ST. LOUIS — QB Ryan Boyle of Indiana State has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Year, and RB Pierre Strong Jr. of South Dakota State is the league's Freshman of the Year. They head a list of 26 student-athletes named to the 2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team. League coaches, sports information directors and a media panel selected the team.
MVFC All-Newcomer Team (PDF)
Boyle, a transfer from Iowa, made debut in Week Three (at Eastern Illinois) after coming off an injury. He started the next nine games and 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. Boyle had 12 passing touchdowns and a 145.5 passer efficiency rating. He also was second on the team with 610 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns. He led the Sycamores to a program record 569 yards of total offense at SDSU, and also accounted for a school record seven total TDs in a triple overtime win against South Dakota. The junior 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.
Strong Jr., a freshman from Little Rock, Ark., finished the regular season with a string of three consecutive 100-yard-plus games to take over team rushing lead with 777 yards. He 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. Most impressively, he averaged 11.6 yards per carry, while all eight touchdown runs have covered at least 24 yards, including six of 40-plus yards. Strong caught four passes for 84 yards and a TD, as well.
| OFFENSE |
Yr. |
Hometown (Previous Schools) |
| QB Ryan Boyle, Indiana State |
Jr. |
Urbandale (Iowa) Dowling Catholic / Iowa |
| WR John Brunner, Western Illinois |
Jr. |
Clearwater (Fla.) Ctrl. Catholic/Butler CC |
| WR/RS Je'Quan Burton, Southern Illinois |
Fr. |
Orlando (Fla.) Jones High |
| QB Brady Davis, Illinois State |
Jr. |
Columbus (Miss.) Starkville High / Memphis |
| WR Andrew Edgar, Illinois State |
Fr. |
Chicago (Ill.) St. Patrick High |
| OL Isaiah Edwards, Indiana State |
Jr. |
Katy (Texas) Cinco Ranch / Independence Community College |
| WR Dante Hendrix, Indiana State |
Fr. |
Florence (Ky.) Randall K. Cooper High |
| TE Miles Joiner, Youngstown State |
Fr. |
Dayton (Ohio) Butler High |
| OL Tate Leavitt, Indiana State |
Sr. |
Thornville (Ohio) Sheridan High / Kentucky |
| WR Deion McShane, Northern Iowa |
Fr. |
Freeport (Ill.) High |
| OL Gabe Megginson, Illinois State |
Jr. |
Jacksonville (Ill.) High / Illinois |
| TE Jordan Murray, Missouri State |
Fr. |
Lee's Summit (Mo.) North High |
| RB Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State |
Fr. |
Little Rock (Ark.) McClellan High |
| QB Montgomery VanGorder, Youngstown State |
Sr. |
Buford (Ga.) High / Notre Dame |
|
|
|
| DEFENSE |
Yr. |
Hometown (Previous Schools) |
| LB Ray Anderson, Youngstown State |
Fr. |
Youngstown (Ohio) Cardinal Mooney High |
| DB Denzel Bonner, Indiana State |
Jr. |
Waynesboro (Mo.) East Mississippi CC |
| LB Luke Giegling, Southern Illinois |
Fr. |
St. Louis (Mo.) Vianney High |
| LB Chris Kolarevic, Northern Iowa |
Fr. |
Traverse City (Mich.) Saint Francis High |
| NT Krockett Krolikowski, South Dakota State |
Fr. |
Winner (S.D.) High |
| DE LaCale London, Western Illinois |
Jr. |
Peoria (Ill.) High / Iowa Central College |
| DL Matt McClellan, Missouri State |
Jr. |
Ferguson (Mo.) Francis Howell High / Kilgore (Texas) College |
| DE Romeo McKnight, Illinois State |
So. |
Crystal Lake (Ill.) Central High / Iowa |
| NT John Ridgeway, Illinois State |
Fr. |
Bloomington (Ill.) High |
| DB Brandon Snyder, South Dakota State |
Gr. |
Larchwood (Iowa) West Lyon High / Iowa |
| CB Cameron Tisdale, South Dakota |
Fr. |
Clearwater (Fla.) Largo High |
| DE Spencer Waege, North Dakota State |
Fr. |
South Shore (S.D.) Watertown High |
NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR
1994 Buck Phillips, CB, WIU
1995 Jason Cannon, WR, MSU
1996 Vince Bruno, LB, WIU
1997 Aaron Stecker, RB, WIU
1998 David Bowens, DL, WIU
1999 Charles Tharp, RB, WIU
2000 Teddy Sims, LB, SIU
2001 Julian Reese, QB, INS
2002 M. Abdulqaadir, RB, SIU
2003 Terrance Freeney, RB, UNI
2004 Brandon Jacobs, RB, SIU
2005 Marcus Mason, RB, YSU
2006 Darian Williams, RB, UNI
2007 Ferlando Williams, WR, YSU
2008 Brandon Summers, QB, YSU
2009 Antoine Wilkinson, LB, MSU
2010 Tirrell Rennie, QB, UNI
2011 Jewel Hampton, RB, SIU
2012 Sawyer Kollmorgen, QB, UNI
2013 Martin Ruiz, RB, YSU
2014 Tre Roberson, QB, ILS
2015 Aaron Bailey, QB, UNI
2016 Chris Streveler, QB, USD
2017 Jabril Cox, LB, NDSU
2018 Ryan Boyle, QB, INS
FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR
1999 Dusty Burk, QB, ILS
2000 Lee Russell, OLB, WIU
2001 Tom Petrie, QB, UNI
2002 Joel Sambursky, QB, SIU
2003 Justin Haddix, QB, WKU
2004 Eric Sanders, QB, UNI
2005 Tom Nelson, DB, ILS
2006 Brandin Jordan, LB, SIU
2007 Cody Kirby, QB, MSU
2008 Kamryn Keys, RB, YSU
2009 Matt Brown, QB, ILS
2010 Kurt Hess, QB, YSU
2011 Austin Sumner, QB, SDSU
2012 Sawyer Kollmorgen, QB, UNI
2013 Martin Ruiz, RB, YSU
2014 Jake Wieneke, WR, SDSU
2015 Andrew Van Ginkel, DE, USD
2016 Christian Rozeboom, LB, SDSU
2017 Jabril Cox, LB, NDSU
2018 Pierre Strong Jr., RB, SDSU