Mustangs tabbed in top five by Preseason Mags

from the MSU Sports Information Department
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The Midwestern State Mustangs have been slated as a top five team in the ranking of a pair of preseason magazines.
 
Midwestern, coming off a 10-0 regular season before falling in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs, is ranked fourth nationally by Lindy’s Sports College Football Preview and fifth by USA Today 2012 College Football.
 
Lindy’s has MSU behind defending national champion Pittsburg State in the top spot, with Minnesota-Duluth (the 2010 national champ) second and Northwest Missouri State third.  Defending runner up Wayne State (Mich.) is fifth, followed by Delta State (Miss.), Winston-Salem (N.C.), Colorado State-Pueblo, Grand Valley State (Mich.) and New Haven (Conn.) in the top 10.
 
Lindy’s, who picked a top 25, placed Lone Star Conference foe Abilene Christian 13th, with 2012 opponent West Alabama 14th.
 
USA Today placed the Mustangs fifth in their top 10 rankings, keeping Pitt State, Minnesota-Duluth and Northwest Missouri as the top three and moving Grand Valley to fourth.  Colorado State-Pueblo is sixth, followed by Missouri Western, West Alabama, Abilene Christian and California (Pa.).
 
The magazines highlight returning senior quarterback Brandon Kelsey, who finished fourth in the Harlon Hill Award voting as a junior, and junior running back Keidrick Jackson, as a key reason the Mustangs are expected to have a great season.
 
Kelsey, who threw for 1,951 yards last season while rushing for 967, was the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2011.  Jackson led the LSC in rushing with 1,044 yards or 94.9 per game.
 
Offensive tackle Ken Van Huele, a 6-4, 320 pound senior from Hurst/L.D. Bell, was chosen to Lindy’s first team preseason All-America team.  He helped anchor an offensive line that saw the Mustangs lead the LSC in scoring offense (48.6 points per game), total offense (531.9 yards a game), rushing offense (323.5 ypg) and pass efficiency offense (161.2 rating).
 
Kelsey and Jackson were both named second team preseason All-America by Lindy’s.
 
The LSC was also represented on Lindy’s list by ACU’s Mitchell Gale, who was the first team quarterback and preseason MVP. Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Jonathan Woodson who was tabbed second team all-purpose player and Tarleton State’s Marquis Wadley was chosen second team linebacker.
 
Midwestern opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 8 at Tarleton State, with the Mustangs first game at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 29 against Incarnate Word.

USA TODAY COLLEGE SPORTS DIVISION II TOP 10

Rank	Team	2011 Record
1.	Pittsburg State	13-1
2.	Minnesota-Duluth	11-3
3.	Northwest Missouri State	11-3
4.	Grand Valley State	8-3
5.	Midwestern State	10-1
6.	Colorado State-Pueblo	11-1
7.	Missouri Western State	9-3
8.	West Alabama	8-4
9.	Abilene Christian	8-3
10.	California (Pa.)	10-3

    
2012 Lindy's Sports Preseason Top 25

Rank	Team	2011 Record
1	Pittsburg State (Kan.)	13-1
2	Minnesota-Duluth	11-3
3	Northwest Missouri	11-3
4	Midwestern State	10-1
5	Wayne State (Mich.)	12-4
6	Delta State (Miss.)	11-3
7	Winston-Salem State (N.C.)	13-1
8	Colorado State-Pueblo	11-1
9	Grand Valley State (Mich.)	8-3
10	New Haven (Conn.)	11-2
11	Valdosta State (Ga.)	6-4
12	North Alabama	9-3
13	Abilene Chrsitian (Texas)	8-3
14	West Alabama	8-4
15	Washburn (Kan.)	10-3
16	North Greenville (N.C.)	11-3
17	Nebraska-Kearney	10-2
18	Elizabeth City State (N.C.)	8-4
19	Kutztown (Pa.)	11-2
20	Hillsdale (Mich.)	8-3
21	California (Pa.)	10-3
22	St. Cloud State (Minn.)	9-3
23	Missouri Western	9-3
24	Mars Hill (N.C.)	8-3
25	Humboldt State (Calif.)	9-1

2012 Lindy's Preseason All America Team
Most Valuable Player
Mitchell Gale, Abilene Christian
Offensive Player of the Year
Daronte McNeill, Elizabeth City State
Defensive Player of the Year
Nate Dreiling, Pittsburg State
Newcomer of the Year
Rod Woodson, North Alabama

