LOGAN, Utah-Tuesday, Utah State University football had eight student-athletes who received all-Mountain West Conference accolades per a statement from the league office.
Aggies who earned All-Mountain West Conference honors included senior offensive lineman Demytrick Ali’ifua, senior safety Shaq Bond, senior defensive end Nick Heninger, senior defensive lineman Marcus Moore, senior kickoff returner Savon Scarver, sophomore offensive lineman Karter Shaw, sophomore inside linebacker AJ Vongphachanh and freshman punter Stephen Kotsanlee.
Boise State had the most representatives on the all-conference team with 17. The Broncos face San Jose State in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference championship game from Las Vegas.
The Mountain West Conference’s offensive player of the year is Nevada sophomore signal-caller Carson Strong.
Strong completed 69.4 percent of his passes (227-327) for 2,587 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions for the Wolf Pack.
The conference defensive player of the year is San Jose State junior defensive lineman Cade Hall, while his coach, Brian Brennan, is the conference coach of the year.
Hall posted eight sacks and nine tackles for a loss for the Spartans this season.
Boise State speedster Avery Williams is the Mountain West Conference special teams player of the year.
The redshirt senior cornerback returned a punt for a touchdown and two kickoffs for scores this season.
UNLV freshman receiver Kyle Williams was named as the conference’s freshman of the year.
The native of Hawthorne, Calif. posted 35 receptions for 426 yards and two scores for the Rebels.
For the Aggies, Ali’ifua played 312 offensive snaps this season and graded out at 87 percent in his starts.
Bond had a team-best three pass breakups as well as an interception for Utah State.
Heninger led the Utah State defense with three forced fumbles, three sacks and seven tackles for a loss.
Moore posted 20 tackles, two sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
Scarver returned 10 kickoffs for the Aggies, including one for a 94-yard score in a 35-16 loss to Fresno State November 14.
Shaw netted 310 offensive snaps and graded out at 92 percent.
Vongphachanh posted three sacks, 3.5 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a safety.
Kotsanlee averaged 40.7 yards per punt for the Aggies, downing 17 of his 37 punts inside the 20-yard line and netted four punts of at least 50 yards. His longest punt of the season was 63 yards.
