Maher earns DAC honors; 6 Blue Hawks make final all-DAC team

Talk about it

Bowman native Jordan Maher was named the Dakota Athletic Conference’s Most Valuable Senior on Monday.

Maher, a 6-foot-4, 264-pound senior defensive lineman for Valley City State, had a conference-best 11½ sacks and 74 tackles, including 16 tackles for a loss.

Maher was one of eight Vikings named to the final all-DAC team, which consisted of 25 players from Valley City State, Dickinson State, Jamestown College and Mayville State.

Valley City State senior receiver LeTheo Proctor was named the league’s Most Valuable Player and Vikings head coach Dennis McCulloch was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Vikings to a 9-1 season, the No. 12 ranking in the final coaches’ poll and a spot in the NAIA playoffs.

The Blue Hawks placed three seniors, two juniors and a sophomore on the team.

Senior linebackers Jerel Hafner and Tyler Schmidkunz were selected, along with senior defensive back and punter Sean Russell. Receiver Tanner Leak and offensive lineman Carl Dynneson were the juniors and sophomore running back Brennan Haughian rounded out DSU’s selections.

Three DSU players — junior right guard Kyle Enebo, junior cornerback Nolan Schwartz and sophomore nose tackle Colton Hill — were honorable mention selections.

Hafner and Russell were named the Blue Hawks’ captains for the 2011 season. DSU chooses its captains via a player vote at the end of the season.

Dickinson State: Tanner Leak, Jr., WR; Brennan Haughian, So., RB; Carl Dynneson, Jr., OL; Sean Russell, Sr., DB; Jerel Hafner, Sr., LB; Tyler Schmidknuz, Sr., LB.

Jamestown College: Lance Johansen, Jr., RB; Max Boe, Sr., WR; Scott Thingstad, Sr., OL; Drew Baier, Sr., LB; Sr.; A.J. Downs, Jr., DB; Robert Nelson, Sr., LB.

Mayville State: Rashaad Flanders, Fr., CB; Justin Popovich, Jr., LB; Jacob Grosz, Fr., LB; Tim Seeley, Sr., OL; Dominique Bradley, So., RB.

Valley City State: Jordan Maher, Sr., DL; Cody Kilthau, Sr., DB; Jake Thurston, So., LB; Major Hopp, Sr., OL; Tommy Zinke, Jr., QB; LeTheo Proctor, Sr., WR; Ken Eliacin, Jr., TE; A.J. Pfeifer, Sr., RB.

DSU Honorable Mentions: Kyle Enebo, Jr., RG; Colton Hill, So., NT; Nolan Schwartz, Jr., CB.

Postseason Awards

Most Valuable Player: LeTheo Proctor, Sr., WR, Valley City State, Anchorage, Alaska.

Most Valuable Senior: Jordan Maher, Sr., DL, Valley City State, Bowman.

Coach of the Year: Dennis McCulloch; Valley City State.

Tags: blue hawks, college football, jordan maher, valley city state vikings, sports