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ST. PAUL, Minn. - Thirteen Bemidji State University football players have been selected for postseason All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors, headlined by a group of five players earning first-team honors. The announcement came from the NSIC office today after a poll of the league’s 14 head coaches.

BSU, which finished tied with Augustana College, Wayne State College (Neb.) and St. Cloud State for third in the NSIC standings with an 8-3 overall record and a 7-3 mark in league play, can attribute its 2009 success to a balanced, total team effort. The school’s representation on the All-NSIC teams reflects that. Bemidji State had six offensive players, six defensive players and a special teamer honored with postseason NSIC honors.

Junior quarterback Derek Edholm (Anoka, Minn.) highlight’s the team’s offensive honorees as the only BSU student-athlete selected to the All-NSIC North First Team offense. He was joined on the 27-member first team by All-NSIC North Defensive honorees: Jake Anderson (Sr., LB, Karlstad, Minn.), Tiger Ellison (Sr., CB, Columbus, Ohio), Jordan Lardinois (Jr., DE, New Franken, Wis.) and Bryan Wick (Sr., DT, Duluth, Minn.).

Cory Immerman (So., C. Becker, Minn.), Davis Mickelson (So., OT, Elbow Lake, Minn.) and Andrew Schultz (Jr., WR, Grand Forks, Minn.) were Second-Team All-NSIC North offensive selections, while Andrew Eagan (Jr., LB, Sauk Village, Ill.) was BSU’s only second-team defensive honoree.

On special teams, Jesse Sundby (So., K/P, Argyle, Minn.) garnered recognition as the NSIC North second-team punter.

The Beavers also had three players designated as NSIC North Division All-Conference Honorable Mention picks. Freshmen Dustin Kroeplin (RB, Withee, Wis.) and Brian Leonhardt (TE, Blaine, Minn.) were joined by strong safety Brody Scheff (So., Waconia, Minn.) on the honorable mention squad.

• Edholm completed one of the finest seasons by a BSU quarterback in program’s 84-year history and became the first Beaver signal caller to pull down a spot on the all-conference first team since Geoff Martinson was named to the squad in 2001. The junior started each of the Beavers’ 11 games and finished the season having a hand in 33 of the Beavers’ 49 offensive touchdowns. He completed 130-of-213 pass attempts for 1,662 yards and 25 touchdowns. In addition, he was third on the team rushing for 343 yards and eight touchdowns on 123 attempts. His 25 TD passes matches Martinson for third on BSU’s single-season touchdown passes list, while his 61-percent pass completion rate ranks third on the teams single-season charts and his 160.61 passing efficiency is second only to Martinson’s 2001 mark (165.4). Edholm threw for a personal-best five touchdowns twice in 2009 (10/24/09 & 10/31/09), ran for three TDs (9/5/09) and rolled up 391 yards through the air versus University of Minnesota Duluth (10/31/09).
• Anderson was again a force for the Beavers’ Gang Green defense in 2009. A 2008 second-team pick, 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 finished the regular season ranked 15th in the country allowing just 276 yards per game and a meager 81 rushing yards per contest to rank ninth. Anderson finished his career ranked fourth on BSU tackles for loss list (39.5) and eighth in quarterback sacks (16.5) while his 10.5 in 2009 stands third on BSU’s single-season sacks chart. The post-season honor came on the heels of being named as a 2009 NSIC Preseason Defensive Player to Watch.
• Despite playing just seven games due to injury, Ellison totaled 29 tackles (14 solo), led the team with three interceptions and was second on the team with four passes broken up. In addition, he forced a fumble.
• Starting 11 games for the Beavers at defensive end, Lardinois matured into one of the most feared defensive linemen in the NSIC. He posted 33 tackles (18 solo), which included 12.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. In addition, Lardinois led the Beavers with two fumble recoveries, accounted for a safety and batted down a pass.
• Wick anchored the defensive front with 18 tackles (5 solo) starting in all 11 games as the Beavers’ defensive tackle. Wick posted 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks and was a key to BSU allowing just 81 rushing yards per game to consistently rank among the NCAA’s top 10 defenses.
• Second-teamers Immerman and Mickelson were constants in the trenches for BSU. Behind the duo’s initial push, the BSU offense threw for 1,860 yards and 26 TDs, while ranking fourth in the NSIC rushing for 189.4 yards per game and piling up a total of 2,083 yards and 24 touchdowns. BSU averaged nearly 35 points per game and its 368 points in 2009 ranks as the third most prolific point total in program history.
• Schultz finished his junior campaign hauling in 23 receptions to rank second on team, while his four touchdown receptions ranked third. As one of Edholm’s most reliable receivers, Schultz was a go-to guy on third down and grabbed some of the Beavers’ most important catches. He also served as the Beavers’ primary punt returner averaging nearly eight yards on 18 returns.
• Sundby rounds out the Beavers’ second-team honorees as the NSIC North punter. The sophomore finished the season third in the NSIC North averaging 36.7 yards per punt. He finished the 2009 campaign pinning his opponents inside their own 20 yardline 13 times on 40 punts. He logged a career long of 61 yards, while just one attempt was blocked. He also handled the place-kicking duties for the Beavers hitting four-of-six field goal attempts, 40-of-50 point after attempts and averaged 53.4 yards per kick off.

The NSIC honored a total of 75 student-athletes as All-NSIC North Division selections. NSIC North Champion University of Minnesota Duluth led all member institutions with 19 players honored and 13 players selected first team. Junior running back Isaac Odim took home NSIC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while fellow Bulldog Robbie Aurich was named Defensive Player of the Year. Joining the UMD pair for individual awards were Southwest Minnesota State University’s Ryan Ratekin (Offensive Newcomer of the Year), Junior Aumavae of NSIC South Champion Minnesota State University (Defensive Newcomer of the Year), while MSU’s Todd Hoffner was selected as the league’s coach of the Year.

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