17 Wildcats earn football All-Big Sky honors

OGDEN - After claiming a share of the conference title and earning a spot in the FCS Playoffs, Weber State football had 17 players earn Big Sky All-Conference honors, the league announced Tuesday.

WSU senior cornerback Taron Johnson was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous first team all-conference selection. He is just the fourth Wildcat ever to be named Big Sky Defensive MVP and the first since 2004.

Wildcat senior tight end Andrew Vollert was also a unanimous first team selection, earning first team honors for the second-straight season.

Weber State had eight players named to the first team, the most of any team in the conference. Junior tackle Iosua Opeta, freshman kicker Trey Tuttle, freshman returner Rashid Shaheed, senior tackle McKay Murphy, junior linebacker Legrand Toia and junior special teams player Brady May all earned first team honors, along with Johnson and Vollert.

May was also named to the second team as a fullback, joining sophomore defensive end Jonah Williams, junior linebacker Landon Stice, senior cornerback Xequille Harry and junior safety Jordan Preator on the All-Big Sky second team.

Harry also earned third team honors as a punt returner. He was joined on the third team by junior offensive guard Baron Bruce, junior running back Treshawn Garrett and senior punter Jacob DeMaio on the third team.

Senior wide receiver Drew Batchelor and freshman offensive tackle Tyler Downs both earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors.

The Big Sky All-Conference teams are selected on a vote of the league's 13 head coaches. The Wildcats finished the regular season 9-2 overall and claimed a share of the Big Sky Conference title with a 7-1 conference record. WSU ended the regular season ranked eighth in the nation in the FCS Coaches poll.

Taron Johnson earned all-conference honors for the third time in his career, with this season his first on the first-team. As a senior captain, Johnson has played and started in nine games this season at cornerback and ranks sixth in the Big Sky in passes defended and interceptions. He has recorded three interceptions with two coming in the final regular season game against Idaho State. Johnson had 30 tackles on the season with 23 unassisted tackles. He also has two sacks, seven pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Johnson joins Brady Fosmark (2004), Scott Shields (1998) and Mike Humiston (1980) as the only players from Weber State to be named Big Sky Defensive MVP. He is Weber State's career leader in pass breakups with 40.

Johnson and Andrew Vollert were the only two players from the Big Sky that were unanimous first team selections.

Vollert has played in all 11 games and led the Wildcats in receptions and receiving yards for the second-straight season. He finished the regular season with 44 receptions for 557 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 50.6 receiving yards per game. Vollert is also a WSU team captain this season has more than 100 receptions in his two seasons at Weber State.

Vollert is the 28th player in Weber State history to earn first team All-Big Sky honors twice in his career and the first in six years.

Junior offensive tackle Iosua Opeta earned All-Big Sky honors for the second-straight season after earning honorable mention honors in 2016. Opeta has started all 11 games on the offensive line for the Wildcats and has started all 33 games in his three seasons at Weber State.

Freshman Trey Tuttle is the first Weber State placekicker to earn first team All-Big Sky honors in 20 years. Tuttle is second in the nation in field goals per game and ranks fifth in the country in field goal percentage. During the regular season he was 16-of-19 on field goals with a long kick of 48 yards. The 16 field goals is tied for the fifth most in a season in WSU history. He was also 43-of-44 on extra point attempts. Tuttle leads the Wildcats and ranks sixth in the Big Sky in scoring with 97 points scored this season, which is the sixth most in a season in Weber State history.

Another Wildcat freshman also earned first team honors as Rashid Shaheed was named to the first team as a kick returner. Shaheed is third in the nation in kickoff returns with an average of 31.7 yards per return. He has 17 returns for 539 yards and had two kickoff returns. He returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown against Southern Utah and another kick 90 yards for a touchdown at Portland State. Shaheed is one of four players in the country with at least two kickoff returns for touchdowns this season. Shaheed also leads the Wildcats and is seventh in the Big Sky in all purpose yards. He had 22 receptions for 498 yards and three touchdowns.

On defense senior tackle McKay Murphy earned All-Big Sky honors for the second-straight season. He has started all 11 games for the Wildcats and served as a team captain. He ranks sixth in the Big Sky in tackles for loss with 13 and has 32 total tackles. He's also recorded three sacks with three pass breakups and one quarterback hurry.

