15 Vandals, 4 Bengals named All-Big Sky

Idaho boasted seven first-team selections: offensive tackle Ayden Knapik, defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby, defensive tackle Dallas Afalava, linebacker Jaxton Eck, defensive back Tommy McCormick, cornerback Andrew Marshall and defensive back/special teams player Dwayne McDougle.

Idaho’s 15 honors were the second most, behind Big Sky champion Montana State.

Idaho State wide receivers Jeff Weimer and Christian Fredericksen took two of the three First Team wide receiver spots.

Idaho State kicker Gabe Panikowski earned first-team honors.

Idaho wide receiver Jordan Dwyer and tight end Mike Martinez received second-team recognition along with Idaho State offensive lineman Stryker Rashid.

Idaho wide receiver Mark Hamper, offensive lineman Nate Azzopardi, defensive end Malakai Williams, linebacker Isiah King and linebacker Zach Johnson received honorable mention status. Williams also became an Honorable Mention kick returner.

Honorable Mention players must have received at least three votes. The conference’s coaches selected the teams.

Knapik remains one of Idaho’s offensive players, while James-Newby leads the Big Sky with nine sacks. He is a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the Football Championship Series Defensive Player of the Year.

Afalava boasted five sacks, seven tackles for loss and eight quarterback hurries.

Weimer leads ISU with 1,016 receiving yards, second in the Big Sky. He has six touchdowns.

Fredricksen, who played in just nine games, finished second in the conference with an average of 109.3 yards per game. He had a total of 839 receiving yards. His eight receiving touchdowns led the Bengals.

Panikowski led the Big Sky with a 100% completion rate (15 of 15). It was 55 yards long.

Montana State led the All-Big Sky teams with four top honors, including quarterback Tommy Mellott as Offensive Player of the Year, defensive lineman Brody Grebe as Defensive Player of the Year, running back Adam Jones as Freshman of the Year and Brent Vigen as Coach of the Year .

Ty Pennington of Northern Arizona was named Newcomer of the Year.

Montana State captured its first 12-0 season and first outright conference title since 2011.

ISU (5-7 overall, 3-5 Big Sky) ended its season.

Idaho (9-3 overall, 6-2 Big Sky) has secured the 8th seed in the FCS playoffs and will host the winner of No. 9 seed Richmond/Lehigh in the second round on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.