Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference release
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The New Mexico Highlands football boasted 11 players on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Teams, including senior
Tyler Slavin being named the Offensive Player of the Year. Classmates
Patrick Carney and
Jared Koster were named were named First Team All-Conference punter and inside linebacker, respectively.
Senior
Lance Orender (quarterback) and juniors
Kirt Terry-Springs (wide receiver) and
Brandon Brown (outside linebacker) were named Second Team All-Conference while senior offensive linemen
Brent Walker and
Jack Ivers, junior
Anthony Gordon (defensive lineman) and
C.J. Grice (wide receiver) and sophomore
Eric Smith (defensive back) were named Honorable Mention All-Conference.
The 11 All-Conference honorees were the most for the Cowboys in the four seasons
Eric Young has been at the helm of the Cowboys football program.
"The football season did not go the way that we hoped as we were small in numbers, but I am so happy and proud of everyone on the team that played their heart out the entire season," head coach
Eric Young said. "These 11 individuals had fantastic seasons and I am thrilled they were recognized for their on the field accomplishments.
"Obviously, with six seniors named All-Conference, we are losing key individuals for next season. But we have five All-Conference performers who will be back, so the coaching staff is looking forward to next season."
Slavin garners the Offensive Player of the Year award for the RMAC despite never being named Offensive Player of the Week in 2014. He led the nation in receptions per game (10.8) and receiving yards (1,418), finished second in receiving yards per game (128.9), third in receiving touchdowns (17), 22nd in scoring (9.3 points per game) and 50th in all-purpose yards per game (128.9). Slavin recorded the second-most receptions for a season in conference history.
"Tyler had one of the best receiving years in the history of this program. His first four conference games this season were unbelievable and the coaching staff was just amazed at what we saw. This award was much deserved for Slavin and I am glad to see all the RMAC coaches reward him for the great season he had."
During the season, Slavin was named the national Wide Receiver of the Week on Sept. 22 and 29 and Oct. 6 by Beyond Sports Network and Sept. 22 and 29 by USACollegefootball.org. In 2014, Slavin had a four game stretch to begin conference play with more than 100 yards receiving per game, scoring 11 touchdowns in that stretch. Twice, Slavin racked up more than 200 yards receiving in a game: 17 catches for 225 yards and four touchdowns against Western New Mexico (Sept. 20) and 14 grabs for 278 yards and two touchdowns when Highlands played nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines. He grabbed a season-long 74-yard touchdown catch against Black Hills State Nov. 8 and caught the game-tying, 26-yard touchdown catch with 42 seconds left against Western State (Oct. 18), an eventual 46-43 Cowboys win when senior
Zach Tapia made a 46 yard field goal as time expired.
While Slavin put up some of the best numbers in the nation at wide receiver this season, it was Koster who not only led the country, but broke an NCAA season record. Koster set the new NCAA and conference standard in solo tackles (104) and led the NCAA Division II in total tackles (172). In fact, he led the NCAA, regardless of division, in solo tackles and was second in the country (regardless of NCAA level) in tackles per game (15.6).
Needing 11 solo tackles in his final game of the season at CSU-Pueblo on Nov. 15, he recorded the most tackles in a game in the RMAC in 2014 with 22 against CSU-Pueblo (Nov. 15). For his performance this season, Koster was named National Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29 and Honorable Mention by USACollegefootball.org Oct. 11 while also being named Honorable Mention Linebacker of the Week by Beyond Sports Network on Nov. 17. This season, he was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 29 and Nov. 17.
Last but not least, Koster had one interception return for a touchdown against Adams State (Oct. 25) and a fumble return for a touchdown against #8 CSU-Pueblo (Nov. 15).
Rounding out the first team is Carney. A Preseason All-American selection by both
Lindy's and
the Sporting News, Carney led NCAA Division II virtually wire-to-wire in punting. He finished the season with 45.9 yards per punt, despite having four different long snappers in 2014 (including kicker
Zach Tapia the final game of the season). Of Carney's 56 punts, only five went for a touchback (only 8.9 percent of punts went into the endzone) while he placed 17 punts inside the 20 and 20 punts were blasted for more than 50 yards.
In 10 games all season, Carney had only one game where he averaged less than 43.5 yards per punt, including an amazing 52.8 yards per kick in the Cowboys win against rival Western New Mexico.
Orender had a great season to be named Second Team All-Conference, finishing the season with 353 completions on 541 passes attempted (65.2 percent) with a school-record 34 touchdowns. Against Western New Mexico, Orender completed 56 passes for eight touchdowns (both RMAC records) for 620 yards (a school record). He also set an NCAA record for passes attempted in a game (78) without an interception thrown. Following the game, Orender received national honors from both Beyond Sports Network and USACollegeFootball.org. He finished the season in the top 15 in eight different offensive categories, including leading the nation in passing yards (3,948), passing yards per game (358.9) and completions per game (32.1).
Terry-Springs finished the season with 55 catches for 736 yards and seven touchdowns. He had triple digits in reception yards in three games, including a season-best 143 with two touchdowns in Highlands win against Fort Lewis Sept. 27. He also had six solo tackles and had both a forced and recovered fumble on Oct. 25 at Adams State. He was in the top-100 in four different NCAA categories, finishing 76th in the nation with seven total touchdowns in 2014.
Rounding out the second team, Brown recorded impressive numbers, finishing with more than 100 tackles as Highlands was the only school in the RMAC with a pair of defensive players who recorded triple digit tackles. He finished with 123 total tackles (59 solo and 64 assisted), finishing 20th in the country and third in the RMAC with 11.2 tackles per game while finishing 42nd in the country and sixth in the RMAC with 5.4 solo tackles per game.
A pair of senior offensive linemen led the Honorable Mention All-Conference squad. Ivers and Walker where 1/3 of the offensive linemen that suited up in every game for the Cowboys all season. The offensive line only allowed three sacks per 100 pass attempts on the season. Grice finished the season with 553 receiving yards and 51 catches, finishing 99th in the country with 4.6 receptions per game. Gordon finished the season with 43 tackles, eight tackles for losses, three sacks and a fumble recovery for the season.
Smith led the team with three interceptions and also has seven pass breakups, two tackles for losses and 64 total tackles (29 solo, 35 assisted).
