Post Season Awards Rolling In For The 'Cats

Coming off their most successful season since the 2004 National Championship season, the Linfield Wildcats are having players and coaches being recognized on a Regional and National Level. All of these Wildcat players and coaches are very deserving and there are some 'Cats that were not tapped that had a strong case but that is the nature of post-season recognition.

However, WC11 does want to say that the AFCA and D3football.com does these awards/post-season teams the right way. They only have so many slots and with over 230 teams in division III selecting these teams is not an easy task but I'm thankful they don't name every player and their cousins to these post-season teams and dilute the significance of the selections.

2009 AFCA Coaches Division III All-American Team
2009 D3football.com All-West Region Team

Let's lead off with the program's 42nd First Team All-American.

Linfield senior offensive guard Scott Millenbach was named to the AFCA Division III All-American team this past Tuesday. Millenbach anchored an offensive line that helped the 'Cats average 40 points a game and avg. 432 yards of offense a contest. Linfield's offensive line was outstanding this season and was a MAJOR reason for the 'Cats 12-1 season. Scott was also named 1st team all-west region by D3football.com and should be in the running for the d3.com All-American team that will be announced this Saturday before the Stagg Bowl.


Sophomore Safety Drew Fisher was named to the D3football.com's 1st team All-West Region Defense. Fish has an outstanding 2nd season in the 'Cats defensive backfield and led the defense in total tackles (73), 9 pass break ups, 4 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, a blocked punt, tied for 1st in Ints (5 w/ Nate Dixon), and might have led the team with bone jarring hits (Jaymin Jackson and Bubba Kukahiko might object to that). Drew had a great season and it wouldn't surprise me if he was named to D3football.com's all-american team.

Junior Defensive Tackle Paul Nishizaki was named to the West Region's 2nd team defense and for good reason. Nish was a major disruptive force for the 'Cats and IMO might just have been the Linfield defensive MVP. Nish has good but not eye popping stats: 30 tackles, 8.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 3 QB hurries, 2 forced fumbles, but his true value was wreaking havoc between the two offensive guards and changing how offenses attack the 'Cats. Offensive Coordinators around the NWC hate Nishizaki and I think that is just about the biggest complement a defensive tackle can get.

Junior Quarterback Aaron Boehme was named to the 3rd team West Region offense. I think we all know that Boehme is one of the top QB's in Division III so I was a little suprised to see Boehme only listed on the 3rd team in the West Region but you have to look at the talent in front of him and it had to be a hard decision for the D3 staff. Whitewater's Donovan is a flat out stud and Monmouth's Tanney was a well known product before the 2009 season and had another monster year. Boehme's stat line is crazy: 3,261 passing yards, 33 passing TD's, 551 rushing yards, and 10 rush TD's. The crazy part, I think he'll be even better next season.

Senior Wide Receiver Trevor Patterson was also named to the 3rd team West Region offense and I couldn't be happier for Trevor. The NWC has some outstanding wide receivers and Trevor was the only one named to the all-region team. Honestly, Trevor was the biggest surprise to me in 2009. Before this season he was so held back by injuries that I didn't know he was this big play receiver just waiting for his opportunity. In some ways I'm a little sad that we didn't get to see a healthy Patterson for multiple years but if you are going to go out as a senior, catching 78 passes for 1,264 yards and 17 touchdowns is a pretty damn good way to go out. His big play ability is going to be sorely missed next season.

Head Coach Joe Smith was named the West Region Coach of the Year and I'm 100% certain that Coach Smith would say this kind of honor is a reflection of the work the entire staff put in this season and he would be right. The 2009 Linfield Coaching staff was incredible from the jump and should be saluted for not only their work during the season but in the winter, spring, and summer. However, Coach Smith is the man upfront that drives this boat and a lot of doubters (babies) were slinging arrows at Coach Smith. Externally, that never seemed to bother him as he knew that the team was on the verge of breaking through. Coach Smith never lost his confidence or his drive during the past few seasons and it made this season sweet to see all the "haters" get silenced and put to bed with a resounding swing of a hammer that was this 2009 season.

Congrats Coach Smith, The entire Linfield Staff, and players on the post-season recognition.