UND football sees nine players receive honors as Missouri Valley Football Conference releases league awards
Apr. 22—In the UND football program's first season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the Fighting Hawks saw nine players honored by the league when it released its awards Thursday.
Sophomore running back Otis Weah and senior offensive lineman Nathan Nguon led the way with first-team honors.
Weah also finished runner-up to South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski for MVFC Offensive Player of the Year.
Gronowski also earned the league's Freshman and Newcomer of the Year honors, just ahead of UND quarterback Tommy Schuster for both honors.
Northern Iowa's Jared Brinkman was named MVFC Defensive Player of the Year, while UND linebacker Devon Krzanowski finished runner-up to Brinkman.
Missouri State's Bobby Petrino, who will be in the Alerus Center on Saturday for UND's first round FCS playoff game against Missouri State, was named MVFC Coach of the Year. UND head coach Bubba Schweigert finished third in the voting.
Gronowski became the second-consecutive freshman to win the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year award after North Dakota State's Trey Lance won the award last year.
The freshman from Naperville, Ill., threw for 1,051 yards on 57 percent passing in leading the Jackrabbits to the FCS' No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs.
On the MVFC all-conference second team, UND landed Schuster, cornerback Evan Holm, Krzanowski, offensive lineman Matt Waletzko. The league recognized wide receiver Garett Maag, running back-return specialist Luke Skokna and offensive lineman Ryan Tobin as honorable mention honorees.
2020-21 all-Missouri Valley Football Conference Team
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: DL Jared Brinkman, UNI
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State
'BRUCE CRADDOCK' VALLEY FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Bobby Petrino, Missouri State
FIRST TEAM — OFFENSE
QB — Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State 6-3 200 Fr. Naperville (Ill.) Neuqua Valley High
RB — Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State 5-11 210 Jr. Little Rock (Ark.) McClellan High
Otis Weah, North Dakota 5-9 185 So. Moorhead (Minn.) Moorhead High
FB — Hunter Luepke, North Dakota State 6-1 245 So. Spencer (Wis.) Spencer High
WR— Avante Cox, Southern Illinois 5-10 170 Jr. Rochester (Ill.) Rochester High / Wyoming
Dennis Houston, Western Illinois 6-2 205 Sr. San Antonio (Texas) Earl Warren / Fullerton
Christian Watson, North Dakota State 6-4 200 Jr. Tampa (Fla.) Plant High
TE — Zach Heins, South Dakota State 6-7 260 So. Sioux Falls (S.D.) Washington High
OL — Zeveyon Furcron, Southern Illinois 6-2 327 Sr. Crest Hill (Ill.) Joliet Catholic
Garret Greenfield, South Dakota State 6-6 295 So. Rock Valley (Iowa) Rock Valley High
Drew Himmelman, Illinois State 6-10 325 Sr. Geneseo (Ill.) Geneseo High
Nathan Nguon, North Dakota 6-3 295 Sr. Burnsville (Minn.) Eagan High
Cordell Volson, North Dakota State 6-7 310 Sr. Balfour (N.D.) Drake High
PK — Matthew Cook, Northern Iowa 5-11 180 So. Cedar Falls (Iowa) Cedar Falls High
LS — Ross Kennelly, North Dakota State 5-11 213 Sr. Superior (Wis.) Superior High
FIRST TEAM — DEFENSE
DL — Jared Brinkman, Northern Iowa 6-2 290 Sr. Iowa City (Iowa) Regina High
John Ridgeway, Illinois State 6-6 325 Jr. Bloomington (Ill.) Bloomington High
Caleb Sanders, South Dakota State 6-1 280 Jr. Glenwood (Iowa) Glenwood High
Spencer Waege, North Dakota State 6-5 274 Jr. South Shore (S.D.) Watertown High