First Team Offense

Pos.	Player	Class	School
QB	Mitchell Gale	Sr.	Abilene Christian
RB	Joe Glendening	Sr.	Hillsdale
RB	Daronte McNeill	Sr.	Elizabeth City State
WR	Chris Bowden	Sr.	Wingate
WR	Charles Johnson	Sr.	Grand Valley State
TE	Joe Don Duncan	Sr.	Dixie State
OL	Macon Allan	Sr.	Missouri Western
OL	Garth Heikkinen	Sr.	Minnesota-Duluth
OL	Tim Lelito	Sr.	Grand Valley State
OL	Ken Van Heule	Sr.	Midwestern State
OL	Rod Williams	Sr.	Northwest Missouri
AP	John Brown	Jr.	Pittsburg State
K	Derek Koon	Jr.	Truman

First Team Defense

Pos.	Player	Class	School
DL	David Bass	Sr.	Missouri Western
DL	Jonas Celian	Sr.	West Virginia Wesleyan
DL	Tim Green	Sr.	Lincoln (Pa.)
DL	Tom  Herd	Sr.	New Haven
LB	Jordan Campbell	Sr.	N.M. Highlands
LB	Nate Dreiling	Jr.	Pittsburg State
LB	Cody Fleming	Sr.	Shippensburg
DB	Aaron Cornett	Sr.	Wayne State (Mich.)
DB	Alex Dinolfi	Sr.	Kutztown
DB	Rontez Miles	Sr.	California (Pa.)
DB	Richie Schumacher	Sr.	Truman
P	Taylor Accardi	Sr.	Colorado Mines

Second Team Offense

Pos.	Player	Class	School
QB	Brandon Kelsey	Sr.	Midwestern State
RB	James Franklin	Jr.	Northwest Missouri
RB	Keidrick Jackson	Jr.	Midwestern State
WR	DeJuan Beard	Jr.	Washburn
WR	Isaiah Voegeli	Sr.	Merrimack
TE	David Pawelek	Sr.	Colorado Mines
OL	Logan Freeman	Sr.	Central Missouri
OL	Brett Frydendahl	Sr.	Humboldt State
OL	Mike Nelson	Jr.	Central Washington
OL	Ryan Schraeder	Sr.	Valdosta State
OL	Lamar Young	Sr.	Delta State
AP	Jonathan Woodson	Sr.	Texas A&M-Kingsville
K	Rockne Balmonte	Sr.	Northern Michigan

Second Team Defense

Pos.	Player	Class	School
DL	Brad Davis	Sr.	Elizabeth City State
DL	Vauchard Goodridge	Jr.	Clark Atlanta
DL	Howard Jones	Jr.	Shepherd
DL	Brandon Williams	Sr.	Missouri Southern
LB	Cody Bloom	Jr.	Ashland
LB	Jesse Robertson	Sr.	West Virginia Wesleyan
LB	Marquis Wadley	Jr.	Tarleton State
DB	Derek Lohmann	Sr.	Emporia State
DB	Sam Kuck	Sr.	Nebraska-Kearney
DB	Marvin Matthews	Sr.	St. Cloud State
DB	Bryce Peila	Sr.	Western Oregon
P	Randy Weich	Sr.	Wayne State (Neb.)

Former Texan Derrick Ross finds success in AFL

By BRAD KEITH
Stephenville Empire-Tribune

Former Tarleton State running back Derrick Ross may not have made his way back to the NFL, but he's been dominant in the Arena Football League this season, including earning a recent National Guard MVP of the week honor.

Ross set franchise records with 84 rushing yards and five touchdowns to lead Philadelphia Soul past the Orlando Predators, 79-48. The five TDs are the most by any player in a game this season, according to a release from AFL Communications.

Ross, 28, became just the 10th player in AFL history to rush for 1,000 career yards, doing so faster than any player in the league's history - 29 games - according to the release.

The former Texan posted the two best single-game rushing totals in Tarleton history, gaining 269 yards against Western New Mexico on Sept. 10, 2005 and 260 against N.M. Highlands on Aug. 26, 2004. He also had the two best rushing seasons at Tarleton - 1,560 yards in 2005 and 1,512 in 2005 when he played in just nine games. His 3,072 rushing yards are second on Tarleton's career list behind Ricky Bush, who galloped for 3,389 yards from 1979-82.

Ross joined the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the summer of 2005. He spent one season with the team, then was the NFL Europe MVP for the Cologne (Germany) Centurions the next summer. He returned to the Chiefs in 2006 only to be cut in training camp.

The Huntsville native who ran for Blinn College (junior college) before joining the Texans, is in his second season with the Soul. He has also spent time with the Winnipeg Bombers and Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and was the 2010 Indoor Football League rookie of the year while with the San Angelo Stampede Express.