2/8/2010 - FOOTBALL Anderson earns Don Hansen Football Gazette All-America acolades

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PITTSBURG, Kan. - The honors continue to roll in for Bemidji State University linebacker Jake Anderson (Sr., Karlstad, Minn.).  Today Don Hansen’s Football Gazette named the 2009 captain Third-Team All-America Defense.

Anderson, who also garnered Second-Team All-America accolades from Daktronics, inc. at the conclusion of the 2009 campaign, follows 2008 teammate Terrell Phelps on the Gazette's All-America squad marking just the 20th time in the program’s 84 years of existence that a player has earned All-America honors.

Anderson was again a force for the Beavers’ “Gang Green” defense in 2009. A First-Team All-NSIC pick and Preseason NSIC Player to Watch this season, he finished second on the team with 69 tackles (22 solo), posted a team-best 15.0 tackles for loss and was tops in the league with 10.5 quarterback sacks on a defensive unit that capped the regular season ranked 14th in the country allowing just 276 yards per game and a meager 81 rushing yards per contest to rank seventh.

Anderson finished his career sitting fourth on BSU’s tackles for loss list (39.5) and eighth in quarterback sacks (16.5), while his 10.5 sacks this fall stood third on the team’s single-season sacks chart.

The Beavers’ 17 previous All-America selections took place between 1956 and 2006 and came from the NAIA, d2football.com and the Football Gazette. Anderson joins the likes of BSU greats such as Guy Vena (1958), Al Wolden (1986) and BSU’s all-time leading rusher Eddie Acosta (2000 and 2001). Anderson was one of just five players hailing from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference to garner Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-America laurels joining University of Minnesota Duluth running back Isaac Odim and linebacker Robbie Aurich, Minnesota State University's Andy Schoonver and Frederick Bruno of Wayne State College.

This marks the 22nd year that Don Hansen's Football Gazette, a recognized authority on small college football, has selected an NCAA Division II All-America Team.  The national publication selected all-region teams with the first-team and second-team all-region players for each of the four geographic regions comprising the national ballot, which was voted upon by a select national panel.

Bemidji State finished the 2009 campaign with an 8-3 overall record and a 7-3 mark in league play. With eight wins, BSU has now posted eight or more wins five times since head coach Jeff Tesch took the reigns of the program 14 years ago. In the 70 seasons prior to his arrival, Bemidji State recorded just one eight-win campaign.

Tesch returns 11 starters on the offensive side of the ball, which includes First-Team All-NSIC quarterback Derek Edholm (Jr., Anoka, Minn.) and eight starters on a defense led by Jordan Lardinois (Jr., DE, New Franken, Wis.) a First-Team All-NSIC defensive lineman.

--bsu--