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More kudos for Buff football team
Posted: 01.18.2013 at 2:02 PM
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Five West Texas A&M football players were named to the 2012 D2Football.com All-America team which was announced this week.  Senior offensive lineman Manase Foketi and junior defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks earned first team honors, while senior running back Khiry Robinson and junior quarterback Dustin Vaughan were second team selections.  Junior kicker Sergio Castillo, Jr., earned honorable mention honors. 

 

The Buffs, along with national champion Valdosta State and Missouri Western each had five selections to lead the 65 representing schools.  Missouri Western running back Michael Hill earned Offensive Player of the Year honors, while defensive tackle Brandon Williams of Missouri Southern was named Defensive Player of the Year.  Valdosta State head coach David Dean was named Coach of the Year for the second time.

 

Foketi, a native of Hesperia, Calif., came to WT after graduating from Kansas State.  Foketi started all 15 games on the offensive line and earned Daktronics First Team All-America honors, as well as a finalist for the Gene Upshaw award.  He also was named to the American Football Coaches Association First Team and was invited to the East-West Shrine Game, Jan. 19, 2013, in St. Petersburg, Fla.  Foketi helped lead the Buffaloes to a 12-3 season and the school’s first berth in the NCAA Semifinals.  He earned Don Hanson All-Super Region Four first team honors.

 

Westbrooks, a native of San Leandro, Calif., and Sacramento City CC, had an outstanding first season in a Buffalo uniform as he spearheaded the top pass rush in NCAA Division II as he recorded a school-record 19.5 sacks and 28 tackles for loss.  The 6-4, 275-pound defensive lineman was named the Ron Lenz Daktronics Division II National Defensive Player of the Year and Super Region Four Defensive Player of the Year.  Westbrooks was named Don Hanson All-Super Region Four Defensive Player of the Year and earned first team honors and he was the Lone Star Conference’s J.V. Sykes Defensive Player of the Year honors, while totaling 60 total tackles.  His 28 tackles for loss were for 139 yards and his 19.5 sacks accumulated 116 yards.

 

Vaughan, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Calallen High School, had another outstanding season as he was one of eight finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy and was named Capital One/CoSIDA Division II Student-Athlete of the Year. 

 

He finished the season with a career-high 4,712 passing yards which ranked third all-time in a single season, 45 touchdowns (second-most in a single season) as he was 359 of 555 and 13 interceptions for a 64.7 completing percentage and a 158.07 passing efficiency.  Vaughan le the eighth-ranked passing offense nationally at 332 yards per game and the 12th-ranked total offense at 474.93 yards as both were tops in the Lone Star Conference.  Individually, he ranked 10th in passing efficiency (158.07) and 10th in total offense at 323.4 yards. 

 

Vaughan had 8,124 career passing yards as he is third all-time.  He is just 1,675 away from the school-record set by Taylor Harris (2007-2010).  He has 70 touchdowns with 593 completions in 949 attempts (62.5) with 19 interceptions in just two seasons as the starting quarterback.

 

He was named Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Year, the LSC Academic Player of the Year and earned Daktronics Second Team All-Super Region Four honors.  He also was a Don Hanson All-Super Region Four second team selection.

 

Robinson, a native of Temple, Texas, and Blin JC, led the team and the conference with a school-record 1,621 yards on the ground in 13 starts this season.  Robinson tallied 15 touchdowns as he averaged 124.7 yards per game ranking 13th nationally.  He was 10th nationally in all-purpose yards as he average 173.23 per game.  Robinson caught 38 passes for 430 yards and four touchdowns, while he had 19 punt returns for 175 yards and one kick return for 26 yards.

 

He had 10 games of rushing over 100 yards, including a career-high 235 yards rushing in the Buffs’ 38-30 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Chadron State (Nov. 17).  Robinson had a career-high four rushing touchdowns at Eastern New Mexico (Oct. 20) and tallied a season-high 90 yards receiving on six catches against Tarleton State (Sept. 29). 

 

Robinson was named LSC Running Back of the Year and earned first team all-conference.  He also was a Don Hanson All-Super Region Four third team.

