November 28, 2011

Pipers Place Pair On All-MIAC Football Team

The last memory Morgan Scheper and John-Michael Vandenberg will have of the 2011 football season will be a pleasant one. The twosome were named to the second level of the All-MIAC football team. The voting is done by the coaches around the league. Scheper, a senior offensive lineman from Carlton, Ore., was a stalwart all season, starting all 10 games for the Pipers while serving as a chief protector for QBs Connor Sathre and Adam Meyer.

Vandenberg, a junior defensive back from Bothell, Wash., led the team in tackles with 86, 43 of which were unassisted. He also had an interception and a fumble return and figures to be one of the team leaders in 2012.

Josh Bain, the senior defender from Grand Meadow, Minn. whose season was torn apart by a series of injuries, was named as the school's representative on the Sportsmanship team. Bain, one of three MIAC players who were early semifinalists for the Campbell Award (given annually to the college football player who best combines athletics and academics), was limited to just five games but managed 22 tackles (including three for loss) and an interception.

Four other Pipers were named Honorable Mention. They are: P Alex Ferguson, CB Marc McDonald and a pair of defensive linemen, Cory Olsen and Eric Klaers. The latter is a senior. The first three are juniors. Ferguson was second in the conference with a 37.1 average. McDonald led the team in solo tackles with 47 and was second to Vandenberg overall with 77. Klaers was next with 30 solos and 48 overall tackles. Olsen led the team in Tackles For Loss with eight.