Seven Thunderbirds Honored on All-Big Sky Conference Teams

Published: November 28, 2016 | Author: Chanel Barnes | Read Time: 2 minutes

SUU Football PlayersThe Big Sky Conference has announced their All-Conference teams for the 2016 season and several Thunderbirds have been honored for their performances throughout the season.

The Thunderbirds placed four players on All-Conference First Team with Malik Brown, Robert Torgerson, Mike Needham, and Tate Lewis.

Senior running back Malik Brown was SUU’s offensive representative, as he rushed for 1,027 yards this season, breaking into the end zone on seven different occasions.

On the defensive side, junior defensive tackle Robert Torgerson and junior linebacker Mike Needham were both given First Team honors. Torgerson racked up 11 tackles for loss during the season with five sacks. Needham led the team in tackles with 76, adding nine tackles for loss and three sacks. Needham also led the team in interceptions with five.

Senior Tate Lewis was given the nod as punter of the All-Conference First Team. Lewis was named Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week twice during the season and helped lead the Thunderbirds to have one of the best special teams units in the conference. Lewis was also one of only three special teams players that were a consensus for First Team honors.

SUU had two more players honored on the All-Conference Second Team, with senior wide receiver Mike Sharp and senior cornerback Josh Thornton both given that designation.

Sharp led the T-Bird receiving unit with 75 catches for 898 yards and 12 touchdowns. Thornton finished the season with three interceptions and six pass breakups.

The Thunderbirds had one athlete on the All-Conference Third Team, with junior safety Kyle Hannemann being SUU’s lone representative. Hanneman finished the season with 37 tackles and two interceptions.

The T-Birds also had five players receive Honorable Mention status from the Big Sky Conference. Those five were: Evan Ross, Offensive Guard; Steven Wroblewski, Tight End; Sefesi Vaa’ivaka; Defensive Tackle; Taylor Pili, Defensive End; Junior Tufuga, Inside Linebacker.

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