One of the nation’s top signal-callers and a record-setting defender highlight the 2002 All-Conference Team as QB Russ Michna of Western Illinois has captured the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award, and LB Boomer Grigsby of Illinois State has earned GFC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Don Patterson - a finalist for Eddie Robinson national coach of the year honors - took the Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year award for league co-champ Western Illinois.

Michna leads the Gateway with 229.6 passing yards per game, a 154.0 pass efficiency rating (which ranks No. 5 nationally), and 241.6 total offensive yards per game (No. 20 in I-AA). He has 20 TD passes, with just four interceptions, while his 2,256 pass yards and 2,658 yards of total offense both rank third in the WIU single-season record book.

Grigsby - a finalist for the Buck Buchanan award, given to the nation’s top I-AA defender -- is the first sophomore in history to win one of the Gateway’s top honors. He becomes the first ISU player to win Defensive MVP honors since 1986, when LB Brian Gant (the only other Redbird to win top defensive plaudits) took the award. Grigsby led all of I-AA with 179 tackles, with 128 during conference play. He established an NCAA record, for all levels, with 108 solo tackles.

For the second time in three years, Don Patterson of Western Illinois has earned the league’s Coach of the Year honor. Patterson has guided the Leathernecks to his second playoff appearance (2000), their seventh I-AA berth, and their fourth Gateway crown since 1997. This year’s team was the third WIU squad to win 10 regular-season games as WIU enters the 16-team I-AA playoffs as the No. 2 seed and a No. 2 national ranking, despite not being ranked in the preseason polls.

2002 all-Gateway Football Conference Team
(selected by coaches, sports information directors and media panel)

FIRST TEAM
QB — Russ Michna, Western Illinois
RB — Mo Abdulqaadir, Southern Illinois
RB — P.J. Mays, Youngstown State
TE — R.J. Luke, Western Illinois
WR — Stacy Coleman, Western Illinois
WR — Marlus Mays, UNI
OL — Buster Ashley, Western Kentucky
OL — Crockett Ladd, SMS
OL — Fred Layne, Western Illinois
OL — Chris Price, Western Kentucky
OL — Chad Setterstrom, UNI
PK — MacKenzie Hoambrecker, UNI
DL— Jonathan Friend, Illinois State
DL— Richard Harris, Indiana State
DL— Mike O’Brien, Western Illinois
DL— Patrick Reynolds, Western Kentucky
LB — Sherrod Coates, Western Kentucky
LB — Boomer Grigsby, Illinois State
LB — Dietrich Lapsley, Indiana State
LB — Lee Russell, Western Illinois
DB — Victor Campbell, Western Illinois
DB — Jeremy Chandler, Western Kentucky
DB — Alexis Moreland, Southern Illinois
DB — Antonio Veals, Western Kentucky
P — Mike Scifres, Western Illinois
RS— Soso Dede, Indiana State

SECOND TEAM
QB — Julian Reese, Indiana State
RB — Adam Benge, UNI
RB — Jon Frazier, Western Kentucky
TE — Ryan King, Indiana State
WR — Vito Golson, Illinois State
WR — Mark Marcos, SMS
OL — Eric Bowman, Indiana State
OL — Stafford Davis, Illinois State
OL — Mike Fritzler, Southern Illinois
OL — Nick Roberts, Youngstown State
OL — Daniel Withrow, Western Kentucky
PK — Justin Langan, Western Illinois
DL— Brian Ceaser, Western Illinois
DL— Guy Mazard, Youngstown State
DL— Matt Mitchell, UNI
DL— Ray Robinson, Illinois State
LB — Erik Dandy, Western Kentucky
LB — Jonathan Harrell, UNI
LB — Darryl Robinson, SMS
LB — Jon Tekac, Youngstown State
DB — Anthony Barone, Youngstown State
DB — Justin Sandy, UNI
DB — Darryl Warren, SMS
DB — Travis Washington, Western Illinois
P — Derrick Frost, UNI
RS— Reggie Gray, Western Illinois

Honorable Mention
Illinois State: DB/RS Dennis Butler, PK Stephen Carroll, RB Quincy Washington • Indiana State: DE Kyle Mitchell, DB Clythel Branson, OL Mark Phillips • UNI: DT Robert Hamre, SS Jarvis Phillips, RS Ben Sanderson • Southern Illinois: WR Courtney Abbott, OL Brian Akins, QB Joel Sambursky • SMS: FS Colin Johnson, RB Eddie Linscomb, FB Nathan Schurman • Western Illinois: LB Cornell Middlebrook • Western Kentucky: P Brian Claybourn, LB Jon Drummond, PK Peter Martinez, QB Jason Michael • Youngstown State: WR/RS Jerald Burley, TE John Schumacher, SS Russell Stuvaints

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
QB Russ Michna, Western Illinois
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
LB Boomer Grigsby, Illinois State
GATEWAY COACH OF THE YEAR:
Don Patterson, Western Illinois