Another Wildcat team captain is junior linebacker LeGrand Toia who also earned first team All-Conference honors. Toia has played in 10 games for the Wildcats and leads the team in tackles with 61. He is also 10th in the Big Sky in sacks with five during the season and was second on the team in tackles for loss with eight. He also has two pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one blocked kick. This is Toia's first All-Conference honor.

Junior Brady May earned two different all-conference honors. He was named to the first team as a special teams player and was named to the second team as a fullback. May has played in all 11 games for the Wildcats this season. He has six rushing attempts for 19 yards with two touchdowns, has 10 receptions for 108 yards, has three kick returns for 63 yards and has ecorded 11 tackles with one forced fumble. This is May's first all-conference honors.

Sophomore defensive end Jonah Williams earned was named to the second team, earning All-Big Sky honors for the first time in his career. Williams has started all 11 games for the Wildcats and is second on the team and 14th in the Big Sky in sacks with 4.5. He has 26 tackles with 17 unassisted tackles and also has two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup. He had one blocked kick which he returned for a touchdown and also has one forced fumble.

Junior linebacker Landon Stice was also named to the second team. He is fourth on the Wildcat team in tackles with 34. He also has 3.5 tackles for loss with one sack, one forced fumble and one pass breakup. This is Stice's second all-conference selection after earning honorable mention honors last season.

Jordan Preator earned all-conference honors for the first time in his career. The junior safety has played in 10 games for the Wildcats and is second in the Big Sky in interceptions with four during the season. He is also fifth on the Wildcat team in tackles with 33 with 5.5 tackles for loss. He had two interceptions in the season-opening win over Montana Western and returned one for a touchdown. He also had two interceptions in a win over Montana.

Senior Xequille Harry earned All-Conference honors in two different spots. He was named to the All-Big Sky second team as a cornerback and earned third team honors as a returner. Harry is second in the nation in punt returns with an average of 18.8 yards per return. He had 16 punt returns for 301 yards and returned one for an 84-yard touchdown against UC Davis. The 301 punt return yards is the sixth most in a season in Weber State history. Harry played in all 11 games for the Wildcats and also had three interceptions, one of which was returned 64 yards against Montana. He also has 24 tackles on the season.

Junior offensive tackle Baron Bruce was named to the third team, earning all-conference honors for the first time in his career. He has started all 11 games for the Wildcats on the offensive line and has started all 34 games in his three seasons at Weber State.

Treshawn Garrett earned Big Sky All-Conference honors for the first time in his career as he was named to the third team on offense. The junior running back leads the Wildcats and ranks 10th in the Big Sky in rushing with an average of 61 yards per game. He played in all 11 games and had 120 carries for 671 yards and six touchdowns. He broke off a run of 98-yards for a touchdown against UC Davis, the longest play from scrimmage in Weber State history. He also had 23 receptions for 270 yards and two touchdowns and is second on the team in all purpose yards. Garrett ranks 11th in WSU history in career history in rushing yards with 1,764 yards in his three seasons with the Wildcats.

Senior punter Jacob DeMaio earned all-conference honors for the second-straight season as he was named to the third team. DeMaio is sixth in the Big Sky in punting with an average of 40.8 yards per punt. He has had 44 punts for 1,797 yards during the season.

Senior wide receiver Drew Batchelor earned all-conference honors for the first time in his career as he received honorable mention All-Big Sky honors. Batchelor is second on the Wildcat team in receptions with 37 catches. He has 396 receiving yards and leads the team in receiving touchdowns with five. He has played in 10 games and averages 39.6 yards per game. Batchelor has played in 43 games in his four seasons at Weber State and ranks 16th in career receptions with 127.

Freshman Tyler Downs also received honorable mention honors as an offensive tackle. Downs has started all 11 games with the Wildcats on the offensive line and is the only true freshman on the team to earn all-conference honors this season.

Weber State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Drew Batchelor

Baron Bruce

Jacob DeMaio

Tyler Downs

Treshawn Garrett

Xequille Harry

Taron Johnson

Brady May

McKay Murphy

Iosua Opeta

Jordan Preator

Rashid Shaheed

Landon Stice

LeGrand Toia

Trey Tuttle

Andrew Vollert

Jonah Williams

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