 

Castillo Jr., a native of La Joya, Texas, had a sensational junior season as connected on 20 of 23 field goals, including two of over 50 yards and a career-long 56-yarder against Abilene Christian (Oct. 13).  He finished the season tied for ninth nationally in field goals per game a 1.33. He was a perfect 16 of 16 in attempts of less than 40 yards.  He averaged 8.6 points per game ranking 35th nationally.

Heading into his senior year, he is 38 of 46 in field goals and 174 of 177 in extra points for 288 points as he ranked third all-time in school history in scoring, just six points behind Keithon Flemming (2007-2009) with 294 points. 

 

Castillo Jr., earned Daktronics First Team All-America honors.  He was a first team all-conference selection and a first team Don Hanson Super Region Four selection.

 

2012 D2Football.com Individual Award Winners

Offensive
Player of the Year

Defensive
Player of the Year

Coach of the Year

Michael Hill
Running Back
Missouri Western

Brandon Williams
Defensive Tackle
Missouri Southern

David Dean
Valdosta State

2012 D2Football.com All-America Team

First Team

QB

Zach Zulli

6-2, 188, Jr.

Shippensburg

RB

Michael Hill

5-11, 205, Sr.

Missouri Western

RB

Franklyn Quiteh

5-10, 203, Jr.

Bloomsburg

WR

Chris Bowen

6-3, 215, Sr.

Wingate

WR

Jeff Janis

6-3, 215, Jr.

Saginaw Valley

TE

Adam Shiltz

6-4, 256, Sr.

Emporia State

OL

Manase Foketi

6-5, 320, Sr.

West Texas A&M

OL

Garrett Gilkey

6-7, 320, Sr.

Chadron State

OL

Garth Heikkinen

6-4, 315, Sr.

Minnesota Duluth

OL

Mark Jackson

6-6, 320, Sr.

Glenville State

OL

Ryan Schraeder

6-7, 305, Sr.

Valdosta State

DL

Zach Moore

6-6, 282, Jr.

Concordia-St. Paul

DL

Ethan Westbrooks

6-4, 275, Jr.

West Texas A&M

DL

Brandon Williams

6-3, 325, Sr.

Missouri Southern

DL

Ridge Wilson

6-4, 256, Sr.

West Alabama

LB

Carlos Fields

6-2, 220, Jr.

Winston-Salem

LB

Leron Furr

6-3, 235, Jr.

Fort Valley

LB

Kevin Lindholm

6-2, 220, Sr.

Chadron State

DB

Vernon Kearney

6-2, 185, Sr.

Lane

DB

Rontez Miles

6-1, 210, Sr.

California

DB

Dexter Moody

6-3, 200, Jr.

Albany State

DB

Don Unamba

6-1, 192, Sr.

Southern Arkansas

K

Ryne Smith

5-8, 180, Sr.

West Alabama

P

Taylor Accardi

6-2, 205, Sr.

Colorado Mines

AP

Tyron Laughinghouse

6-3, 175, Sr.

St. Augustine's

Second Team

QB

Dustin Vaughan

6-5, 220, Jr.

West Texas A&M

RB

Khiry Robinson

6-0, 220, Sr.

West Texas A&M

RB

Derrick Washington

6-0, 215, Sr.

Tuskegee

WR

Charles Johnson

6-3, 225, Sr.

Grand Valley

WR

Isaiah Voegeli

6-0, 185, Sr,

Merrimack

TE

David Pawelek

6-3, 230, Sr.

Colorado Mines

OL

Brian Clarke

6-3, 290, Jr.

Bloomsburg

OL

Ryan Jensen

6-6, 300, Sr.

CSU-Pueblo

OL

Edmund Kugbila

6-5, 347, Sr.

Valdosta State

OL

Eric Kush

6-4, 305, Sr.

California

OL

Tim Lelito

6-4, 315, Sr.

Grand Valley

DL

David Bass

6-5, 275, Sr.

Missouri Western

DL

Ben Pister

6-4, 280, Sr.

Missouri Western

DL

Ty Powell

6-3, 250, Sr.

Harding

DL

Chris Schaudt

6-4, 270, Jr.

Minnesota State

LB

Jeremy Aguilar

6-1, 235, Sr.

Texas A&M-Kingsville

LB

Nate Dreiling

6-4, 229, Jr.

Pittsburg State

LB

Cory Johnson

5-10, 240, Sr.

Catawba

DB

Pierre Desir

6-2, 206, Jr.

