The No. 10 Northwest Missouri State Bearcat football team had five players highlighted on the 2011 Daktronics All-Super Region Four Team released Wednesday morning by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America.
The Bearcats are 11-2 on the year and enter Saturday’s NCAA Division II National Quarterfinal against Pittsburg State in a rematch of a week five loss to the Gorillas. A trio of players earned first-team recognition and will be placed on All-America ballots, as two Bearcats also earned second-team honors.
Offensive linemen Cody Johnson and Rod Williams along with senior linebacker Chad Kilgore were named All-Super Region Four. Johnson and Williams have helped pace the nation’s highest scoring offense, which has also set a Northwest Missouri State record for points in a season. The Bearcats 665 points lead all divisions and are 33 more than Division I Houston, the next closest school.
Kilgore leads a Bearcat defense that has stood strong all season and helped two second-half comebacks during this year’s playoffs. Kilgore leads Northwest in tackles with 116 and 11 tackles for loss. He has 2.5 sacks.
Junior running back and kick returner Jordan Simmons earned Second-Team Super Region Four honors as a return specialist. Simmons has amassed more than 600 yards in the return game and returned two kickoffs and one punt for a touchdown this season.
Joining Simmons on the second-team is MIAA Freshman of the Year Bryce Enyard. Enyard led Northwest with six interceptions for 135 return yards. The freshman also returned his latest interception for a touchdown going 59 yards in the final game of the regular season against Emporia State.
The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The team is voted on by the NCAA Division II members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA), with the online nomination and voting process powered by ATHLETICSITE.COM.
— NWMSU Sports Information —