FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 27, 2024) – Northern Arizona football quarterback
Ty Pennington has been named the 2024 Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year, highlighting 13 total All-Conference honors the Lumberjacks collected this morning, tying the 1997 team for the second most All-Conference selections in program history.
The awards are voted on by the league's 10 head coaches and coaches cannot vote for their own players.
Bryzai White was a unanimous selection at tight end on the first team All-Big Sky Offense, becoming the first tight end to be selected to the first team at NAU since RJ Rickert in 2013 and is the first 'Jack to make first team All-Big Sky Offense since Cole Habib in 2019.
After being named to the second team as a true freshman,
Alex McLaughlin was a unanimous selection at defensive back on the first team All-Big Sky Defense. He was joined on the first team by senior linebacker
Tommy Ellis, who earned his first career Big Sky nod.
For the second-straight season,
Jonny Bottorff earned a spot on the second team All-Big Sky Offense.
DJ VanHook and
Zach Lewis garner their first All-Conference awards, representing Northern Arizona on the second team All-Big Sky Defense.
Northern Arizona raked in several honorable mention nods – receiving at least three votes from the league's head coaches. On the Big Sky honorable mention team for defense were defensive lineman
Micah Carreon and a pair of linebackers in
Ammon Allen and
Brandon Wong. Three specialists were also honored for outstanding seasons in punter
Ben D'Aquila, long snapper
Sean Farfan, and punt returner
Isaiah Eastman.
Pennington is the ninth Newcomer of the Year for NAU and the first since Deonte Williams in 2008. Outside of Pennington, Big Sky Champions Montana State swept the rest of the individual awards, with Tommy Mellott and Brody Grebe collecting Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors. Brent Vigen won Coach of the Year, and Bobcat Adam Jones was named Freshman of the Year.
Pennington transferred in from Pittsburg State with head coach
Brian Wright in January. This season as a sophomore, Pennington has played in and started 11 games at quarterback. He has completed 171 of his 256 pass (66.80%) attempts for 2,123 yards and just one interception. His one and only interception of the year came in the 10
th game of the season at Northern Colorado, completing 147 of 215 passing attempts before his first miscue. He's thrown 13 touchdown passes to seven different players.
Pennington is also a threat on the ground, rushing 94 times for 432 net yards, good for seven rushing touchdowns and 4.6 yards per carry as NAU's second-leading rusher. He threw for over 100 yards on eight different occasions and had five games with at least two touchdowns. After guiding the Lumberjacks to a 45-17 victory at Utah Tech, he earned the first Big Sky Player of the Week award for a quarterback at NAU since 2021.
White played in all 12 games and led the team with 544 receiving yards on 39 catches, averaging 13.95 yards per catch while tying for the team lead with four receiving touchdowns. He had over 50 receiving yards in six games including a career-high 88 yards on six catches and a touchdown in a ranked victory over Sacramento State.
McLaughlin earned Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honors twice in 2024. He ranked second on the team with 85 total tackles, 34 of which were solo. This season, he's racked up a team-high 5.5 sacks, 6.0 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, one interception, three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles that were both recovered for defensive touchdowns. In the regular season finale against Eastern Washington, he totaled a career-high 13 tackles and recorded double-digit tackles at Arizona (11) and nine on three other occasions.
Ellis had a standout senior year, starting all 12 games after making his first career start in the season opener against Lincoln. A team captain, Ellis led the 'Jacks with 94 total tackles, 40 of which were solo. He led the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and recorded a sack, an interception, and two quarterback hurries. He had at least five tackles in 11 games with a career-high 15 against EWU.
For the second-straight season, Bottorff was voted team captain and started every game at center, bringing his career total to 23-straight starts at Northern Arizona. The offensive line had the same five starters all season and helped the Lumberjacks have a 100-yard rusher on four different occasions and average over 190 rushing yards per game while protecting Pennington, the Newcomer of the Year.
Lewis totaled the third most tackles on the team with 60 with 36 solo. He played in all 12 games and recorded five pass breakups, two interceptions, and a forced fumble.
In his first season with NAU, VanHook tied for the team lead with three interceptions and led the way with eight pass breakups. In addition to grabbing the game-winning interception against Idaho State that kicked off a five-game winning streak for the 'Jacks, he totaled 31 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
In nine games played, Allen totaled 57 tackles in his first year at NAU and collected 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. He found the endzone twice this season, first by intercepting a two-point conversion attempt against Lincoln for 99 yards to the house and against by recovering a fumble he returned for eight yards against Sacramento State.
Also finding the endzone with a defensive touchdown this season was Wong who had a 45-yard fumble recovery returned for a touchdown. Wong was fifth on the team in tackles behind Allen with 42, playing in all 12 games with 4.0 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a blocked kick.
Carreon led the team with 6.5 tackles for a loss of 22 yards, totaling 39 on the season with 13 solo.
Farfan was NAU's primary long snapper this season, even collecting two tackles. He snapped on 32 punts for 1,487 yards and helped NAU go 12-for-19 on field goal attempts and 44-for-45 on extra point attempts.
D'Aquila punted 32 times for 1,487 yards, good for 46.47 per punt to lead the Big Sky. He had a long of 61 and placed 13 punts inside the 20 with 12 going over for 50 yards in addition to 13 fair catches.
Eastman ranked inside the top 10 nationally in punt returns all season long, returning 27 punts for 319 yards to average 11.81 yards per return with a long of 50.
The No. 17 Northern Arizona football team is preparing to head to Abilene, Texas, for its first round FCS Playoff matchup at No. 15 Abilene Christian on Saturday. Nov. 30. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time on ESPN+ from Wildcat Stadium.
