BROOKFIELD, Ill. – Fort Hays State had nine players named to the 2017 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-Super Region 3 Team. Head coach Chris Brown earned Super Region 3 Coach of the Year honors for guiding Fort Hays State to an undefeated 11-0 regular season and its first NCAA Playoff appearance since 1995. Conferences combining to create Super Region 3 are the MIAA, GLVC, GLIAC, and GAC.
Chris Brown adds the Don Hansen Super Region 3 Coach of the Year honor alongside the MIAA Coach of the Year distinction. Also, Brown won the HERO Sports Fan Choice D2 Coach of the Year vote, an honor voted on by fans nationwide.
Four Tigers received first-team honors, two on offense and two on defense. The list includes senior running back Kenneth Iheme, senior offensive lineman Travis Talley, senior defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd, and junior defensive back Doyin Jibowu.
Iheme finished the year with 1,380 on 230 carries. He averaged 6.0 yards per carry for the season and 115 rushing yards per game. He produced seven 100-yard rushing games, with 189 as his season high against Pittsburg State. Iheme was one of 34 candidates considered for the Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II Player of the Year), finishing the season with 1,690 all-purpose yards. With 2,569 rushing yards in his career, Iheme finished seventh on the all-time rushing list at FHSU. He is eighth all-time in all-purpose yards with 3,458. Iheme was a unanimous All-MIAA First Team selection this season. Iheme was also a D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team selection.
Talley grabs his second Super Region 3 First Team honor on the offensive line after receiving the same distinction from D2CCA. Talley also received All-America honors from D2Football.com and was an All-MIAA First Team selection. Talley anchored the Fort Hays State line this year at right tackle, helping the team average 441.5 total yards of offense per game. He helped the Tiger offense average 257.3 passing yards per game and 184.2 rushing yards per game.
Shepherd adds another postseason honor to his collection after already receiving All-America status from three organizations. Shepherd was the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year. He finished the year with 38 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and four sacks. In his three years at Fort Hays State, Shepherd amassed 168 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks. He tied as the top vote receiver in NCAA Division II for the Cliff Harris Award, presented to the nation’s top small college defensive player representing almost 500 colleges and universities from NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA colleges. He will compete in both the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Jibowu nabs his second Super Region 3 First Team selection this year after receiving the same honor from D2CCA. Playing the bandit back position (safety-linebacker hybrid), Jibowu finished the year with 62 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions, nine pass break-ups, and two forced fumbles. Over three seasons, Jibowu now has 219 tackles and seven interceptions in his career at FHSU.
Second team selections went to wide receiver Monterio Burchfield, kicker Brandon Brown, linebacker Jose Delgado, and punter Dante Brown.
Burchfield became the sixth receiver in Fort Hays State history to eclipse the 1,000-yard receiving mark, finishing 2017 with a team-high 1,003 yards on 54 catches. He averaged 18.6 yards per catch and produced nine touchdowns. Burchfield adds this honor to his All-MIAA First Team selection this year.
Brandon Brown was the 2017 MIAA Special Teams Player of the Year. He finished the year with 94 kicking points to set a new single-season record at FHSU. It broke his own mark of 88 set the previous year. He was a perfect 49-of-49 on PAT attempts and went 15-of-21 on field goal attempts. Brown finished his two-year career at FHSU with 31 field goals and 89 PATs for a total of 182 kicking points, ranking fourth all-time in kick scoring at FHSU.
Delgado led the Tigers in tackles from his linebacker position in 2017. He finished with 107 tackles for the season, including 11 for loss, and 3.5 sacks. Delgado now has 285 tackles in his career, along with 6.5 sacks. He is already seventh on the career tackles list for the NCAA era at Fort Hays State and will enter his senior year 76 shy of the record.
Dante Brown finished the year averaging 43.5 yards per punt, the second-highest average for a season in FHSU history. He ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in yards per punt, giving the MIAA three punters inside the top 10 nationally. Brown placed 18 kicks inside the 20-yard line this year, and 20 punts that went at least 50 yards. He was an All-MIAA Third Team selection.
Kamon Clayton was the lone third-team selection for the Tigers. The senior cornerback earned All-MIAA First Team status in 2017, finishing the year with 37 tackles and a team-leading 13 pass break-ups. He ranked fourth in the MIAA in pass break-ups.