. Muskegon (Mich.) High / Michigan State Univ.
FB -- Jordan Neukirch, Illinois State 6-2 235 So. Algonquin (Ill.) Huntley High
WR - Dale Moss, South Dakota State 6-4 210 Sr. Brandon (S.D.) Brandon Valley High
Tyrone Walker, Illinois State 5-11 200 Jr. Indianapolis (Ind.) Cardinal Ritter High
TE -- Matt Veldman, N. Dakota State 6-7 257 Sr. Becker (Minn.) High
OL - Nick Bledsoe, Illinois State 6-1 295 Sr. Wheeling (Ill.) High
Ben Geffert, Indiana State 6-3 310 Sr. Griffith (Ind.) High
David Pickard, S. Illinois 6-5 306 Sr. Oak Park (Ill.) High
Mark Pratt, Youngstown State 6-3 320 Jr. Tooele (Utah) High / Snow Junior College
Austin Richard, N. Dakota State 6-3 314 Sr. Fargo (N.D.) South High
PK -- Ryan Jastram, N. Dakota State 6-1 200 Sr. Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt / New Mexico State
DL -- Nate Palmer, Illinois State 6-3 220 Jr. Chicago (Ill.) Simeon High / Univ. of Illinois
Mikel Ruder, Missouri State 6-5 280 Sr. Lawrence (Kan.) Free State High
Kayon Swanson, S. Illinois 6-1 282 Jr. Southfield (Mich.) High
Andrew Johnson, Youngstown St. 6-3 285 Sr. Detroit (Mich.) Southeastern / Bowling Green
LB -- Mike Lien, South Dakota State 6-0 220 Sr. Castaic (Calif.) Valencia High
Kevin Palermo, Western Illinois 6-1 225 Sr. West Chicago (Ill.) Driscoll Catholic High
Jordan Smith, Northern Iowa 6-2 223 Sr. Humboldt (Iowa) High
Jacolby Washington, Indiana St. 6-1 235 Jr. Deltona (Fla.) Deltona Trinity Christian High
DB - Colten Heagle, N. Dakota State 5-11 195 So. Appleton (Wis.) Kimberly High
Otis Merrill, Illinois State 5-11 185 Sr. Cleveland (Ohio) Glenville / Univ. of Wisconsin
Jimmie Strong, Missouri State 5-10 190 Sr. Texarkana (Texas) Texas High
Winston Wright, S. Dakota State 5-10 185 So. Lee's Summit (Mo.) Blue Springs South / Univ. of Missouri
P -- Lucas Hileman, Indiana State 6-1 195 Jr. Anna (Ill.) Jonesboro High / Baylor Univ.
RS -- Ryan Smith, North Dakota State 5-7 174 So. Wahpeton (N.D.) High
Honorable Mention
Illinois State: LB Josh Howe, DL Colton Underwood, OT Cody White • Indiana State: QB Ronnie Fouch, DL Rod Hardy, LB Ryan Roberts
Missouri State: P Jordan Chiles, TE Matt Thayer, QB Trevor Wooden • North Dakota State: WR Warren Holloway, QB Brock Jensen,
P Matt Voigtlander • UNI: DL Darren Branch, RB David Johnson, RS Jarred Herring • South Dakota State: WR Aaron Rollin, FB Kyle Sheehan, OL Bryan Witzmann • Southern Illinois: DL Kenneth Boatright, PK Jackson MacLachlan, TE MyCole Pruitt • Western Illinois: DE Dwight Harris, OG Jimmy Holtschlag, DB Kieron James • Youngstown State: WR Christian Bryan, OL Chris Elkins, LB Teven Williams