* - Unanimous first-team selection
2024 Big Sky Football Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Tommy Mellott, Montana State
Defensive Player of the Year: Brody Grebe, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year:
Ty Pennington, Northern Arizona
Freshman of the Year: Adam Jones, Montana State
Coach of the Year: Brent Vigen, Montana State
First Team All-Big Sky Offense
QB: Tommy Mellott, Montana State
RB: Lan Larison, UC Davis*
RB: Scottre Humphrey, Montana State
FB: Rohan Jones, Montana State
WR: Efton Chism III, Eastern Washington
WR: Jeff Weimer, Idaho State
WR: Christian Fredericksen, Idaho State
TE:
Bryzai White, Northern Arizona*
TE: Winston Williams, UC Davis
OL: Marcus Wehr, Montana State*
OL: Jackson Slater, Sacramento State*
OL: Conner Moore, Montana State
OL: Brandon Casey, Montana
OL: Wyatt Hansen, Eastern Washington
OL: Ayden Knapik, Idaho
AP: Michael Wortham, Eastern Washington
First Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Brody Grebe, Montana State*
DL: Keyshawn James-Newby, Idaho
DL: Elijah Ponder, Cal Poly
DL: Dallas Afalava, Idaho
DL: Zach Kennedy, UC Davis
LB: McCade O'Reilly, Montana State
LB: David Meyer, UC Davis
LB: Jaxton Eck, Idaho
LB:
Tommy Ellis, Northern Arizona
LB: Will Leota, Sacramento State
DB: Rex Connors, UC Davis*
DB:
Alex McLaughlin, Northern Arizona*
DB: Tommy McCormick, Idaho
DB: Andrew Marshall, Idaho
DB: Kavir Bains, UC Davis
DB: Rylan Ortt, Montana State
First Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Junior Bergen, Montana
PR: Taco Dowler, Montana State
K: Gabe Panikowski, Idaho State
P: Hunter Green, Northern Colorado
ST: Dwayne McDougle, Idaho
Second Team All-Big Sky Offense
QB: Miles Hastings, UC Davis
RB: Damon Bankston, Weber State
RB: Eli Gillman, Montana
FB: Austin York, Eastern Washington
WR: Jacob Sharp, Weber State
WR: Jared Gipson, Sacramento State
WR: Keelan White, Montana
WR: Jordan Dwyer, Idaho
TE: Mike Martinez, Idaho
TE: Tanner Beaman, Portland State
OL:
Jonny Bottorff, Northern Arizona
OL: Titan Fleischmann, Montana State
OL: Stryker Rashid, Idaho State
OL: Eli Simonson, UC Davis
OL: Gavin Ortega, Weber State
OL: Cole Sain, Montana State
AP: Dante Chachere, Portland State
Second Team All-Big Sky Defense
DL: Kemari Munier-Bailey, Weber State
DL: Hayden Harris, Montana
DL: Matt Brown, Eastern Washington
DL: Paul Brott, Montana State
DL: Evan Bearden, UC Davis
LB: Riley Wilson, Montana
LB: Peyton Wing, Portland State
LB: Porter Connors, UC Davis
LB: Ryan Tirrell, Montana
LB: Danny Uluilakepa, Montana State
DB: Andrew Powdrell, Montana State
DB:
DJ VanHook, Northern Arizona
DB:
Zach Lewis, Northern Arizona
DB: Trevin Gradney, Montana
DB: Mason Rivera, Cal Poly
DB: Derek Ganter Jr., Eastern Washington
Second Team All-Big Sky Specialists
KR: Michael Wortham, Eastern Washington
PR: Junior Bergen, Montana
K: Hunter Ridley, UC Davis
P: Brendan Hall, Montana State
ST: TJ Rausch, Montana
Honorable Mention Offense (at least 3 votes)
QB: Dante Chachere, Portland State
RB: Adam Jones, Montana State
RB: Elijah Tau-Tolliver, Sacramento State
WR: Giancarlo Woods, Cal Poly
WR: Mark Hamper, Idaho
WR: Junior Bergen, Montana
TE: Jett Carpenter, Eastern Washington
OL: Nate Azzopardi, Idaho
OL: Jack Seelye, Eastern Washington
OL: Billy Lutui, Portland State
OL: Ernesto Nava, UC Davis
OL: Luke Dahlgren, Eastern Washington
OL: Journey Grimsrud, Montana
OL: Richard Estrella, Portland State
Honorable Mention Defense (at least 3 votes)
DL:
Micah Carreon, Northern Arizona
DL: Princeton Toki, UC Davis
DL: Ethan Rodriguez, Cal Poly
DL: Malakai Williams, Idaho
DL: Kenneth Eiden IV, Montana State
DL: Brayden Wilson, Weber State
LB: Garrett Beck, Weber State
LB: Isiah King, Idaho
LB:
Ammon Allen, Northern Arizona
LB: Zach Johnson, Idaho
LB:
Brandon Wong, Northern Arizona
DB: Jaxon Lee, Montana
DB: Tyreese Shakir, Portland State
DB: DaJean Wells, Eastern Washington
DB: Cam Chapa, Northern Colorado
Honorable Mention Specialists (at least 3 votes)
KR: Andrew Marshall, Idaho
PR:
Isaiah Eastman, Northern Arizona
K: Zach Schreiner, Sacramento State
K: Mathias Uribe, Portland State
P:
Ben D'Aquila, Northern Arizona
ST: Jeremy Justice, Cal Poly
ST:
Sean Farfan, Northern Arizona
