2019 Great Midwest All-Conference Team (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – The end of season all-conference awards including individual honors for eight Great Midwest Athletic Conference football programs were announced on Friday afternoon by the league office.
The 2019 all-conference team includes 10 individual honors and offensive/defensive positional selections to the first, second and honorable mention team. All voting was done by the Great Midwest head coaches.
Tiffin and Ohio Dominican are still competing in the postseason as Week 11 signified the end of the regular season. The Dragons are competing in the NCAA Championship Super Region 1 bracket on Saturday at Kutztown, the No. 2 seed.
Ohio Dominican will represent the Great Midwest in the playoffs against Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent Truman State in the inaugural America’s Crossroads Bowl on Dec. 7, in Hobart, Ind.
Great Midwest Player of the Year
JaQuan Hardy – Tiffin – Running Back
Hardy is just one of the keys to the ignition that makes the league’s top-scoring offense go full throttle. The redshirt junior is going into the NCAA Championship game vs. Kutztown with a league-leading 1,405 yards on the ground in 10 games. With a big game on Saturday or a Tiffin win to move into the second round, Hardy could very well break the single-season conference rushing record. Hardy was a legitimate threat to take it to the house with a long run of 94 yards, but he can also grind out yards on first contact between the tackles. He was named Great Midwest Offensive Player of the Week three different times during the 2019 season.
Defensive Player of the Year
Christopher Jefferson – Findlay – Defensive Back
By Week 6, Jefferson had already broken the single-season conference record in interceptions. At the end of the year, the blanketing cover corner was the co-national leader in Division II with nine INT’s along with Delta State’s Junior Faulk and Bowie State’s Demetri Morsell. Jefferson was the Great Midwest Defensive Player of the Week two times this season, including a week where he tied the single-game league record with 3 INT’s. The Oilers’ secondary ranked first in the league with 16 interceptions as a unit. Jefferson also averaged almost six tackles per game, ranking among the top 25 players regardless of position.
Offensive Player of the Year
Nick Watson – Tiffin – Quarterback
If it wasn’t for such a deep crop of signal callers in the conference last year, the dual-threat Watson warranted much more than honorable mention status in 2018, Tiffin’s first year in the league. In 2019, Watson has been nearly flawless behind center while leading the Great Midwest in passing yards (260.2 per game), passing efficiency (160.3) and touchdowns (28). He has absolutely thrived in the play calling system implemented by first year head coach Cris Reisert, who groomed one of his former pupils, ODU QB Grant Russell, into a Great Midwest Player of the Year in 2017.
Offensive Back of the Year
Stanley Jackson Jr. – Tiffin – Wide Receiver
Jackson Jr. is the lone receiver in the conference to celebrate a 1,000-yard season as he blossomed as one of the primary targets by QB Nick Watson. The 6-3 senior poses a major matchup problem on the field, similar to how former TU standout Charles Holland exploited defenses. Jackson Jr. averaged over 121 yards and led all players in the conference in receiving touchdowns with 11. He had six games with 100 or more yards receiving and had a big-time game to help Tiffin win the conference championship outright with five receptions for 114 yards and a pair of TD’s.
Offensive Lineman of the Year
Mark Konkle – Hillsdale – Left Tackle
Similar to the reputation Iowa and Wisconsin have in the Big 10 for grooming maulers on the offensive line, Hillsdale is doing the same in the Great Midwest for back-to-back lineman of the year awards. Last year, it was Drew Callahan, the center for league player of the year Chance Stewart and this season, it is Konkle, a senior responsible for paving the way for RB David Graham and his league-leading 15 TD’s and protecting the blind side of QB Luke Keller. Konkle was also a team captain, a four-year starter on the line and has earned first team all-conference honors for two years in a row.
Defensive Lineman of the Year
Charlie Cleveland – Tiffin – Defensive End
Tiffin’s defense allowed just under five yards per play and Cleveland’s play up front helped wreak havoc against opposing offenses. The talented pass rusher and run stopper was among the league’s leaders in sacks and tackles for a loss. At 6-4, 250, the redshirt sophomore will be making an impact and forcing coordinators to scheme around him for a few more years. Cleveland had a total of 15.5 TFL, second in the conference, and was third in sacks with 8.5. Cleveland was also among the team leaders in tackles with 55, ranking second, while also forcing one fumble.
Co-Freshman of the Year
Nate Dantley Jr. – Lake Erie – Wide Receiver
Luke Keller – Hillsdale – Quarterback
In a split vote by the league’s coaches, the top rookie in the league was a prized honor shared by Lake Erie and Hillsdale. Dantley Jr. ranked third in the Great Midwest in receiving with 931 yards for a rising Lake Erie program. The talented receiver become the top target of QB Javarian Smith, who had a few top-10 passing yard games during the season. Dantley Jr. averaged 93.1 yards per game and hauled in four touchdowns. Keller filled some big shoes of Chance Stewart and navigated Hillsdale to a winning record, overall and conference. He threw for over 2,000 yards and tossed 16 touchdowns while completing 50 percent of his attempts. His prowess as a punter was also on display as he ranked third in the league with an average of 40.6 and had a conference long of 65.
Defensive Back of the Year
Drake Temple – Hillsdale – Safety
Similar to the offensive line trend, Hillsdale kept the streak going in the defensive backfield after Wyatt Batdorff won in 2018 and now Temple received the top nod in 2019. Temple was second in the conference in interceptions with 7 and also was among the league’s top 25 tackles, averaging 5.9 per game. He was also credited with 12 pass breakups and recovered a pair of fumbles. Temple was also among the nation’s leaders in INT’s as he was one of three players in the conference to record 3 in one game this season.
Special Teams Player of the Year
Logen Neidhardt – Ohio Dominican – Punter
Neidhardt is now a two-time conference special teams player of the year after winning the award in both 2017 and 2019 after current Indianapolis Colts WR and Malone standout Ashton Dulin claimed it in 2018. Neidhardt led the league once again in punting average at 42.4 yards per boot. He also boomed nine attempts 50 yards or longer and placed 18 punts inside thee opponent’s 20-yard line. Neidhardt is a six-time winner of conference special teams player of the week honors.
Coach of the Year
Cris Reisert – Tiffin – 1st Season
The Dragons have reached impressive heights of success in Reisert’s first year on the sideline, including winning the Great Midwest Championship title outright with a thrilling win at Findlay. Tiffin was regionally ranked for the final three weeks of the regular season and carry a 9-1 overall record into Saturday’s NCAA Championship game against Kutztown. Under his direction, Reisert and the Dragons had the league’s top scoring offense and defense while running the table in the conference standings with a perfect record of 7-0.