LB — Logan Backhaus, South Dakota State 6-4 205 Sr. Spirit Lake (Iowa) Spirit Lake High
Spencer Cuvelier, Northern Iowa 6-3 245 Jr. Cresco (Iowa) Crestwood High/Iowa Central CC
Grant Dixon, Youngstown State 6-3 225 Sr. Succasunna (N.J.) Roxbury / Marist
James Kaczor, North Dakota State 6-0 211 Jr. St. Cloud (Minn.) St. Cloud Tech High
DB— Montrae Braswell, Missouri State 6-0 185 So. Avon Park (Fla.) Avon Park High / Central Michigan
Qua Brown, Southern Illinois 5-11 206 Sr. DeLand (Fla.) University High
James Ceasar, Southern Illinois 5-10 185 Sr. Detroit (Mich.) East English Village
Don Gardner, South Dakota State 6-1 185 Sr. Chicago (Ill.) Wendell Phillips High
Josh Hayes, North Dakota State 5-11 185 Sr. Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson High
P — Garret Wegner, North Dakota State 6-0 197 Sr. Lodi (Wis.) Lodi High
RS — Tony Tate, Western Illinois 5-9 180 Sr. DeKalb (Ill.) DeKalb / Walsh
SECOND TEAM — OFFENSE
QB — Connor Sampson, Western Illinois 6-3 215 Sr. Belleville (Mich.) Belleville High
Tommy Schuster, North Dakota 6-0 195 Fr. Macomb (Mich.) Chippewa Valley
RB — Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown State 5-9 175 Jr. Marshville (N.C.) Forest Hills / Notre Dame College
Javon Williams Jr., Southern Illinois 6-2 245 So. Centralia (Ill.) Centralia High
FB — Jacob Garrett, Southern Illinois 6-2 245 Jr. Sellersburg (Ind.) Silver Creek High
WR — Jaxon Janke, South Dakota State 6-2 210 So. Madison (S.D.) Madison High
Tony Tate, Western Illinois 5-9 180 Sr. DeKalb (Ill.) DeKalb / Walsh
Caleb Vander Esch, South Dakota 6-1 205 Sr. San Jose (Calif.) Willow Glen High
TE — Noah Gindorff, North Dakota State 6-6 266 Jr. Crosby (Minn.) Crosby-Ironton High
OL — Landon Bebee, Missouri State 6-3 291 So. Webb City (Mo.) Webb City High
Dan Becker, Youngstown State 6-5 295 Jr. Cincinnati (Ohio) Indian Hill
Cody Mauch, North Dakota State 6-5 295 Jr. Hankinson (N.D.) Hankinson High
Mason McCormick, South Dakota State 6-4 300 So. Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt High
Matt Waletzko, North Dakota 6-7 295 Jr. Cold Spring (Minn.) Rocori High
PK — Jose Pizano, Missouri State 5-7 221 So. Lehi (Utah) Lehigh High / Snow College (Utah)
LS — Dalton Godfrey, South Dakota 6-2 230 Jr. Cedar Falls (Iowa) Cedar Falls High
SECOND TEAM — DEFENSE
DL — Jordan Berner, Southern Illinois 6-5 255 Sr. Chester (Ill.) Chester High
Kevin Ellis, Missouri State 6-4 241 Jr. Fort Worth (Texas) North Crowley High
Eric Johnson, Missouri State 6-5 286 Sr. Plainfield (Ill.) Plainfield South High
Brantae Wells, Northern Iowa 6-3 260 Sr. Des Moines (Iowa) Dowling Catholic High
LB — Devon Krzanowski, North Dakota 6-2 235 Jr. Fond du Lac (Wis.) St. Cloud State
Brock Mogensen, South Dakota 6-2 225 So. Farmington (Minn.) Farmington High
Bryson Strong, Southern Illinois 5-10 230 Jr. Fairview Heights (Ill.) Althoff Catholic High
Tylar Wiltz, Missouri State 6-1 230 Jr. Breaux Bridge (La.) Breaux Bridge / Independence CC
DB — Austin Evans, Northern Iowa 6-1 190 Sr. Kansas City (Mo.) Archbishop O'Hara High
Evan Holm, North Dakota 5-11 180 Sr. Edina (Minn.) Edina High
Zaire Jones, Youngstown State 6-1 195 Sr. Meridian (Miss.) Meridian High
Kyriq McDonald, Missouri State 6-0 202 Jr. Madison (Ala.) James Clemens High / Cincinnati
Michael Tutsie, North Dakota State 5-11 192 Jr. Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central High
P — Brady Schutt, South Dakota 6-1 215 Sr. Orange City (Iowa) MOC/FV High
RS — Christian Watson, North Dakota State 6-4 200 Jr. Tampa (Fla.) Plant High
