Thirteen Eagles garner all-conference accolades

Seven Chadron State College football players have been placed on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team, as announced Monday.

Including the seven first-team nods, Glen Clinton is the Offensive Freshman of the Year and Kevin Berg is the Special Teams Player of the Year.

Four other Eagles garnered second team nods and two earned spots on the third team.

Clinton, a redshirt freshman from Cody, Wyo., became the first CSC running back to top 1,000 yards since Danny Woodhead did it in 2007. Although Clinton didn’t start the first two games of the season, he rushed for 1,020 yards and seven touchdowns. He also added 24 receptions for 179 yards and he averaged 24.9 yards on 19 kick returns. His biggest return came in the Eagles’ 38-31 win over Colorado School of Mines when he ran the kickoff back for an 88-yard touchdown with just over a minute to play.

Berg, a senior from Longmont, Colo., set a school record by averaging 43.6 yards per punt this season. Fifteen of his 49 punts landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and 14 of them traveled at least 50 yards. He was also the RMAC all-conference punter in 2009 and he’s on the first team defense this year, at safety. He was third on the team in tackles (58) and led the Eagles with four interceptions and seven pass break-ups, despite missing one game.

Joining Berg on the first team are offensive guard Tim Hiett, offensive tackle Garrett Gilkey, outside linebacker Kevin Lindholm, cornerback Jed Herblan and kicker Michael Ziola.

Hiett, a junior from Arvada, Colo., and Gilkey, a sophomore from Sandwich, Ill., helped the Eagles’ offense average over 200 yards a game rushing and 29.9 points a game. Both started all 11 games this season. Hiett was also a second team selection in 2008.

Lindholm, a sophomore from Eads, Colo., finished fourth on the team in tackles with 57. He also had 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Herblan, a senior from Arvada, Colo., and a second team choice in 2009, was the Eagles’ top cornerback this season. He had 32 tackles and three interceptions, while breaking up six passes. In addition to his first team selection, Herblan is third team punt returner. He averaged 13.5 yards on 14 returns in 2010.

Ziola, a redshirt freshman from Columbus, had a stellar season. He tied the school record for most field goals in a season with 18 successful kicks and he was also a perfect 39-for-39 in extra points.

The Eagles second team selections include offensive center Sean McGowan, a junior from Lakewood, Colo., defensive end Cory Beran, a senior from Sargent, middle linebacker James Belville, a junior from Valentine, and Clinton at running back.

In addition to Herblan, the other third team selection is sophomore defensive tackle Keifer Burke of Brady, Neb.

Chadron State finished the 2010 season with an 8-3 record and a 7-2 mark in the conference.

The RMAC Offensive Player of the Year is Colorado School of Mines quarterback Clay Garcia, and his teammate Marc Schiechl is the Defensive Player of the Year.

Beau Martin of Colorado State University-Pueblo is the Defensive Freshman of the Year and Bob Stitt of Colorado School of Mines is the RMAC Coach of the Year.