POCATELLO, Idaho- Three Idaho State football players were named to the 2011 Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team.
Tavoy Moore, AJ Storms and
David Harrington all earned first-team all-conference and All-American honors in 2010 and the media from around the conference have tabbed them as Preseason All-Big Sky honorees for the upcoming 2011 season.
The three players have all been receiving preseason honors in various publications throughout the summer. Storms, who is a two-time first-team All-Big Sky Conference honoree has most recently been named to the Buck Buchanan Watch List and the College Football Performance Awards Watch List for linebackers while Harrington was named to the CFPA watch list for punters and Moore was named to the list for kickoff and punt returners.
Storms earned All-American honors as a junior where he played in all 11 games and led the nation and conference in tackles at 13.3 a game while earning first-team All-Big Sky honors. He has 312 tackles for his careers and is 103 tackles away from passing Mike Calley's record of 414 tackles. Calley played for the Bengals from 1984-87. Storms needs 160 tackles away from breaking the career Big Sky record for tackles.
Harrington was named to All-American teams by Walter Camp, Associated Press, Sports Network and Phil Steele. He started all 11 games and earned first-team all-conference accolades in 2010, averaging 44.3 yards on 69 punts. He had 13 punts where he pinned the opponent inside their 20-yard line. Harrington, who will be a senior in 2011, also earned Big Sky All-Academic honors.
Moore averaged 18.3 yards a return on punts and returned two for touchdowns. He became the first player in Big Sky history to return a kickoff and punt return back for a touchdown in the same game in two different contests. His first kickoff and punt return touchdown game was against Northern Colorado where he set a school record for all-purpose yards with 318 with a 91-yard kickoff return touchdown and an 81-yard punt return touchdown.
Then, against Montana he broke his own record with 323 all-purpose yards, including a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown and an 84-yard punt return touchdown. At the end of the season he earned First Team All-Conference honors and was named first team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association as well as the AP All-American team. In addition, he was named to the third-team Sports Network All-American team.
Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee and Sacramento State's Zack Nash were tabbed as the preseason conference's Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year.
Idaho State opens fall camp August 4 and opens the 2011 season Sept. 3 at Washington State. The home opener is Sept. 10 vs. Western State College. Ticket are half off and if Bengal fans become a fan of the ISU Athletics Facebook page they can print off a coupon for $6 tickets that can be redeemed at the ISU Ticket Office. ICCU will also be giving out shirts to the first 5,000 fans into the game.
Big Sky 2011 Preseason Accolades
OFFENSIVE PLAYER of the Year – DeNarius McGhee, So., QB, Montana State
DEFENSIVE PLAYER of the Year – Zack Nash, Sr., DE, Sacramento State
OFFENSE
QB *DeNarius McGhee So. Euless, Texas Montana State
RB Zach Bauman So. Chandler, Ariz. Northern Arizona
RB *Cory McCaffrey Sr. Sisters, Ore. Portland State
FB Vinni Palucci Sr. Phoenix, Ariz. Northern Arizona
OT Gabe Jackson Sr. Tacoma, Wash. Eastern Washington
OT *Caleb Turner Sr. Redlands, Calif. Weber State
C *Chris Powers Sr. Black Diamond, Wash. Eastern Washington
OG Alex Mott Sr. Troutdale, Ore. Northern Arizona
OG *#J.C. Oram Sr. Slaterville, Utah Weber State
TE Greg Hardy Jr. Fairview, Mont. Montana
WR *#Brandon Kaufman Jr. Denver, Colo. Eastern Washington
WR Chase Deadder Sr. Modesto, Calif. Sacramento State
WR Austin Shanks Sr. Pacoima, Calif. Northern Arizona
PK *Jason Cunningham Sr. Amarillo, Texas Montana State
Returns *#Tavoy Moore Sr. Long Beach, Calif. Idaho State
DEFENSE
DE *#Zack Nash Sr. Vacaville, Calif. Sacramento State
DE *#Isaac Bond Sr. Vancouver, Wash. Northern Arizona
DT *#Renard Williams Sr. Port Orchard, Wash. Eastern Washington
DT Bryan Waldhauser Sr. Worden, Mont. Montana
LB *A.J. Storms Sr. Meridian, Idaho Idaho State
LB *Nick Webb Sr. Salt Lake City, Utah Weber State
LB Zach Johnson Sr. Tumwater, Wash. Eastern Washington
LB Caleb McSurdy Sr. Boise, Idaho Montana
CB *Trumaine Johnson Sr. Stockton, Calif. Montana
CB DeShawn Shead Sr. Palmdale, Calif. Portland State
S *Matt Johnson Sr. Tumwater, Wash. Eastern Washington
S Jeff Minnerly Jr. Spokane, Wash. Eastern Washington
P *David Harrington Sr. Huntington Beach, Calif. Idaho State
Sp. Teams – *Darriell Beaumonte Sr. Lakewood, Wash. Eastern Washington
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