MVFC All conference 2017

[fourthandshort]

6 total .. 4 on 1st team, 2 on 2nd team .. congrats to these redbirds !! all seniors except Schnell.

Offense: Robinson, Schnell (2nd) .. seems fair

Defense: Keene, D. Harris, Kokour (2nd) .. thinking our defense deserved another .. possibly Conley or Horton

Special team: Slattery .. seems fair

http://valley-football.org/news/2017...nce-teams.aspx

2017 MVFC All-Conference Teams

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: QB Chris Streveler, South Dakota
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: LB Jabril Cox, North Dakota State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: LB Jabril Cox, North Dakota State
‘BRUCE CRADDOCK’ VALLEY FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Chris Klieman, North Dakota State

FIRST TEAM
QB -- Chris Streveler, USD 6-3 215 Sr. Crystal Lake (Ill.) Marian Central Catholic / Minnesota
RB -- Tevin McCaster, YSU 5-10 195 Jr. New Castle (Pa.) High
James Robinson, ILS 5-10 215 So. Rockford (Ill.) Lutheran High
FB -- Connor Wentz, NDSU 6-3 250 Sr. Dunnellon (Fla.) High
WR-- Jaelon Acklin, WIU 6-2 190 Sr. Mountain View (Mo.) Liberty
Daurice Fountain, UNI 6-1 210 Sr. Madison (Wis.) James Madison Memorial High
Jake Wieneke, SDSU 6-4 215 Sr. Maple Grove (Minn.) High
TE -- Dallas Goedert, SDSU 6-5 260 Sr. Britton (S.D.) Britton-Hecla High
OL -- Stetson Dagel, USD 6-5 280 Sr. Cherokee (Iowa) Washington High
Jacob Judd, WIU 6-3 300 Sr. Clinton (Iowa) High
Austin Kuhnert, NDSU 6-4 304 Sr. Sioux Falls (S.D.) Washington High
Jacob Ohnesorge, SDSU 6-3 295 Sr. Waunakee (Wis.) High
Justin Spencer, YSU 6-5 300 Sr. Indiana (Pa.) High
PK -- Sean Slattery, ILS 6-0 230 Sr. Rockford (Ill.) Boylan Central Cathloic
LS -- James Fisher, NDSU 6-2 225 Sr. Bloomington (Minn.) Jefferson High

DL -- Darin Greenfield, USD 6-3 235 So. Sheldon (Iowa) High
Dalton Keene, ILS 6-4 275 Sr. Jacksonville (Ill.) High
Adam Reth, UNI 6-3 270 Sr. Manchester (Iowa) Manchester-West Delaware
Khalen Saunders, WIU 6-2 310 Jr. St. Louis (Mo.) Parkway Central
LB -- Nick DeLuca, NDSU 6-3 245 Sr. Omaha (Neb.) Millard North High
Jared Farley, UNI 5-11 224 Sr. Cedar Falls (Iowa) High
Christian Rozeboom, SDSU 6-2 225 So. Sioux Center (Iowa) High
Brett Taylor, WIU 6-2 230 Sr. Macomb (Ill.) High
DB-- Jordan Brown, SDSU 6-1 190 Jr. Scottsdale (Ariz.) Paradise Valley High
Elijah Campbell, UNI 5-11 193 Sr. St. Paul (Minn.) St. Paul Central / Northern Illinois
Tre Dempsey, NDSU 5-10 184 Sr. Lakeland (Fla.) Lakeland High
Robbie Grimsley, NDSU 6-0 191 Jr. Hutchinson (Minn.) Hutchinson High
Davontae Harris, ILS 6-0 205 Sr. Wichita (Kan.) South High
P -- Lane Reazin, SIU 6-1 212 So. Mooreland (Okla.) Woodward High / Oklahoma State
RS -- Deion Holliman, MSU 5-9 192 Sr. Camden (Ark.) Fairview High

