FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State had 14 players named to the All-MIAA Football Team for 2016 on Tuesday (Nov. 15). The Tigers have three first team, two second team, and three third team selections, along with six players that earned honorable mention status. Sie Doe, Jr. was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year following his tremendous play this year at defensive end.
The 14 All-MIAA selections is a new high for FHSU under head coach Chris Brown. Last year, the Tigers had 13 all-conference picks.

First team selections went to senior defensive lineman Sie Doe, Jr., senior defensive back Raheeme Dumas, and junior running back Shaquille Cooper. Second team selections are junior defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd and senior linebacker Alex Schmidtberger. Third team selections include junior running back Kenneth Iheme, senior offensive lineman Mason Dickey, and junior kicker Brandon Brown. Honorable mention nods went to sophomore quarterback Jacob Mezera, redshirt-freshman wide receiver Layne Bieberle, redshirt-freshman tight end Matt Wendelberger, sophomore linebacker Jose Delgado, and senior defensive backs Rashad Dunnigan and DeAndre James.

Doe earns the second All-MIAA distinction of his career with a first team selection this year after honorable mention status last year. His dominating numbers up front on the defensive line earn him the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year award this season. Doe posted an impressive 15 sacks in the regular season, breaking the FHSU single season record by three. Add that to 6.5 sacks last season and he now shares the FHSU career record for sacks with Trevell Smittick, the person he passed for the single-season record. Doe currently ranks third in the nation in sacks, averaging 1.36 per game, and has eight more sacks than Cass Weitl, who ranks second in the conference in total sacks with seven. He also leads Super Region 3 in sacks by 3.5. Doe also leads the MIAA in tackles for loss (18.5) and is tied for 13th in the nation. He is tied with two other players for the national lead in forced fumbles with five. He recorded 76 tackles in the regular season to rank third on the team.

Dumas earned the first All-MIAA selection of his career, providing tremendous coverage for the Tigers at cornerback this year to earn a first-team selection. His six interceptions this year is just one shy of the single-season record at FHSU and it ties for sixth nationally. Add in seven pass break-ups to give him 13 passes defended this year, which ties for sixth best in the conference. He has a total of 32 tackles this year.

Cooper earns All-MIAA First Team honors for the second straight year at running back. Though his rushing yards total was down this season compared to last, currently at 825 for the year, he also provided a big threat as a receiver finishing with 32 receptions for 354 yards. He also added in 126 kick return yards this year to produce 1,305 all-purpose yards. He ranks second in the MIAA in total rushing yards and rushing yards per game (75). Cooper now ranks fifth all-time in all-purpose yards at FHSU with 3,744 in his career.

Shepherd earns the second All-MIAA selection of his career, moving up to second team honors this season after a third-team nod last year. At defensive tackle, he has 53 tackles, three sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, and one forced fumble this year.

Schmidtberger earns the third All-MIAA selection of his career with the second team selection. He was an honorable mention pick in both 2014 and 2015. He currently ranks third in the MIAA in tackles with 131, averaging 11.9 per game. He ranks fourth nationally in total tackles and tackles per game. Schmidtberger ranks third all-time in tackles for the NCAA Division II era at FHSU with 341.

Iheme earns the first All-MIAA selection of his career with a third team selection. He has given the Tigers a solid 1-2 punch at running back this year, producing 485 rushing yards. He has added 22 receptions for 177 yards and 156 kick return yards to produce a total of 816 all-purpose yards this year. Iheme went past the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his career this year, now with 1,148 rushing yards.

Dickey earns the first All-MIAA selection of his career with third team honors on the offensive line. Dickey has been a staple in the Tiger starting lineup over four years, making 44 consecutive starts. He has served as the team’s left tackle this year after starting three years at right guard.

Brown has been a great transfer addition to the team this year at kicker. He has produced 79 points this year, setting a new single-season record for kick scoring points at FHSU by passing the old mark of 77 by Roy Miller in 1992. With 15 field goals, he has also tied Miller for the single-season field goals made record at FHSU. His longest field goal of the season was 49 yards. He has also impressed on kickoffs this year averaging 59.2 yards per attempt, sending 31 of his 60 attempts for touchbacks. Brown has also been utilized for punting this year, averaging 40.4 yards per attempt on 37 tries with a season long of 78 yards to tie the second-longest punt in FHSU history.

Mezera earns the first all-conference honor of his career with the honorable mention nod at quarterback. After staying under the 300-passing yard mark for the first five games of the season, Mezera had a breakout game at Pittsburg State in Week 6 by throwing for 446 yards and five touchdowns, while adding 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground for 508 yards of total offense to break the school record. His 446 passing yards were most in the FHSU’s NCAA Division II history and third most all-time. He went on to throw for over 300 yards in the next two games. He finished the regular season completing 200-of-315 attempts for 2,342 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Bieberle gets an all-conference pick in his first year on the field for FHSU at wide receiver. He has 27 receptions this year for 409 yards, averaging 15.1 yards per catch with a team-best five touchdowns. He had the first 100-yard receiving game of his career at Emporia State with 116 yards.

Wendelberger also picks up all-conference honors in his first year on the field at FHSU. He has 15 catches for 163 yards at tight end and has been key in the blocking game as well.

Delgado receives the first all-conference selection of his career with honorable mention status at linebacker. Delgado ranks fourth in the MIAA in tackles with 101, averaging 10.1 per game. He ranks 27th nationally in tackles per game. He also has 8.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery this year.

Dunnigan gets the first all-conference selection of his career with the honorable mention pick at defensive back. Playing opposite of Dumas at the other cornerback position, Dunnigan compiled three interceptions and 46 tackles. He is tied with Dumas for the team lead in passes defended with 13 this year. His 10 pass break-ups ties for fifth best in the MIAA and he is tied for sixth in the conference in passes defended.

James earns the second All-MIAA selection of his career, but first as a defensive back. He was an honorable mention pick at kick returner as a freshman in 2013, but gets the nod this year as a safety. James has 52 tackles and two interceptions this year to go with 220 kick return yards. The senior now has 174 tackles and 1,268 kick return yards in his career. He ranks third all-time in kick return yards at FHSU.