(Editor's note: Frontier Conference release.)
DILLON — The 2023 All-Frontier Conference football teams and individual award winners were announced Monday.
Montana Western quarterback Michael Palandri was chosen as the Offensive Player of the Year. This is the third consecutive season a Bulldog quarterback has been voted as the Frontier’s top offensive player. Palandri leads the conference by passing for 273.1 yards per game and with a 169.0 pass efficiency rating. He has 25 touchdown passes to three interceptions.
Noah Turnbull from Southern Oregon is the Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first SOU player to win the award. Turnbull leads the conference with nine sacks – tied for seventh-most in the NAIA – to go with 36 tackles, 13 tackles-for-loss, and one pass breakup. He had three games this season with multiple sacks.
After guiding Montana Western to a 9-1 record and the conference title, Ryan Nourse was selected as this year’s Frontier Conference Coach of the Year. The Bulldogs closed the regular season with eight straight victories to win their first outright conference crown since 1995.
Montana Western leads with seven first-team All-Frontier selections. Montana Tech had five named to the first team with Carroll and the College of Idaho receiving four each. College of Idaho has a Frontier-best 11 selections to both the first and second team.
Following is a list of the 2023 All-Frontier football teams:
First Team
Offense
QB - Michael Palandri, Soph., Montana Western
RB - Blake Counts, Sr., Montana Tech
RB - Avery McCuaig, Sr., Southern Oregon
WR - Malachi Spurrier, Jr., Eastern Oregon
WR - Wyatt Alexander, Jr., Montana Tech
WR - Eli Nourse, Fr., Montana Western
TE - Carson Ochoa, Soph., Carroll
OL - Hunter Mecham, Sr., Carroll
OL - Garrett Rehberg, Sr., College of Idaho
OL - Brandon Spencer, Jr., Montana Tech
OL - Marcus Lombard, Jr., Montana Western
OL - Imori Heard, Sr., Rocky Mountain
Defense
DL - Garrett Worden, Jr., Carroll
DL - Reese Artz, Sr., Montana Western
DL - Tanner Harrell, Sr., Montana Western
DL - Noah Turnbull, Sr., Southern Oregon
LB - Willie Nelson, Jr., College of Idaho
LB - Jason Grant, Soph. Eastern Oregon
LB - Cole Wyant, Jr., Montana Tech
LB - Kameron Rauser, Sr., Montana Western
DB - Tug Smith, Sr., Carroll
DB - Chip Mitchell, Gr., College of Idaho
DB - Kaysan Barnett, Jr., Rocky Mountain
DB - Spencer Kuffel, Soph. Southern Oregon
Special Teams
K - John Mears, Jr., Montana Western
P - Andrew Almos, Soph., Montana Tech
KR - Caden Cobb, Jr., College of Idaho
PR - Kaysan Barnett, Jr., Rocky Mountain
Second Team
Offense
QB - Andy Peters, Jr., College of Idaho
RB - Allamar Alexander, Sr., College of Idaho
RB - Zaire Wilcox, Jr., Rocky Mountain
WR - Jon SChofield, Sr., College of Idaho
WR - Joseph Dwyer, Sr., Rocky Mountain
WR - Sawyer Cleveland, Jr., Southern Oregon
TE - Ben Hruby, Gr., College of Idaho
TE - Jackson Clemmer, Jr., Southern Oregon
OL - Conor Quick, Sr., Carroll
OL - Brett Gydesen, Jr., College of Idaho
OL - Ryan Halford, Gr., College of Idaho
OL - Rocco Beccari, Jr., Montana Western
OL - Braden Reed, Jr., Braden Reed
Defense
DL - Moses Smith, Sr., Arizona Christian
DL - Hunter Peck, Jr., Carroll
DL - John Aragon, Soph., Rocky Mountain
DL - Ethan Hurst, Sr., Rocky Mountain
LB - Cameron Tibbetts, Soph., Arizona Christian
LB - Tucker Jones, Jr., Carroll
LB - Dylan Wampler, Sr., MSU-Northern
LB - Prince Johnson, Sr., Rocky Mountain
DB - Brady Frame, Fr., College of Idaho
DB - Matt Whitcomb, Soph., Montana Tech
DB - Angel Sanchez III, Jr., Montana Tech
DB - DeShawn Craig, Sr., Southern Oregon
Special Teams
K - Austin Drake, Jr., Rocky Mountain
P - Nicholas Hunchak, Jr., MSU-Northern
KR - Andre Martinez, Sr., Eastern Oregon
PR - Parker Robinson, Jr., Eastern Oregon
Honorable Mention
Arizona Christian: Spencer Cox (OL), Johnny Herrera (PR), Griffin Meier (DB), Jackson Ortiz (DB), AJ Sibley (RB).
College of Idaho: Tanner Leaf (LB), Brock Richardson (WR), Kobe Roberts (DL).
Eastern Oregon: James Gray (OL), Josh Mendoza (DB), Blaine Shaw (DB).
Montana Tech: Max Anderson (OL), Major Niccum (LB), Landers Smith (RB), Blake Thelen (QB).
Montana Western: Bryer Monson (DL), Dylan Shipley (WR), Coby Tanioka (KR).
MSU-Northern: Braydon Cline (DL), Joshua Rose (PR), Lucas Thacker (LB).
Rocky Mountain: Wyatt Brusven (LB/P), Jack Cline (DB), DeNiro Killian Jr. (WR), John Waddell (DB).
Southern Oregon: Brian Batres (K), Taye Courtney (DL), Brock Duyck (OL), Hunter Geissler (OL), Ty Glumbik (LB), Duncan Hicks (OL), Adonis Jackson (DL), Seth Miller (DB), Marve Nyembo (DB), Iona Purcell (LB).
Champions of Character award winners
Clayton Dowdy, Arizona Christian; Ben Held, Carroll; Joe Calzaretta, College of Idaho; Walker Camp, Eastern Oregon; Mark Estes, Montana Tech; Zack Rouse, Montana Western; Aiden Perkins, MSU-Northern; Chandler Stalcup, Rocky Mountain; Rayden Kaneshiro, Southern Oregon.