SECOND TEAM
QB -- Taryn Christion, SDSU 6-2 220 Jr. Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt High
RB -- Bruce Anderson, NDSU 5-11 216 Jr. Ruskin (Fla.) Newsome High
Steve McShane, WIU 5-8 185 Jr. Freeport (Ill.) High
FB -- Kane Louscher, SDSU 6-2 245 Sr. Mason City (Iowa) Newman Catholic High
WR -- Malik Earl, MSU 6-3 217 Sr. Oklahoma City (Okla.) Santa Fe High
Spencer Schnell, ILS 5-9 180 Jr. Elkhart (Ind.) High
RJ Urzendowski, NDSU 6-0 200 Sr. Omaha (Neb.) Creighton Prep High
TE -- Jacquet McClendon, INS 6-1 235 Sr. Evergreen Park (Ill.) Community High
OL -- Lee Carhart, UNI 6-3 301 Sr. Omaha (Neb.) Creighton Prep
Vitas Hrynkiewicz, YSU 6-4 300 Jr. Somerset (N.J.) Immaculata
Austin Olsen, SIU 6-5 320 Sr. Chicago (Ill.) Lincoln Way North High
Tanner Volson, NDSU 6-4 301 Jr. Balfour (N.D.) Drake-Anamoose High
Gavin Wiggins, YSU 6-4 300 Jr. Philadelphia (Pa.) Roman Catholic
PK -- Chase Vinatieri, SDSU 6-1 210 So. Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt High
LS -- Brandon Godsey, USD 6-0 220 Sr. Raymore (Mo.) Ray-Pec High

DL -- Colby Isbell, MSU 6-3 239 Sr. Rogers (Ark.) Heritage High
Rickey Neal, UNI 6-1 241 Jr. Racine (Wis.) Horlick High
Kellen Soulek, SDSU 6-5 315 Sr. Yankton (S.D.) Yankton High
Aaron Steidl, NDSU 6-2 288 Jr. Carlos (Minn.) Alexandria Jefferson High
LB -- Jabril Cox, NDSU 6-3 227 Fr. Kansas City (Mo.) Raytown South High
Armand Dellovade, YSU 6-0 215 Jr. Imperial (Pa.) West Allegheny
Angelo Garbutt, MSU 6-2 235 So. Carrollton (Texas) Hebron High / University of Iowa
Jonas Griffith, INS 6-4 220 So. Louisville (Ky.) Academy at Shawnee
DB -- Jeremy Chinn, SIU 6-2 202 So. Fishers (Ind.) High
Justin Fitzpatrick, WIU 6-1 200 Jr. O'Fallon (Mo.) Fort Zumwalt North
Andrew Gray, USD 6-2 215 Jr. New Lenox (Ill.) Lincoln Way West High
Billy Nicoe Hurst, YSU 6-0 190 Sr. San Pablo (Calif.) Vanden
Alec Kocour, ILS 6-0 205 Sr. Waukesha (Wis.) Catholic Memorial High
P -- Sam Kuhter, UNI 5-11 220 Sr. Toledo (Iowa) South Tama
RS -- Steve McShane, WIU 5-8 185 Jr. Freeport (Ill.) High

 

[Redbird28]

No LB on 1st or 2nd team.

Can't help but wonder if that's any type of bulletin board material / off-season workout booster for Horton / Barry and company.

 

[Birdfan 4Life]

Seems like a lot of love for a 6-5 team...what could have been. James Robinson getting first team as a Soph. is impressive!

Going to miss watching those Seniors!

 

[Seeing Red]

No LB on 1st or 2nd team.

Can't help but wonder if that's any type of bulletin board material / off-season workout booster for Horton / Barry and company.

I think getting six on there was pretty impressive considering where we finished. Congrats to all! Thought Connely deserved at least 2nd team and Barry only began starting week 8, so who knows what that could've looked like.

 

[Redbird28]

No LB on 1st or 2nd team.

Can't help but wonder if that's any type of bulletin board material / off-season workout booster for Horton / Barry and company.

I think getting six on there was pretty impressive considering where we finished. Congrats to all! Thought Connely deserved at least 2nd team and Barry only began starting week 8, so who knows what that could've looked like.

Oh, I'm not saying that it's terrible no one made it. I'm just wondering if any of them will use it as motivation.

Totally agree that it's pretty fantastic that we got as many as we did.

 

[fourthandshort]

This may be strongest block of LBers the MVFC have ever had at one time .. bunch of all American level studs.

As for ISU 2018 defense, we will build around our LB and DE groups. Lot to replace at DT and CB.

Note, many people "in the biz" outside of this fan board love Davontae Harris .. so why is that ??

So maybe we need to look real hard into new pass cover schemes and techniques .. we seem to leave our CBs on an island way to much. Opponents with good QBs and smart coaches figure us out easily. So we shut down most teams very well .. but get lit up occasionally. SDSU has been exception the last 2 years .. we seem to have Christion's number.

But I digress ... again ...

 

[Redbird78]

Note, many people "in the biz" outside of this fan board love Davontae Harris .. so why is that ??

So maybe we need to look real hard into new pass cover schemes and techniques .. we seem to leave our CBs on an island way to much. Opponents with good QBs and smart coaches figure us out easily. So we shut down most teams very well .. but get lit up occasionally. SDSU has been exception the last 2 years .. we seem to have Christion's number.

