By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
WACO, Texas – Fort Hays State tight end Hunter Budke was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II All-America First Team on Wednesday (Dec. 8). He adds this prestigious honor on top of his All-MIAA First Team selection this season. Fort Hays State has now had an AFCA All-America selection in four of the last five seasons since 2016.
Budke had a big season for the Tigers with 47 receptions for 620 yards and eight touchdowns. He twice had over 100 receiving yards in a game in 2021 with nine catches for 122 yards as his season high at Missouri Western. He produced four or more receptions in seven of 11 contests and led the Tigers in receiving touchdowns for the season. Budke ranked eighth in the MIAA in receptions per game, all among a top 10 list that only included wide receivers aside from him. He was fourth in the MIAA in receiving touchdowns, only behind a trio of All-MIAA wide receivers that had 10 each. He finished 14th in receiving yards overall in the conference, the best among tight ends.
Budke is the first AFCA All-America First Team selection since Nathan Shepherd earned the distinction in 2017 on the defensive line. Shepherd is now in his fourth season with the New York Jets of the National Football League. A year prior to that, defensive end Sie Doe, Jr. was a first-team selection as well. In 2019 kicker Dante Brown was a second-team selection by the AFCA, but received first team honors from several other entities that season.
| AFCA All-America First Team | |||||
| Offense | |||||
| Pos | Name | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| QB | Tyson Bagent | Jr. | Shepherd (W.Va.) | Ernie McCook | Martinsburg, W.Va. (Martinsburg) |
| RB | Cody Schrader | So. | Truman St. (Mo.) | Gregg Nesbitt | St. Louis, Mo. (Lutheran South) |
| RB | TJ Cole | Jr. | Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) | Todd Knight | Texarkana, Tex. (Pleasant Grove) |
| WR | Danny Kittner | Jr. | UMary (N.D.) | Craig Bagnell | Gilbert, Ariz. (Higley) |
| WR | L’liott Curry | R-Sr. | Henderson St. (Ark.) | Scott Maxfield | Guthrie, Okla. (Guthrie) |
| TE | Hunter Budke | Jr. | Fort Hays St. (Kan.) | Chris Brown | Beloit, Kan. (Beloit) |
| OL | *Andrew Strickland | Gr. | Wingate (N.C.) | Joe Reich | Raleigh, N.C. (Millbrook) |
| OL | Dylan Pasquali | Sr. | Ferris St. (Mich.) | Tony Annese | Trenton, Mich. (Trenton) |
| C | Hayden Huttula | Jr. | Michigan Tech | Steve Olson | Hartland, Mich. (Hartland) |
| OL | Josh Dauberman | Sr. | Indiana (Pa.) | Paul Tortorella | Hughesville, Pa. (Hughesville) |
| OL | Brent Laing | R-Sr. | Minnesota-Duluth | Curt Wiese | Lakeville, Minn. (Lakeville North) |
| Defense | |||||
| Pos | Name | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| DL | Carl Igweh | Sr. | Frostburg St. (Md.) | DeLane Fitzgerald | Taneytown, Md. (Winters Mill) |
| DL | Sam Roberts | Sr. | Northwest Missouri St. | Rich Wright | Waynesville, Mo. (Waynesville) |
| DL | Deshawn McCarthy | Jr. | East Stroudsburg (Pa.) | Jimmy Terwilliger | Philadelphia, Pa. (Northeast) |
| DL | Chris Terrell | Gr. | West Alabama | Brett Gilliland | Pensacola, Fla. (Tate) |
| LB | *Drew Seers | Sr. | Lindenwood (Mo.) | Jed Stugart | St. Louis, Mo. (Parkway West) |
| LB | Marvin Terry | R-Sr. | Delta St. (Miss.) | Todd Cooley | Dallas, Tex. (South Oak Cliff) |
| LB | Carter Duxbury | Jr. | Winona St. (Minn.) | Tom Sawyer | Chatfield, Minn. (Chatfield) |
