Knowlton And Baune Lead All-MIAC Landslide
MOORHEAD, Minn. (11/20/12)— Concordia was rewarded for their tremendous eight-win season as they swept the MIAC postseason player awards and had 23 players earn All-Conference honors.
Brett Baune and Tom Knowlton headlined the Cobber award winners. Baune earned the Jim Christopherson Award as the league's Most Valuable Player and Knowlton was given the Mike Stam Award which goes to the top lineman in the conference. The pair was also placed on the MIAC All-Conference First Team.
The two helped Concordia post their best season since 2005. The Cobbers went 8-2 in their 10 overall games, posted a 6-2 record in league play and were within a unsportsmanlike penalty call from earning a spot in the NCAA playoffs. CC finished the regular season by being ranked 22nd in both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) DIII poll as well as the D3football.com national rankings.
Baune becomes the first Concordia player to win the Christopherson award since Brian Schumacher in 2005. He is only the second Cobber athlete to earn the award since 1990 and second since the MVP honor was named after the longtime Concordia head coach starting in 2002.
Knowlton becomes the latest Concordia lineman to walk away with the Stam Award. He is the first CC lineman to earn the award since Travis Aufderheide in 2008 and sixth since the 2000. Concordia is the only school in the MIAC to have more than five players earn the Stam award in the past 20 years.
Joining Baune and Knowlton on the All-Conference First Team are Mark Wychor, Paul Streich, Matt Moenkedick, Jordan Doschadis and Seth Lage. Tom Quist, Mark Whiting, Griffin Neal, Reed Hefta, Tyler Berling, Pete Hvidston and Brent Rysdahl all earned MIAC All-Conference Second Team honors while Mike Starke, Ryan Filipek, Nate Albrecht, Max Fuller, Ben Wolf, Carl Nelson, Kenyon O'Brien, Brett Harmelink and Ben Wagner were placed on the MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention Team. Streich was also the team's representative on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.
Baune was the team's driving force on offense as the starting fullback. He was the first fullback in Concordia history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season – finishing the year with 1,050 rushing yards. Baune also broke the school record for career touchdowns. He led the team with 13 scores in 2012 and finished his career with 34 career TD's. That total is one more than the previous record of 33 held by current head coach Terry Horan. Baune was second in the MIAC in rushing yards per game, second in rushing scores and third in total rushing yards. He finished his career with 2,125 rushing yards which is the fourth most in school history. In addition to his MIAC MVP and All-Conference awards, Baune was also named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District and was a 2-time MIAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Knowlton was the team's anchor on the left side of the offensive line. As the starting left tackle, he protected quarterback Griffin Neal's blind side the entire year. Knowlton helped Concordia lead the MIAC in rushing yards per game (255.6) in overall games. CC was also third in the league in conference games. The Cobbers were 18th in the nation in rushing yards per game. Knowlton wascpart of an offensive line that helped the CC offense gain at least 400 total offensive yards in six of the team's 10 games. The high point of the year came on Sept. 8 against Buena Vista when the Cobber offense gained a season-high 634 total offensive yards. That total was the second most in school history.
Concordia 2012 All-MIAC Award Winners
All-MIAC 1st Team
Offense
Tom Knowlton, Brett Baune
Defense
Jordan Doschadis, Matt Moenkedick, Paul Streich, Mark Wychor
Special Teams
Seth Lage
All-MIAC 2nd Team
Offense
Griffin Neal, Tom Quist, Mark Whiting
Defense
Tyler Berling, Reed Hefta, Peter Hvidston, Brent Rysdahl
All-MIAC Honorable Mention
Offense
Nate Albrecht, Ryan Filipek, Max Fuller, Mike Starke, Ben Wolf
Defense
Seth Lage, Carl Nelson, Kenyon O'Brien
Special Teams
Brett Harmelink, Ben Wagner
Complete List of 2012 All-MIAC Awards