As the South Dakota State University football team heads into the 2017 season with high expectations, six Jackrabbit players were named Monday to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America Team.
Leading the Jackrabbit contingent is senior tight end Dallas Goedert. A first-team honoree on the 2016 STATS FCS All-America Team, Goedert recorded a school-record 92 receptions for 1,293 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. The Britton native topped the 100-yard mark for receiving in seven consecutive games in 2016.
Joining Goedert on the first team from the offensive side of the ball were wide receiver Jake Wieneke and center Jacob Ohnesorge. A senior from Maple Grove, Minnesota, Wieneke earned All-America honors for the third season in a row in 2016 with a second-team selection by STATS after tallying 78 receptions for 1,316 yards and matching his own school record with 16 touchdowns. Wieneke enters his senior season as the SDSU and Missouri Valley Football Conference career leader in both receiving yards (4,192) and receiving touchdowns (43).
Ohnesorge, a senior from Waunakee, Wisconsin, has been selected as a team captain for the third consecutive year and enters the 2017 season with a streak of 39 consecutive starts.
Sophomore linebacker Christian Rozeboom rounded out SDSU’s four selections to the first team. The runner-up for the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision a year ago, Rozeboom posted a team-best 132 tackles in 2016. He added five tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles.
Completing SDSU’s selections were third-team honorees Taryn Christion and Kane Louscher. A junior quarterback, Christion set or tied 11 single-game and single-season school records en route to being named the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year and earning third-team All-America recognition from STATS. The Sioux Falls native threw for a school-record 3,714 yards and tied an SDSU mark with 30 touchdowns. He also ran for 335 yards in becoming the first Jackrabbit to top 4,000 yards of total offense in a season.
Louscher, a senior from Mason City, Iowa, was selected as a fullback. Primarily used as a lead blocker throughout his career, Louscher also contributed in the passing game with three receptions for 32 yards in 2016.
