The Missouri Valley Football Conference has announced its 2025 all-league teams. The teams were selected by a panel of head coaches, sports information directors, and media. QB Beau Brungard of Youngstown State and LB Tye Niekamp highlight the teams as they've been tabbed Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. North Dakota State's Tim Polasek has earned the Bruce Craddock Coach of the Year honor. DB Kimal Clark of Indiana State is the league's Newcomer of the Year, and WR Luke Mailander of Illinois State has been voted Freshman of the Year.  League champ NDSU highlighted the teams with an MVFC-best 20 total selections.

2025 MVFC All-Conference Team (PDF)

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: QB Beau Brungard, Youngstown State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: LB Tye Niekamp, Illinois State
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: DB Kimal Clark, Indiana State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: WR Luke Mailander, Illinois State 
‘BRUCE CRADDOCK’ COACH OF THE YEAR: Tim Polasek, North Dakota State



Brungard has had an incredible season as a passer and runner for Youngstown State as he has rushed for 1,378 yards on 225 carries with 24 touchdowns while completing 254-of-368 passes for 2,917 yards and 23 touchdowns with just three interceptions.  In MVFC games, Brungard rushed for 852 yards on 155 carries with 16 touchdowns and completed 180-of-256 passes for 2,1621 yards and 19 TDs.  He became the first player in FCS history with a 300-passing, 200-rushing game (at Illinois State), and he had seven 100-plus yard rushing performances this season.  Brungard has 10 straight 200-yard passing efforts with a high of 345 against Southern Illinois.  He is a finalist for the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award.  He's the fourth Penguin to earn the league's top offensive player award, but the first YSU QB to do so (2001 -- RB P.J. Mays; 2006 -- RB Marcus Mason; 2022 -- RB Jaleel McLaughlin).



Niekamp led the Redbirds and ranked third in the MVFC in tackles with 126 (63 solo) and he also ranked second in the league in TFLs with 12.0 and added one sack on the year.  This season he has been credited with six pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, four quarterback hurries and a safety. Niekamp had seven double-digit tackling efforts, including five games with 13 or more, and he finished the year with back-to-back 16 tackle efforts against South Dakota State and Southern Illinois.  In addition to 16 tackles, he recorded a career-high 3.0 TFLs in the finale against the Salukis.  He is a finalist for the Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award.  Other Redbird players to win the league's Defensive Player of the Year Award include:  1986 -- LB Brian Gant; 2002-03-04 -- LB Boomer Grigsby; 2005 -- DE Brent Hawkins; 2006 -- LB Cameron Siskowic; and 2022 -- LB Zeke Vandenburgh.



Clark is the MVFC leader in tackles (145) and tackles per game (12.08).  He finished the regular season second in the NCAA FCS in total tackles per game while collecting 10 games with at least 10 tackles.  Clark made an immediate impact on the Sycamore roster being named a team captain in his first season with the program. He excelled in conference play posting a season-high 19 tackles against Illinois State, while adding 16 against Murray and 15 against both South Dakota State and North Dakota State. Clark recorded 4.5 TFL and 2.0 sacks from his safety position and added two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He is a finalist for the Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award - the first Sycamore to earn that distinction. Only two other ISU players have earned the league's Newcomer of the Year Award: QB Julian Reese (2001) and QB Ryan Boyle (2018).



Mailander played in all 12 games at wide receiver, ranking second for Illinois State in yards (557) and third in receptions (34).  He averaged 16.4 yards per catch and was second on the team with four receiving touchdowns.  Mailander scored a touchdown in three-straight wins against Morehead State, Eastern Illinois and North Alabama, and he tallied a career-high 109 yards a touchdown in the win over the Panthers.  He had seven games with 50 or more receiving yards.  Other Redbirds to win the league's Freshman of the Year include QB Dusty Burk (1999), DB Tom Nelson (2005), QB Matt Brown (2009), and Tye Niekamp (2023).



Polasek has guided North Dakota State to a 12-0 record and the No. 1 overall seed for the FCS playoffs. The Bison have defeated six ranked opponents and won their 12th Missouri Valley Football Conference championship.  Polasek enters the playoffs with a 26-2 record in two seasons as head coach at NDSU. He led the Bison to a 14-2 mark last year, a share of the conference title with a 7-1 record, and the program's 10th FCS national title.  He is a finalist for the Stats Perform Eddie Robinson Award. Former NDSU coaches to win the league's Coach of the Year Award include Craig Bohl (2011, 2012, 2013), Chris Klieman (2017), and Matt Entz (2019, 2021).

