Two x Two All-West Region Honorees
MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/05/17)---For the second straight year Concordia had two players earn D3football.com All-West Region honors.
Senior fullback Chad Johnson and junior offensive lineman Brandon Bundgaard were selected to the website's All-Region squad. They follow in the footsteps of Josh Berg and Alex Berg who earned the honor in 2016.
Johnson was named to the All-West Region First Team while Bundgaard earned Third Team honors.
Concordia has now had at least one D3football.com All-Region award winner for six straight seasons. The Cobbers have now had 12 All-Region honorees since D3football.com started naming All-Region squads back in 2005.
The teams, selected in balloting by West Region sports information directors and D3football.com staff, were chosen from 259 nominations by Division III member schools. A total of 77 players were chosen. Players nominated for All-Region are eligible to be considered for D3football.com All-America honors, which will be announced the evening of Dec. 15, in D3football.com's pregame coverage for Stagg Bowl XLV.
Johnson and Bundgaard helped Concordia with an 8-2 overall mark and a 6-2 record in the MIAC. The eight wins mark the fourth time in the past six years that Concordia has eight victories in a single season. It is also the fifth time during that six-year stretch that CC has won six league games. The Cobbers are now 46-14 in all games in the last six seasons.
Johnson becomes the first Cobber to earn All-West Region First Team honors since Nate Adams won the award for his outstanding play in the 2013 season.
The All-West Region First Team honor comes after Johnson was named the MIAC Most Valuable Player. He also earned his third straight MIAC All-Conference award.
Johnson led the MIAC in rushing yards, rushing yards per game, touchdowns and points. Johnson rushed for 982 yards in the team's eight league games which averaged out to 122.8 yards per game. He ran for over 400 more yards than the next player in the MIAC.
Johnson rushed for over 100 yards in all but two of the team's 10 overall games in 2017. He ran for over 140 yards on five occasions and had a career-high 203 rushing yards in the team's win at Carleton.
Johnson scored 17 touchdowns in 2017 and accounted for 102 points. His 17 TDs was the second highest single season total in Cobber football history.
Johnson finished his career as a Cobber with 2,699 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns. His rushing total is second on the school's all-time list and his touchdown total is a Concordia record.
Bundgaard earns his first-ever All-Region honor after being named to the MIAC All-Conference First Team a few weeks ago. He is also the first Cobber offensive lineman to earn All-Region honors since 2012 when tackle Tom Knowlton was placed on the D3football.com All-West Region First Team.
Bundgaard was one of the leaders of the Cobber offensive line. He was the team's center for all 10 games on the season.
Bundgaard helped Concordia lead the MIAC in rushing. The Cobber offense was ranked ninth in Division III in rushing as they averaged 282.4 yards per game. Concordia was also in the Top 15 of the nation in fourth down conversion percentage and tied for 14th in red zone offense. The Cobbers made 70.0% of their fourth down attempts and had a 88.2-percent success rate inside opponent's 20-yard line.
Past Cobber D3football.com All-Region Award Winners (award started in 2005)
2016 - Alex Berg, Josh Berg
2015 - Erik Bye
2014 - Nate Adams
2013 - Nate Adams, Kenyon O'Brien
2012 - Brett Baune, Tom Knowlton
2008 - Travis Aufderheide
2007 - Grant Weller
2005 - Travis Almquist, Mark Halley, Brian Halverson, Josh Linman