FARMINGTON, Utah (April 21, 2021) – A pair of unanimous first-team selections, six
second-teamers and four honorable mentions made up the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks' 12 All-Big Sky honorees announced by the conference office on Wednesday morning.
The Big Sky named senior
Luis Aguilar as a unanimous first
teamer, with
NAU's kicker repeating as a first-team selection after connecting on 9-of-10 field goals this spring. Aguilar's long of 48 came on the road at Eastern Washington, with the senior also extending his consecutive extra points made streak to 64 after hitting all eight attempts.
Morgan Vest joined Aguilar as a unanimous first-team pick on the defensive side of the ball after the safety recorded a team-high 53 tackles across his five games played. Leading the Lumberjacks in tackles in four of five games this season, Vest also broke up a team best five passes while intercepting one ball and recovering two fumbles.
Vest's long-awaited debut with the Lumberjacks did not disappoint after he sat out the whole 2019 season with an injury after transferring into the program as head coach
Chris Ball's first signee in December 2018.
Two of
NAU's offensive linemen earned All-Big Sky second-team honors, with center
Luke Rudolph and junior
Jonas Leader earning their first career all-conference recognition. Rudolph extended his consecutive games started streak to 27 with six starts at center this spring while Leader started at both right guard and right tackle for all five contests to push his streak to 16 games.
Finishing with 270 yards on 16 receptions this spring, senior Stacy
Chukwumezie moved up to 22nd on
NAU's all-time receiving list.
Chukwumezie scored one touchdown in the spring, a 55-yard bomb from
Keondre Wudtee that marked the quarterback's first career touchdown pass at NAU against Southern Utah.
Tight end
Matthew Kempton rounded out the Lumberjacks' second-team offensive honorees, finishing the spring with 118 yards on 10 receptions. The junior was instrumental on
NAU's game-winning drive against Southern Utah in the season opener, catching back-to-back passes of 15 and 20 yards to move the Lumberjacks to the 10-yard line with just seconds remaining.
Senior Harrison
Beemiller earned All-Big Sky second team honors after finishing second on the team with 33 tackles, with a team-high 5.5 tackles for loss.
Beemiller forced one fumble and recovered another in addition to his 2.0 sacks this spring. The linebacker closed out the season with a pair of dominant performances, recording 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks in the victories against Southern Utah and Idaho.
Defensive back
Anthony Sweeney bounced between a pair of positions in
NAU's secondary during the spring, finishing with 24 tackles, two pass breakups and an interception. Sweeney's interception against Southern Utah was returned for a touchdown before being called back due to a penalty, but did give NAU possession to continue running out the clock in their 28-20 victory in Cedar City.
Quarterback
Keondre Wudtee, defensive end
Carson Taylor, inside linebacker
Tristen Vance and punter DJ
Arnson rounded out
NAU's list of all-conference players as they earned honorable mention from the Big Sky.
Starting for the first time in his career,
Wudtee finished the season hitting 80-of-137 passes for 1,080 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. The senior started to find a feel for the run game as the season wore on, rushing for 99 yards in the final three games of the year.
Wudtee's three rushing touchdowns led the Lumberjacks, tying for fifth in the Big Sky.
Taylor moved to sixth on
NAU's sacks and tackles for loss rankings since 2000, finishing the year with 3.0 and 4.5 respectively. The senior also tied for a team-high with four quarterback hurries this season and ranked third on
NAU's defense with 29 total tackles.
Coming in fourth in total tackles just behind Taylor, Vance returned from an extended layoff to step right back into the middle of
NAU's defense. Playing for the first time since Nov. 2018, Vance finished with 26 tackles, a pass breakup and a forced fumble in
NAU's five games.
Lastly, senior DJ
Arnson returned to the All-Big Sky honoree list after finishing the year with 25 punts for an average of 44.0. More than half of
Arnson's punts put opponents inside their own 20, as the senior wrapped up the year with 14. Seven of his punts went for at least 50 yards, including a career-long and Walkup
Skydome record 82-yarder in the season finale against Idaho.
Click
here for the full list of All-Big Sky honors.
