By ERIC TABER
The postseason honors continue to pile up for the Montana Grizzlies this week, with a Big Sky-best three standouts being named to the STATS FCS All-America First-Team, the organization announced Thursday.
Record-breakers Dante Olson and Samori Toure were chosen as one of the three top players at their respective positions in the country, and fan-favorite long snapper Matthew O’Donoghue was recognized with first-team honors as well.
With two-straight seasons as the FCS’s leading tackler, Olson repeats as a first-team selection after posting the most tackles in UM and Big Sky Conference history as a senior with 179 stops. This is the fourth first-team All-America selection for Olson this week, the second for Toure, and the first of O’Donoghue’s career.
Olson is also a top-three finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the nation’s defensive player of the year. In January he will travel to Frisco, Texas, for the STATS awards banquet on the eve of the national championship game where he will find out if he is the winner.
Photos courtesy of Grizzly Athletics
Toure earns first-team All-America honors after breaking a pair of long-standing records in his two-month receiving spree to end the season. The junior from Portland broke Marc Mariani’s 2009 record for single-season receiving yards with 1,495, racking up 905 of those yards in the final six games of the year. With an unbelievable 303 yards receiving against Southeastern Louisiana, Toure also broke the single-game FCS Playoff record set by NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss in 1996 at Marshall.
Long-known to Montana fans for his accuracy and consistency in the snapping game and his tenacity in special teams play, O’Donoghue was given a first-team All-America nod after a perfect snapping season and catching a two-point conversion pass at Sacramento State. The junior would have had an additional score on a two-point conversion had it not been for a pre-snap penalty on the Griz that nullified the play.
“OD” also caught a two-point conversion pass last year as a sophomore and added a tackle and fumble recovery to his resume as well.
Montana was the lone Big Sky team with three first-team picks. The Big Sky tied the Missouri Valley Conference for the most All-America selections with 16 each, and CAA was third with 12.
2019 STATS FCS ALL-AMERICA TEAM
*-Order of quarterbacks to be determined by the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award on Jan. 10
FIRST TEAM
OFFENSE
*QB – Case Cookus, senior, 6-4, 205, Northern Arizona; Trey Lance, freshman, 6-3, 221, North Dakota State; or Kevin Thomson, junior, 6-2, 200, Sacramento State
RB – Pete Guerriero, junior, 5-10, 190, Monmouth
RB – James Robinson, senior, 5-10, 220, Illinois State
WR – Juwan Green, senior, 6-0, 187, UAlbany
WR – Aaron Parker, senior, 6-3, 208, Rhode Island
WR – Samori Toure, junior, 6-3, 190, Montana
TE – Adam Trautman, senior, 6-6, 253, Dayton
OL – P.J. Burkhalter, junior, 6-3, 330, Nicholls
OL – Liam Fornadel, junior, 6-4, 308, James Madison
OL – Drew Himmelman, junior, 6-10, 315, Illinois State
OL – Kyle Murphy, senior, 6-4, 302, Rhode Island
OL – Dillon Radunz, junior, 6-6, 298, North Dakota State
DEFENSE
DL – Ron’Dell Carter, senior, 6-3, 269, James Madison
DL – John Daka, senior, 6-2, 227, James Madison
DL – Sully Laiche, senior, 6-2, 270, Nicholls
DL – Derrek Tuszka, senior, 6-5, 246, North Dakota State
LB – Cam Gill, senior, 6-3, 240, Wagner
LB – Zach Hall, senior, 6-0, 238, Southeast Missouri
LB – Dante Olson, senior, 6-3, 240, Montana
LB – Christian Rozeboom, senior, 6-2, 230, South Dakota State
DB – Anthony Adams, sophomore, 6-0, 180, Portland State
DB – Jeremy Chinn, senior, 6-3, 211, Southern Illinois
DB – Kordell Jackson, junior, 5-11, 163, Austin Peay
DB – Greg Liggs Jr., senior, 5-11, 198, Elon
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK – Luis Aguilar, junior, 6-1, 190, Northern Arizona
P – Alex Pechin, 5th, 6-0, 210, Bucknell
LS – Matthew O’Donoghue, junior, 6-1, 250, Montana
KR – Earnest Edwards, senior, 5-10, 175, Maine