 

2025 MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM
Pos.	Name	School
QB	Beau Brungard	Youngstown State
RB	L.J. Phillips Jr.	South Dakota
RB	Barika Kpeenu	North Dakota State
FB	Truman Werremeyer	North Dakota State
TE	Greyton Gannon	South Dakota State
WR	Bryce Lance	North Dakota State
WR	Daniel Sobkowicz	Illinois State
WR	Max Tomczak	Youngstown State
OL	Trent Fraley	North Dakota State
OL	Seth Anderson	North Dakota
OL	Griffin Empey	North Dakota State
OL	Quinten Christensen	South Dakota State
OL	Jake Pope	Illinois State
OL	Beau Johnson	North Dakota State
DL	Lance Rucker	North Dakota
DL	Mike Wells	Youngstown State
DL	Kobe Clayborne	South Dakota State
DL	Keenan Wilson	North Dakota State
LB	Tye Niekamp	Illinois State
LB	Logan Kopp	North Dakota State
LB	Malachi McNeal	North Dakota
LB	Tucker Langenberg	Northern Iowa
DB	Kimal Clark	Indiana State
DB	Jeremiah McClendon	Southern Illinois
DB	Shadwel Nkuba II	Illinois State
DB	Antonio Bluiett	North Dakota
DB	Mikey Munn	South Dakota
PK	Eli Ozick	North Dakota State
P	Max Pelham	South Dakota State
RS	Flash Wilson	Youngstown State
LS	Caleb Bowers	North Dakota State
AP	Rashad Rochelle	Indiana State
2025 MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL SECOND TEAM
QB	Cole Payton	North Dakota State
RB	Sawyer Seidl	North Dakota
RB	Wenkers Wright	Illinois State
FB	Scotty Presson Jr.	Illinois State
TE	Carson Williams	North Dakota State
WR	Rashad Rochelle	Indiana State
WR	Larenzo Fenner	South Dakota
WR	B.J. Fleming	North Dakota
OL	Desmeal Leigh	Youngstown State
OL	Almarion Crim	South Dakota
OL	Noah Fenske	Southern Illinois
OL	Liam Becher	North Dakota
OL	Landon Woodard	Illinois State
DL	Owen Ostroski	Northern Iowa
DL	Caden Crawford	South Dakota
DL	Toby Anene	North Dakota State
DL	Kaden Vig	North Dakota
LB	Cullen Mcshane	South Dakota State
LB	Ryan Crandall	Northern Iowa
LB	Colin Bohanek	Southern Illinois
LB	Donovan Woolen	North Dakota State
DB	Darius Givance	North Dakota State
DB	Jailen Duffie	North Dakota State
DB	Jalen Lee	South Dakota State
DB	DeJuan Lewis	South Dakota
DB	Lashavion Brown	Illinois State
PK	Paul Geelen	Southern Illinois
P	Brendon Kilpatrick	Youngstown State
RS	Jackson Williams	North Dakota State
LS	Dylan Calabrese	Illinois State
AP	L.J. Phillips Jr.	South Dakota
2025 MVFC HONORABLE MENTIONS
QB	Tommy Rittenhouse	Illinois State
TE	Javon Charles	Illinois State
DL	Jake Anderson	Illinois State
RS	Rashad Rochelle	Indiana State
TE	Lance Rees	Indiana State
DB	Ahmond Glass	Indiana State
P	Harry Traum	Indiana State
DB	Dylan Rowsey	Murray State
RB	Jawaun Northington	Murray State
WR	Lucas Desjardins	Murray State
FB	Mason South	North Dakota
DB	Zach Lewis	North Dakota
DB	Jonnie Wiltshire	North Dakota
DL	Jaxon Duttenhefer	North Dakota State
LB	Nathaniel Staehling	North Dakota State
P	Aaron Bickerton	North Dakota State
WR	JC Roque Jr.	Northern Iowa
OL	Blake Anderson	Northern Iowa
DB	Jonathan Cabral-Martin	Northern Iowa
OL	Adrian Hawkins	South Dakota
LB	Nate Ewell	South Dakota
QB	Aidan Bouman	South Dakota
WR	Alex Bullock	South Dakota State
OL	Sam Hagen	South Dakota State
LB	Joe Ollman	South Dakota State
LS	Kaydon Olivia	South Dakota State
QB	DJ Williams	Southern Illinois
WR	Vinson Davis III	Southern Illinois
OL	Cameron Dye	Southern Illinois
DL	Donnie Wingate	Southern Illinois
RB	Jaden Gilbert	Youngstown State
DB	Dayne Hodge	Youngstown State
PK	Andrew Lastovka	Youngstown State
AP	Flash Wilson	Youngstown State