But I digress ... again ...

Gotta agree with the DH observation and question. NAU had his number. Which leads to my second thought...

Why is it that our DB's play so much zone and face guard rather than looking for the ball? Seems like we give too much ground to opponent's receivers and miss opportunities to intercept. Just a question....

 

[Chi-bird]

This may be strongest block of LBers the MVFC have ever had at one time .. bunch of all American level studs.

As for ISU 2018 defense, we will build around our LB and DE groups. Lot to replace at DT and CB.

Note, many people "in the biz" outside of this fan board love Davontae Harris .. so why is that ??

So maybe we need to look real hard into new pass cover schemes and techniques .. we seem to leave our CBs on an island way to much. Opponents with good QBs and smart coaches figure us out easily. So we shut down most teams very well .. but get lit up occasionally. SDSU has been exception the last 2 years .. we seem to have Christion's number.

But I digress ... again ...

Harris is a fine corner prospect, and much of that has to do with his physical attributes. It is so incredibly difficult to play that position in today's day and age (almost every field is turf, and you cannot breath on a receiver). What makes Harris a potential NFL corner is his speed, length, and his play on the ball. I don't think he tackled all that well this year, but that is something that can be worked on. I don't think he had the best year, but he was often playing one on one, with no safety help. I think he has a real shot to play on Sundays.

 

[fourthandshort]

Note, many people "in the biz" outside of this fan board love Davontae Harris .. so why is that ??

So maybe we need to look real hard into new pass cover schemes and techniques .. we seem to leave our CBs on an island way to much. Opponents with good QBs and smart coaches figure us out easily. So we shut down most teams very well .. but get lit up occasionally. SDSU has been exception the last 2 years .. we seem to have Christion's number.

But I digress ... again ...

Gotta agree with the DH observation and question. NAU had his number. Which leads to my second thought...

Why is it that our DB's play so much zone and face guard rather than looking for the ball? Seems like we give too much ground to opponent's receivers and miss opportunities to intercept. Just a question....

This has been tossed around several times before. My opinion is our cover schemes and techniques work well against teams with just ordinarily good (or less) pass attacks, but usually (not always) fails against very good passing attacks (good QBs/WRs, good system, well coached, etc). We seem to leave our WRs exposed one on one way more often than we should, or someone misses a read, and they go uncovered .. we saw this multiple times in 2nd half of WIU game .. Harris would make his read and guard the flat, and safety made different read, and then we're in all out sprint to recover .. maybe Harris road wrong, maybe safety read wrong .. not sure.

As for cover technique, DBs are mainly taught to guard the man and watch their arms to disrupt the catch, which makes sense if you are beat because all you can do is chase and recover .. but it makes lot less sense if you are not beat .. meaning, if you can look for ball, why not look for the ball. I recall in NAU game, Bryce Holm picked up and guarded their TE perfectly .. their QB threaded the ball right past the BACK of Holm's Head who could not have guarded TE any better. Announcers marveled at the pass .. and I'm thinking, if Kolbe threw identical ball, it would have been an easy pick.

I have never coached football much less DB group ... but if it was me, I'd stay with same cover schemes against the good or less passing teams. But would change the schemes against teams that can throw it very well .. the pure passers with smart OCs. Note, I think we had perfect scheme for USD and SDSU this year; same as SDSU last year .. but we usually do well against dual threat QBs - we know how to make them do what we want, and give them underneath stuff, while taking everything else away, including run game.

But for techniques, if you have receiver covered, and can look for ball ... look for ball. Good QBs have very little fear of being picked off when they throw into 1 on 1 coverage against us, even when their receivers are guarded. Got to change that technique and the schemes (need more help from safeties sometimes) against good QBs or we will continue to have lapses like NAU. Picks are very discouraging to QBs and offenses .. we need more than we get.

p.s. for perspective .. we finished 3rd in MVFC in pass defense QBR; and finished 27th in FCS out of 123 teams .. so were doing some things right.

 

[fourthandshort]

Just realized I missed honorable mention .. we had 3 more: Conley, Helt, Petkovich. Still thinking Horton deserved something, though MVFC LB group was stacked this year.

Congrats to all 9 all conference Redbird players !!!

 

[Redbird78]

But for techniques, if you have receiver covered, and can look for ball ... look for ball. Good QBs have very little fear of being picked off when they throw into 1 on 1 coverage against us, even when their receivers are guarded. Got to change that technique and the schemes (need more help from safeties sometimes) against good QBs or we will continue to have lapses like NAU. Picks are very discouraging to QBs and offenses .. we need more than we get.

p.s. for perspective .. we finished 3rd in MVFC in pass defense QBR; and finished 27th in FCS out of 123 teams .. so were doing some things right.