PR – Montrell Washington, junior, 5-10, 170, Samford
AP – Chris Rowland, senior, 5-8, 180, Tennessee State
SECOND TEAM
OFFENSE
*QB – Case Cookus, senior, 6-4, 205, Northern Arizona; Trey Lance, freshman, 6-3, 221, North Dakota State; or Kevin Thomson, junior, 6-2, 200, Sacramento State
RB – Jah-Maine Martin, junior, 5-10, 214, North Carolina A&T
RB – Alex Ramsey, junior, 6-0, 225, VMI
WR – Cade Johnson, junior, 5-10, 180, South Dakota State
WR – Kristian Wilkerson, senior, 6-1, 214, Southeast Missouri
WR – DeAngelo Wilson, junior, 5-8, 165, Austin Peay
TE – Charlie Taumoepeau, senior, 6-3, 245, Portland State
OL – Kyle Anderton, senior, 6-4, 302, Austin Peay
OL – Mitch Brott, senior, 6-6, 300, Montana State
OL – Dieter Eiselen, senior, 6-4, 300, Yale
OL – Blake Jeresaty, junior, 6-2, 290, Wofford
OL – Marcus Pettiford, senior, 6-4, 286, North Carolina A&T
OL – Alex Taylor, senior, 6-9, 310, South Carolina State
DEFENSE
DL – Eli Mencer, senior, 6-1, 229, UAlbany
DL – Aaron Patrick, senior, 6-4, 245, Eastern Kentucky
DL – Nasir Player, senior, 6-5, 271, ETSU
DL – Bryce Sterk, senior, 6-5, 261, Montana State
DL – Jonah Williams, senior 6-5, 275, Weber State
LB – Jeremiah Chambers, senior, 6-2, 224, Abilene Christian
LB – Jabril Cox, junior, 6-3, 233, North Dakota State
LB – Willie Eubanks, junior, 6-2, 215, The Citadel
LB – Jonas Griffith, senior, 6-4, 250, Indiana State
LB – Donnell Rodgers, senior, 6-1, 238, North Dakota
DB – Brandon Easterling, junior, 6-0, 203, Dayton
DB – Luther Kirk, senior, 6-2, 195, Illinois State
DB – Artevius Smith, senior, 5-10, 179, ETSU
DB – Isiah Swann, senior, 6-0, 195, Dartmouth
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK – Grayson Atkins, junior, 5-10, 188, Furman
P – Matt McRobert, junior, 6-2, 195, Sam Houston State
LS – Chandler Collins, senior, 6-4, 235, Missouri State
KR – Gamar Girdy Brito, senior, 5-9, 190, Houston Baptist
PR – Terry Williams, senior, 5-10, 165, UT Martin
AP – Javon Williams Jr., freshman, 6-1, 239, Southern Illinois
THIRD TEAM
OFFENSE
*QB – Case Cookus, senior, 6-4, 205, Northern Arizona; Trey Lance, freshman, 6-3, 221, North Dakota State; or Kevin Thomson, junior, 6-2, 200, Sacramento State
RB – Jordan Bentley, senior, 6-1, 195, Alabama A&M
RB – Julius Chestnut, sophomore, 6-1, 215, Sacred Heart
RB – Ulonzo Gilliam, sophomore, 5-9, 185, UC Davis
WR – Michael Bandy, senior, 5-10, 190, San Diego
WR – J.P. Shohfi, senior, 6-1, 209, Yale
WR – Quan Shorts, senior, 6-2, 195, Northwestern State
TE – Matthew Gonzalez, senior, 6-3, 230, Robert Morris
TE – Ben Ellefson, senior, 6-3, 250, North Dakota State
OL – Spencer Blackburn, senior, 6-2, 290, Eastern Washington
OL – Liam Dobson, junior, 6-3, 340, Maine
OL – A.J. Farris, senior, 6-2, 285, Monmouth
OL – Zack Johnson, senior, 6-6, 315, North Dakota State
OL – Zach Larsen, senior, 6-1, 305, Southern Utah
OL – Connor Mignone, junior, 6-4, 290, Central Connecticut State
DEFENSE
DL – Chris Livings, senior, 6-2, 234, McNeese
DL – George Obinna, senior, 6-3, 240, Sacramento State
DL – Darius Royster, senior, 6-2, 215, North Carolina Central
DL – Elerson Smith, junior, 6-7, 245, Northern Iowa
DL – Nick Wheeler, senior, 6-2, 255, Colgate
LB – Bryson Armstrong, junior, 5-11, 212, Kennesaw State
LB – Dimitri Holloway, senior, 6-2, 217, James Madison
LB – Rico Kennedy, senior, 6-3, 235, Morgan State
LB – Da’Jon Lee, senior, 6-2, 245, Saint Francis
LB – Solomon Muhammad, senior, 6-1, 235, Alcorn State
LB – Keith Woetzel, senior, 6-0, 225, Lehigh
DB – Abu Daramy-Swaray, senior, 5-10, 190, Colgate
DB – Ferlando Jordan, sophomore, 6-0, 180, Southeastern Louisiana
DB – Robert Rochell, junior, 6-2, 176, Central Arkansas
DB – Adam Smith, senior, 6-0, 190, James Madison
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK – Storm Ruiz, senior, 5-10, 170, Stephen F. Austin
P – D.J. Arnson, junior, 6-0, 185, Northern Arizona
P – Chris Faddoul, junior, 5-11, 210, Florida A&M
LS – Ethan Ray, junior, 6-0, 185, Charleston Southern
KR – Jimmie Robinson, senior, 5-8, 175, Bethune-Cookman
PR – Mike Roussos, sophomore, 6-0, 195, Columbia
AP – JaVaughn Craig, senior, 6-2, 210, Austin Peay