Three Fort Lewis College athletes earned Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football honors, while a local product grabbed some accolades of his own.
Defensive end Broderick Sargent and punter Scottie Gallardo landed on the All-RMAC first team for FLC, while safety Jamal Campbell was named to the third team Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Durango High School alumnus and Colorado School of Mines placekicker and punter Avery Llewellyn was tabbed the league’s Special Teams Player of the Year and first-team placekicker.
Sargent, a senior transfer from Colorado State, led FLC in sacks with 10½ and tackles for loss with 16½, good for third and fifth in the league, respectively. He also forced three fumbles and recovered three more.
“Broderick was the heart and soul of our defense,” FLC head coach John L. Smith said in a news release to The Durango Herald.
Gallardo, also a senior and a Colorado transfer, leads Division II in punting at 46.1 yards per punt, with a long of 77 yards. A total of 22 punts pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line, and he had 27 kicks that went 50 yards or more.
“He definitely has a lot of talent and has an opportunity to play at the next level,” Smith said.
Campbell started all 11 games and was second on the Skyhawks with 75 tackles. The senior had two tackles for loss, forced a pair of fumbles, had nine pass breakups and defended nine more passes while averaging 7.8 yards per punt return on 12 returns.
“I am very proud of Jamal,” Smith said. “He ended up having to play safety, strong safety, outside linebacker, cornerback – wherever we needed somebody to fill in.”
Llewellyn, son of Jack and Karen Llewellyn, converted 14 field goals for the Orediggers, tops in the RMAC. He finished with 86 total points and had a season-long field goal of 50 yards. The sophomore kicker had 34 touchbacks on kickoffs and averaged 44.2 yards per punt.
Quarterback Chris Bonner of CSU-Pueblo set a single-season school record with 3,116 passing yards to earn RMAC Offensive Player of the Year honors and was one of seven regional nominees for the Harlon Hill Award, Division II’s version of the Heisman Trophy, for helping lead CSU-Pueblo to an 11-0 record and the playoffs.
Colorado Mesa linebacker Jake Edmiston was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year after setting an NCAA Division II single-season record with 177 tackles. He also added five sacks and two interceptions.
John Wristen of CSU-Pueblo earned Coach of the Year honors for helping the ThunderWolves to a third consecutive 11-0 regular season and a 37-game regular season winning streak.
Running back Austin Ekeler of Western State ran for 1,049 yards to earn top offensive freshman honors, while Ryan Wood of Chadron State and William Milo of Colorado Mesa shared Defensive Freshmen of the Year honors.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