Thanks 4th. Appreciate your take greatly.

 

[fourthandshort]

But for techniques, if you have receiver covered, and can look for ball ... look for ball. Good QBs have very little fear of being picked off when they throw into 1 on 1 coverage against us, even when their receivers are guarded. Got to change that technique and the schemes (need more help from safeties sometimes) against good QBs or we will continue to have lapses like NAU. Picks are very discouraging to QBs and offenses .. we need more than we get.

p.s. for perspective .. we finished 3rd in MVFC in pass defense QBR; and finished 27th in FCS out of 123 teams .. so were doing some things right.

Thanks 4th. Appreciate your take greatly.

Buyer beware ... I'm an arm chair wannabe guy .. so I would not mind being corrected by some of those with actual coaching experience on this board. I may be oversimplifying things or just not aware of certain things .. but that is my take.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Note, many people "in the biz" outside of this fan board love Davontae Harris .. so why is that ??

So maybe we need to look real hard into new pass cover schemes and techniques .. we seem to leave our CBs on an island way to much. Opponents with good QBs and smart coaches figure us out easily. So we shut down most teams very well .. but get lit up occasionally. SDSU has been exception the last 2 years .. we seem to have Christion's number.

But I digress ... again ...

Gotta agree with the DH observation and question. NAU had his number. Which leads to my second thought...

Why is it that our DB's play so much zone and face guard rather than looking for the ball? Seems like we give too much ground to opponent's receivers and miss opportunities to intercept. Just a question....

This has been tossed around several times before. My opinion is our cover schemes and techniques work well against teams with just ordinarily good (or less) pass attacks, but usually (not always) fails against very good passing attacks (good QBs/WRs, good system, well coached, etc). We seem to leave our WRs exposed one on one way more often than we should, or someone misses a read, and they go uncovered .. we saw this multiple times in 2nd half of WIU game .. Harris would make his read and guard the flat, and safety made different read, and then we're in all out sprint to recover .. maybe Harris road wrong, maybe safety read wrong .. not sure.

As for cover technique, DBs are mainly taught to guard the man and watch their arms to disrupt the catch, which makes sense if you are beat because all you can do is chase and recover .. but it makes lot less sense if you are not beat .. meaning, if you can look for ball, why not look for the ball. I recall in NAU game, Bryce Holm picked up and guarded their TE perfectly .. their QB threaded the ball right past the BACK of Holm's Head who could not have guarded TE any better. Announcers marveled at the pass .. and I'm thinking, if Kolbe threw identical ball, it would have been an easy pick.

I have never coached football much less DB group ... but if it was me, I'd stay with same cover schemes against the good or less passing teams. But would change the schemes against teams that can throw it very well .. the pure passers with smart OCs. Note, I think we had perfect scheme for USD and SDSU this year; same as SDSU last year .. but we usually do well against dual threat QBs - we know how to make them do what we want, and give them underneath stuff, while taking everything else away, including run game.

But for techniques, if you have receiver covered, and can look for ball ... look for ball. Good QBs have very little fear of being picked off when they throw into 1 on 1 coverage against us, even when their receivers are guarded. Got to change that technique and the schemes (need more help from safeties sometimes) against good QBs or we will continue to have lapses like NAU. Picks are very discouraging to QBs and offenses .. we need more than we get.

p.s. for perspective .. we finished 3rd in MVFC in pass defense QBR; and finished 27th in FCS out of 123 teams .. so were doing some things right.

Always an interesting post and insights Fourth! Congrats to the Birds that made the cut! Pretty impressive and well deserved. When I look at this number of players on the team though I can't help but feel the 2017 Redbirds under produced. There were some holes on the team but there was also so much talent in certain areas particularly on the defense. Coaching I think wasted a this season and a lot of talent. I love Coach Spack as the Head Coach but he and he alone owns that since he made no changes from last year. Nobody is perfect and he made the tough decisions. I think Barry makes the 1st team next year. I was really impressed by his play through out the year. Robinson is a stud. I think with a new OC and new offensive philosophy Schnell may be in for a big year next year as well. Petkovich too. I hope at least!

 

[Virginia Redbird]

No LB on 1st or 2nd team.

Can't help but wonder if that's any type of bulletin board material / off-season workout booster for Horton / Barry and company.

I forgot to mention Horton. What a great season he had this year and if the LB position was not so packed in the MVC he would have been recognized. I expect we will see even more from him next season and he should be 1st team as well in 2018.