Lindenwood

DB

Brandon Dixon

6-0, 195, Jr.

Northwest Missouri

DB

Jeff Heath

6-1, 215, Sr.

Saginaw Valley

DB

Jack Moro

5-11, 190, Jr.

St. Cloud

K

Sam Brockshus

5-10, 190, Jr.

Minnesota State

P

Randy Weich

6-2, 250, Sr.

Wayne State (Neb.)

AP

John Brown

5-11, 171, Jr.

Pittsburg State

Honorable Mention

QB

Taylor Housewright

6-2, 208, Sr.

Ashland

QB

Kevin Rodgers

6-3, 215, So.

Henderson State

QB

Kameron Smith

6-0, 180, Sr.

Winston-Salem

RB

Joe Glendening

5-10, 191, Sr.

Hillsdale

RB

Jordan Roberts

5-11, 225, Sr.

Charleston

RB

Rayon Simmons

5-10, 201, Sr.

Winona State

RB

Harvie Tuck

5-9, 215, Sr.

IUP

WR

Lemar Durant

6-2, 226, So.

Simon Fraser

WR

Mar'Quone Edmonds

6-2, 211, Sr.

Indianapolis

WR

Gerald Ford

6-3, 220, Jr.

Valdosta State

WR

Christopher Slaughter

6-3, 180, Sr.

Fort Valley

WR

Jason Thompson

6-3, 185, Sr.

New Haven

WR

Mike Williams

5-11, 185, Jr.

California

TE

Reggie Jordan

6-3, 235, Jr.

Missouri Western

OL

Macon Allen

6-4, 310, Sr.

Missouri Western

OL

Michael Bowie

6-5, 320, Sr.

Northeastern State

OL

Kevin Day

6-0, 270, Sr.

Carson-Newman

OL

Markus Lawrence

6-4, 290, Sr.

Winston-Salem

OL

Dan Matha

6-7, 310, Sr.

IUP

OL

Kaleb Myrick

6-3, 325, Sr.

Lenoir-Rhyne

OL

Ken VanHeule

6-4, 315, Sr.

Midwestern State

OL

Rod Williams

6-5, 300, Sr.

Northwest Missouri

DL

Armonty Bryant

6-4, 270, Sr.

East Central

DL

Richard Daniel

6-2, 255, sr.

Wayne State (Neb.)

DL

Brad Davis

6-1, 245, Sr.

Elizabeth City

DL

Rufus Johnson

6-5, 257, Sr.

Tarleton State

DL

Jamie Meder

6-2, 304, Jr

Ashland

DL

Jake Metz

6-6, 247, Jr.

Shippensburg

DL

B.J. Stevens

6-2, 245, Jr.

California

DL

Larry Webster

6-7, 240, Sr.

Bloomsburg

LB

Jordan Campbell

6-0, 230, Sr.

New Mexico Highlands

LB

Jason Catchings

6-2, 233, Sr.

East Central

LB

Collin DeBuysere

6-4, 230, Sr.

Northwest Missouri

LB

Marcus Hall-Oliver

6-1, 220, Sr.

Minnesota State

LB

Corey Jones

6-2, 240, Sr.

Lane

LB

Chris Pope

6-1, 216, Jr.

Valdosta State

LB

Ronell Williams

6-1, 230, So.

West Chester

LB

Darius Wilson

6-1, 235, Sr.

Central State

LB

Tyler Zimmer

6-2, 235, So.

Seton Hill

DB

Malcolm Butler

5-11, 180, Jr.

West Alabama

DB

Nate DeJong

6-2, 210, Sr.

Northwest Missouri

DB

Johnny Franco

5-10, 205, Sr.

IUP

DB

Brian Gamble

6-0, 195, Jr.

Ashland

DB

Abdul Kanneh

6-1, 170, Sr.

New Mexico Highlands

DB

Matt Pierce

5-10, 196, Sr.

Valdosta State

DB

Jumal Rolle

6-0, 185, Sr.

Catawba

DB

Trelan Taylor

5-10, 195, Jr.

Chadron State

DB

Dajuan Williams

6-0, 182, Sr.

Fort Valley

K

Sergio Castillo

5-11, 175, Jr.

West Texas A&M

AP

Rondell White

5-10, 165, Jr.

West Chester

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