North Dakota State tops all MVFC schools with 19 total selections to this year's All-MVFC units.  This year's MVFC Specialty Award winners include two each from Indiana State and North Dakota State, and an honoree from South Dakota State.  The top two vote getters in each category is denoted at the bottom of this release.

All-Conference Teams (PDF)



   North Dakota State's Easton Stick is the league's Offensive Player of the Year and teammate Jabril Cox has been voted the league's top defensive player in a vote of league coaches, sports information directors and media, as announced by the conference office.  Ryan Boyle of Indiana State earned the Newcomer of the Year honor, and Pierre Strong Jr. of South Dakota State was voted Freshman of the Year.  Coach Curt Mallory has been tabbed "Bruce Craddock" MVFC Coach of the Year.

   Stick is the second Bison to earn MVFC Offensive Player of the Year honors (Brock Jensen, 2013).  Two previous NDSU student-athletes (DB Marcus Williams in 2012 and DE Kyle Emanuel in 2014) have been voted as the league's top defender, and Cox is the first sophomore Defensive Player of the Year in the league since 2002 (Boomer Grigsby of Illinois State).  

   This is the seventh time in conference history that one team has claimed both the offensive and defensive players of the year, and the first time since 2010 when Western Illinois quarterback Matt Barr and linebacker Kyle Glazier were selected.

   Boyle is the second Indiana State student-athlete to win the league's Newcomer of the Year award (QB Julian Reese, 2001); while Strong Jr. becomes the fourth Jackrabbit to earn the league's top freshman honor, joining QB Austin Sumner (2011); WR Jake Wieneke (2014) and LB Christian Rozeboom (2016).  Mallory, meanwhile, joins Trent Miles (2010) as Indiana State head coaches to earn the MVFC's top coaching award.

BRUCE CRADDOCK MVFC COACH OF THE YEAR:   Curt Mallory, Indiana State
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  QB Easton Stick, North Dakota State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  LB Jabril Cox, North Dakota State
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:  QB Ryan Boyle, Indiana State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:  RB Pierre Strong, Jr., South Dakota State




CURT MALLORY
After an 0-11 season in 2017, Mallory completed the biggest turnaround in college football, leading the Sycamores to a 7-4 finish, a third-place finish in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and a No. 24 national ranking.   Coming into the year, Indiana State was picked to finish last in the MVFC with just one voter not picking the Sycamores to finish 10th. Indiana State finished 5-3 in the MVFC, the most grueling league in FCS, ranking ahead to two FBS conferences. Two of the Sycamores three conference losses came by three points, including an overtime loss to No. 3 South Dakota State in Brookings and a loss against Missouri State.   The Sycamores are one of 18 FCS programs to win four road games this season, including three road games during a five-game winning streak to end the season.



#12 QB Easton Stick, North Dakota State, 6-2, 221, Sr., Omaha (Neb.) Creighton Prep HS
Walter Payton Award nominee...Second in FCS history for wins as starting quarterback (45-3)...Leads MVFC and ranks second in FCS for passing efficiency (171.1), yards per attempt (9.69) and yards per completion (16.23)...Second in the conference for passing touchdowns (22) ranks third in rushing touchdowns (11)...Second among current MVFC quarterbacks for rushing yards (402)...Went 129-for-216 passing for 2,094 yards...Three-time MVFC Offensive Player of the Week...Sat out the fourth quarter in six lopsided victories...Broke North Dakota State career records for total yards (10,283), total touchdowns (117) and passing TDs (82)...Second in MVFC history for rushing yards (2,248) and touchdowns (35) by a quarterback...Two-time All-MVFC honorable mention.



#42 LB Jabril Cox, North Dakota State, 6-3, 231, So., Kansas City (Mo.) Raytown South HS
Buck Buchanan Award nominee...2017 MVFC Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year...2017 All-MVFC second team...2017 HERO Sports Freshman All-American...Current North Dakota State co-leader with 68 total tackles including 42 solo stops...Has 8.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries, 4 interceptions and 3 pass breakups...INT return TDs in back-to-back games against North Alabama and Delaware...Fifth in FCS with 147 INT return yards...Has made 16 consecutive starts at linebacker...Career totals of 21.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and 11 passes defended in 26 games.



#10 QB Ryan Boyle, Indiana State, 6-2, 215, R-Jr., Urbandale (Iowa) University of Iowa
Made debut in week three at Eastern Illinois coming off an injury and started the next nine games ... Finished the season with 1,627 yards passing on 128-of-205 attempts through the air for a 62.4 competition percentage to rank tops in the MVFC and 19th nationally … Finished with 12 passing touchdowns and a 145.5 passer efficiency rating … Finished second on the team with 610 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns … Rushed for a career high 187 yards and two touchdowns against South Dakota … Finished with four total touchdowns against No. 3 South Dakota State (two passing, two rushing) in an overtime loss on the road … Led the Sycamores to a program record 569 yards of total offense at SDSU … Accounted for a school record seven total touchdowns (five passing, two rushing) in a triple overtime win against South Dakota … Led the team to five-straight victories to close out the 2018 season to finish 7-4 overall and a third-place finish in the MVFC after an 0-11 season in 2017. 



#20 RB Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State, 5-11, 195, R-Fr., Little Rock, Ark., McClellan High
Finished the regular season with a string of three consecutive 100-yard-plus games to take over team rushing lead with 777 yards … earned MVFC Newcomer of the Week honors the final two weeks of the regular season after rushing for 188 yards and three touchdowns at Southern Illinois, followed by career-best 253 yards with three touchdowns against South Dakota … averaging 11.6 yards per carry and all eight touchdown runs have covered at least 24 yards, including six of 40-plus yards … also caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown



LEADING VOTE GETTERS IN EACH CATEGORY

COACH OF THE YEAR

1. Curt Mallory, Indiana State
2. Chris Klieman, North Dakota State

 
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. Easton Stick, North Dakota State
2. Taryn Christion, South Dakota State

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. Jabril Cox, North Dakota State
2. Jonas Griffith, Indiana State

 
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

1. Ryan  Boyle, Indiana State
2. Brady Davis, Illinois State

 
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

1. Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State
2. Andrew Edgar, Illinois State