FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 21, 2023) – After helping guide the Northern Arizona University football team to its best conference finish since 2017, eight Lumberjacks have been named to Big Sky All-Conference teams as announced by the league office this morning.
Eloi Kwete highlights the honors with a spot on the First Team All-Conference Defense squad as a defensive lineman. Wide receiver
Coleman Owen and offensive lineman
Jonny Bottorff were named Second Team All-Conference Offense, while defensive backs
Alex McLaughlin and
George Steele were named Second Team All-Conference Defense.
Rounding out the selections were a trio of Lumberjacks on the Honorable Mention All-Conference squad in running back
Devon Starling, wide receiver
Hendrix Johnson and defensive lineman
Mark Ho Ching. Johnson also earned a spot on the honorable mention squad for special teams.
Kwete was named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team after earning a spot on the second team in 2022. This season, Kwete racked up 9.5 sacks and will end his career as the program's leader in career sacks with 25.5. He also had 10.5 tackles for a loss of 69 yards to bring his career total to 37 tackles for loss which ranks third all-time.
Kwete played in and started all 11 games on the defensive line, also contributing with 46 total tackles, five quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles. In a signature victory over No. 13/14 Montana, Kwete racked up four sacks and four and a half tackles for loss plus a forced fumble and five tackles, earning Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Owen lands on an All-Big Sky team for the third-straight year, earning an honorable mention nod in 2021 and a spot on the second team in 2022. He racked up 649 receiving yards on 54 catches with five receiving touchdowns plus an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown. Owen averaged 12 yards per catch and contributed with 82.7 all-purpose yards per game after returning eight punts for 152 yards and adding four kickoff returns for 98 yards.
In a ranked road victory over No. 13 Weber State, Owen eclipsed the 2,000 career receiving yards mark and will enter 2024 ninth all-time in NAU history in receiving yards (2,286), ninth in touchdown receptions (17), and sixth in career receptions (175). Following the win over the Wildcats, Owen earned Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week.
Bottorff transferred in from Missouri Western and made an immediate impact, being voted team captain and starting all 11 games at center for the Lumberjacks.
Steele also transferred in from Jacksonville State and spent his final two seasons at NAU, also being voted team captain and playing in 18 games. In 2023, he racked up 48 tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack, a quarterback hurry, five breakups and one fumble recovery that he returned 85 yards for a touchdown against UC Davis. Steele also returned nine kickoffs for 194 yards.
McLaughlin, a true freshman, made an immediate impact on the Lumberjack defense, starting all 10 games he played in. He led the team with 71 tackles, 34 of which were solo, twice finishing with double-digit tackles at Arizona (10) and against Portland State (11). McLaughlin also earned a team-high four interceptions which was also the second most in the conference, six breakups, a quarterback hurry and one and a half sacks.
He was named to the midseason Jerry Rice Award Watchlist, given to the top freshman in the FCS, and after recording eight tackles, a tackle for loss, an interception, and a breakup at Weber State he was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week.
Starling was NAU's top rusher this season, racking up 726 rushing yards on 140 carries with six rushing touchdowns. He had three 100-yard rushing games against Utah Tech (110), Sacramento State (117) and Eastern Washington (125). He also had one receiving touchdown, hauling in 210 yards on 22 catches in 11 games played. He added 5.2 yards per rush, 9.5 yards per catch and 66 yards of total offense per game which ranked seventh in the Big Sky.
Ho Ching anchored the defensive line and played for four years at NAU. In 2023, he played in and started all 11 games with 25 total tackles, four tackles for a loss of 19 yards, one and a half sacks, three quarterback hurries and a breakup.
Johnson ends his career at NAU after starting all 50 games he played in, leaving as Northern Arizona's all-time leader in receptions with 204. He is also fifth all-time in receiving yards (2,674) and ninth in career receiving touchdowns with 17.
This is the third-straight year Johnson has earned an honorable mention nod, but the first time he's been honored twice as a wide receiver and on special teams. In 2023, Johnson caught 35 passes for 393 total yards and two touchdowns. He returned one punt for five yards, but blocked on special teams and racked up five tackles and caught a two-point conversion pass against Utah Tech.
After being predicted ninth in the preseason polls, the Lumberjacks finished fourth in the Big Sky with a conference record of 5-3 and an overall record of 5-6, with three wins coming over ranked conference opponents.