| DB | Kishawn Walker | Sr. | Kentucky Wesleyan | Craig Yeast | Owensboro, Ky. (Owensboro) |
| DB | D’Anthony Bell | R-Sr. | West Florida | Pete Shinnick | Covington, Ga. (Alcovy) |
| DB | *Tobias Harris | Jr. | West Texas A&M | Hunter Hughes | Pflugerville, Tex. (Hendrickson) |
| DB | Jermal Martin Jr. | Jr. | California (Pa.) | Gary Dunn | South Philadelphia, Pa. (Academy Park) |
| Specialists | |||||
| Pos | Name | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| PK | Jed Quackenbush | Gr. | Ohio Dominican | Kelly Cummings | Newark, Ohio (Newark) |
| P | Dean Krcic | Sr. | Kutztown (Pa.) | Jim Clements | Saylorsburg, Pa. (Pleasant Valley) |
| AP | Dominique Ramsey | R-Sr. | Texas A&M-Commerce | David Bailiff | Converse, Tex. (Judson) |
| *-2019 AFCA All-American | |||||
| AFCA All-America Second Team | |||||
| Offense | |||||
| Pos | Name | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| QB | TJ Davis | R-Jr. | Nebraska-Kearney | Josh Lynn | Colorado Springs, Colo. (Widefield) |
| RB | Michael Zeman | R-Sr. | Colorado School of Mines | Gregg Brandon | Wheat Ridge, Colo. (Holy Family) |
| RB | Toriano Clinton | Jr. | Indianapolis (Ind.) | Chris Keevers | Chicago, Ill. (St. Laurence) |
| WR | Henry Litwin | R-Sr. | Slippery Rock (Pa.) | Shawn Lutz | Linesville, Pa. (Conneaut Area) |
| WR | Senika McKie | R-So. | Erskine (S.C.) | Shap Boyd | Columbia, S.C. (Ridge View) |
| TE | Kyle Morlock | So. | Shorter (Ga.) | Zach Morrison | Blairsville, Ga. (Union County) |
| OL | *Tanner Owen | Sr. | Northwest Missouri St. | Rich Wright | Kearney, Mo. (Kearney) |
| OL | Justin Calderon | Sr. | Chadron St. (Neb.) | Jay Long | Levittown, N.Y. (MacArthur) |
| C | Jakob Pruitt | Sr. | Western Oregon | Arne Ferguson | Beaverton, Ore. (Valley Catholic) |
| OL | Joey Fisher | Jr. | Shepherd (W.Va.) | Ernie McCook | Hagerstown, Md. (Clear Spring) |
| OL | Sebastian Gutierrez | Sr. | Minot St. (N.D.) | Mike Aldrich | Pasco, Wash. (Pasco) |
| Defense | |||||
| Pos | Name | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| DL | Will Lydle | R-Sr. | Western Colorado | Jas Bains | Cedar Park, Tex. (Cedar Park) |
| DL | Logan Swanson | Gr. | Augustana (S.D.) | Jerry Olszewski | Mankato, Minn. (East) |
| DL | Joshua Pryor | R-Jr. | Bowie St. (Md.) | Damon Wilson | Baltimore, Md. (Paul Laurence Dunbar) |
| DL | Nate Chambers | Sr. | Hillsdale (Mich.) | Keith Otterbein | Otsego, Mich. (Otsego) |
| LB | Guam Lee | Sr. | Notre Dame (Ohio) | Mickey Mental | Farmington Hills, Mich. (Harrison) |
| LB | Coleton Smith | Sr. | Southwest Baptist (Mo.) | Robert Clardy | Appleton City, Mo. (Appleton City) |
| LB | Khyon Fitzpatrick | Jr. | New Haven (Conn.) | Chris Pincince | Union, N.J. (Paramus Catholic) |
| DB | Charles Crawford | Gr. | Clark Atlanta | Tim Bowens | Prichard, Ala. (Vigor) |
| DB | Damar’ren Mitchell | Jr. | Colorado Mesa | Tremaine Jackson | Magnolia, Tex. (Magnolia West) |
| DB | Ty’Shonan Brooks | Sr. | Minnesota St. | Todd Hoffner | Brooklyn Park, Minn. (Park Center) |
| DB | Chance Olson | Gr. | Northern St. (S.D.) | Mike Schmidt | Langford, S.D. (Langford) |
| Specialists | |||||
| Pos | Name | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| PK | Omar Cervantes | Jr. | West Georgia | David Dean | Fort Valley, Ga. (Peach County) |
| P | Achille Laudet | Fr. | Lincoln (Pa.) | Josh Dean | Stillwater, Minn. (Stillwater) |
| AP | James Letcher Jr. | Sr. | Washburn (Kan.) | Craig Schurig | Kansas City, Kan. (Piper) |