Weber State University Athletics
13 Wildcats earn All-Big Sky Conference honors
11/22/2016 5:57:00 PM | Football
OGDEN - After leading the Wildcats to a third-place finish in the Big Sky and a trip to the FCS Playoffs, 13 Weber State football players earned Big Sky all-conference honors for the 2016 season.
Senior linebacker Tre'von Johnson and junior tight end Andrew Vollert both earned first team All-Big Sky honors, and Vollert was also named the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year.
Senior safety Josh Burton, junior punter Jacob DeMaio, junior cornerback Taron Johnson, senior tackle Calvin Steyn and senior guard Cameron Young all earned second team all-conference honors.
Senior quarterback Jadrian Clark and senior Cory Thomson earned third team All-Big Sky honors, while senior wide receiver Cameron Livingston, junior defensive tackle McKay Murphy, sophomore tackle Iousa Opeta and sophomore linebacker Landon Stice all earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors.
Andrew Vollert earned first team all-conference honors at tight end after transferring to Weber State in January. He also became just the fourth player in Weber State history to be named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year. This season Vollert, a native of San Mateo, California, has led the Wildcats in receiving yards, receptions and touchdowns with 57 catches for 757 yards and six touchdowns. He ranks ninth in the conference in receiving yards and receptions per game.
Tre'von Johnson, a senior from Salt Lake City, also earned first team All-Big Sky honors. He ranks second on the Wildcats in tackles with season at 8.0 per game and leads the team and is seventh in the conference in tackles for loss with 10.5. He also has a team-best 3.5 sacks on the year. Johnson has played in 45 games in his four-year career at Weber State and is serving as one of the team captains this season. He earned second team All-Big Sky honors last season.
Josh Burton, a senior from Roseland, Louisiana, earned second team All-Big Sky honors at safety for the first time in his career. Burton is third on the Wildcat squad in tackles at 7.5 per game and had two forced fumbles, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery this year. He also served as a team captain and has played in 46 career games at Weber State.
Junior punter Jacob DeMaio also earned second team All-Big Sky honors. DeMaio, a native of Danville, California, transferred to Weber State this year. He currently ranks second in the conference and seventh in the country in punting at 43.8 yards per punt. He has had 56 punts for 2,451 yards and his average of 43.8 is currently the sixth highest in a season in Weber State history. Earlier this year he had a 91-yard punt at Southern Utah, which is the longest punt in WSU history and is the longest punt by any player in the country in any NCAA Division this season.
Taron Johnson earned second team all-conference honors as a cornerback this season after earning Honorable Mention honors last year. Johnson started all 11 games for the Wildcats and led the Wildcats and was fifth in the conference in pass breakups with 12, which is tied for the most in a season in Weber State history. The Sacramento, California native has 33 pass breakups in his three-year career at Weber State, the most in WSU history.
Calvin Steyn also earned second team All-Big Sky honors for the first time his career after earning honorable mention honors last year. Steyn started all 11 games for Weber State at offensive tackle this season. The Rancho Santa Margarita, California native was also one of the team captains this season.
Cameron Young earned second team all-conference honors for the second-straight season. The Cove, Texas, native started all 11 games as a guard on the offensive line. Young has started all 46 games of his career for the Wildcats.
Senior quarterback Jadrian Clark earned All-Big Sky honors for the first time in his career as he was named to the all-conference third team. Clark started all 11 games for the Wildcats and had one of the best quarterback seasons in WSU history. Clark, a native of Lakeland, Florida, has totaled 3,088 yards of total offense this season, which is the seventh most in a season in WSU history. He has thrown for 2,823 yards and 22 touchdowns this season and rushed for 265 yards and two more scores. The 2,823 yards is the 10th most in a season in Weber State history and is 14th in the nation this season. He is third in the Big Sky this year in passing and total offense. Clark has played in 32 games in his career at Weber State and currently ranks third all-time in total offense with 6,335 yards and is fifth in career passing with 5,605 yards.
Cory Thomson earned All-Big Sky honors in three different categories. He was named to the all-conference third team as a special teams player and third team as a return specialist. He also earned honorable mention honors at fullback. Thomson, a native of Mission Viejo, California, has played several positions for the Wildcats this season. He currently ranks second in the conference and seventh in the country in kickoff returns, averaging 28.1 yards per return. He has 24 returns for 675 yards, the sixth most return yards in WSU single-season history. Thomson also has 16 carries for 29 yards and two touchdowns and six receptions for 25 yards and one touchdown. He also played defense one game and led the Wildcats with 14 tackles. He has played in 32 games in his three-year career at Weber State.
Cameron Livingston earned all-conference honors for the second-time in his career as he earned honorable mention honors. Livingston, a senior wide receiver from Ocala, Florida, had 49 receptions for 485 yards and four touchdowns this season. He started all nine games before suffering a season-ending leg injury on November 5. Livingston finished his four-year career as one of the top receivers in Weber State history. He played in 44 career games and ranks fourth all-time in career receptions with 171 and is sixth in career receiving yards with 2,199 and 11 touchdowns. Livingston is also a team captain for the Wildcats this season.
McKay Murphy also earned All-Big Sky honors for the first team in his career as he was named to the honorable mention team as a defensive tackle. Murphy, a junior from Alpine, Utah, played in all 11 games this season and finished with 35 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two pass breakups.
After moving from defense to the offensive line prior to the season, sophomore Iosua Opeta earned All-Big Sky honorable mention as an offensive tackle. Opeta, a native of Stansbury Park, Utah, started all 11 games on the offensive line for the Wildcats.
Landon Stice also earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors for the first time his career. Stice, a sophomore linebacker from Stansbury Park, Utah, leads the Wildcats and ranks fifth in the Big Sky in tackles at 8.8 per game. He played in all 11 games at linebacker for Weber State and eight tackles for loss and one forced fumble, as well as an interception returned for a touchdown.
