Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines’ John Matocha, Nolan Reeve and Blake Doud are the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Football Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Year, respectively, the league announced Thursday. Colorado State University Pueblo’s Senon Chapple and Gary Seidenberger are the league’s Offensive and Defensive Freshmen of the Year, respectively, while Western Colorado’s Jas Bains is the RMAC Football Coach of the Year. The announcement of the league’s individual awards came Thursday alongside its all-conference teams and honorable mention list. The RMAC Football individual awards, all-conference teams and honorable mention distinctions are nominated and voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves or their student-athletes.
 
Matocha claims the league’s Offensive Player of the Year honor after yet another incredible season in which he has led the No. 1 Orediggers to a perfect 11-0 overall record and a 9-0 run through conference play. The redshirt senior quarterback ranks among the nation’s top 10 in 10 different categories and leads NCAA Division II in passing efficiency (178.0) while ranking third in both completion percentage (69%) and passing touchdowns (36). In his final regular-season appearance, Matocha became the NCAA’s all-time leader for total touchdowns at 181, surpassing Houston’s Case Keenum and Central Iowa’s Blaine Hawkins. The reigning Harlon Hill Trophy winner has strong odds to repeat as the award winner heading into the 2023 postseason and boasts one of the nation’s strongest resumés ahead of the NCAA DII Football Championships, for which the Orediggers earned the No. 1 seed in Super Region Four. The Magnolia, Texas, native is responsible for 20.7 points per game this season in addition to 318.9 yards of total offense. Matocha claims the league’s top offensive honor for the second consecutive season while earning a spot as a First Team All-Conference honoree after accounting for 38 touchdowns on the year.
 
Reeve is the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Orediggers’ efforts with seven sacks and nine tackles for loss throughout the regular season. The redshirt senior has been a driving force as an outside linebacker for a stingy Mines defense that limits opponents to a meager 11.5 points per game. He has appeared in all 11 games for the Orediggers and enters the postseason with 39 tackles, 12 solo, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. All told, the Mission Viejo, Calif., native also earns a first-team nod after racking up 70 yards on nine tackles for loss, 64 of which have come on seven sacks. He knocked down 5.5 sacks throughout the RMAC schedule and is a leader of a Mines defense that holds opponents to a 26.5% third-down conversion percentage. The Orediggers rank 14th nationally for red zone defense (70.9), ninth nationally for total defense (250.3 ypg) and fourth nationally for scoring defense.
 
Doud is the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Year as a punter after racking up 1,585 yards on 34 attempts throughout the regular season. He averages 46.6 yards per effort with a long of 77 yards, which he accomplished in the second game of the season against Angelo State. Doud has five touchbacks, forced seven fair catches and landed 15 punts inside opponents’ 20-yard line. Thirteen of his 34 punts on the year have gone for 50 yards or more while none have been blocked by opposing defenses. Behind Doud, the Orediggers rank first in the RMAC and second nationally in net punting (46.6). While the potent Mines offense can overshadow its punting regime, Doud has been spectacular for the Orediggers while averaging just 3.1 punts per game. He lands shots that allow the Mines defense to start in dominating field positions, forcing opposing teams into long drives that wear out their offensive units.
 
Chapple is the RMAC Offensive Freshman of the Year after a successful debut season on the ThunderWolves’ offensive line. He started at center and left tackle for a Pack offense that averaged 42 points per game. Behind Chapple’s efforts in the trenches, the ThunderWolves rushed for 1,934 yards and passed for 3,187 yards for an average of 446.3 yards of total offense per game. Chapple was crucial for the Pack’s attack and helped the offense finish the season with 4,909 yards of total offense, 63 touchdowns and an average of 6.7 yards per play. Behind the freshman, CSU Pueblo accounted for 462 points while outscoring opponents by an 18.2 margin.
 
Seidenberger is the league’s Defensive Freshman of the Year after racking up 50 tackles, 25 solo and 25 assisted, in his debut season on 11 appearances. He notched three pass breakups, recovered a pair of fumbles and collected one interception in the Pack’s second game of the year against a nationally-ranked Grand Valley State program. After earning four solo tackles in each of his final two games of the season, Seidenberger helped the ThunderWolves finish with an 8-3 overall record and a 7-2 mark in conference play. As a linebacker, he was instrumental in helping CSU Pueblo close the year ranked third in the RMAC for red zone defense (77.8%), scoring defense (23.8 ppg) and team passing efficiency defense (118.2).
 
Bains claims the RMAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Mountaineers to a 10-1 record in regular-season play and a 7-1 mark in RMAC games. The award marks the second in three years for the veteran coach and comes after he led his squad to a perfect 6-0 record at home this season. Western Colorado recently claimed the No. 2 seed in the NCAA DII Football Championships Super Region Four after serving as a staple in the national polls throughout the entire season. Heading into postseason play the Mountaineers average 38.2 points per game while limiting opponents to 16.4 points per contest. Western Colorado closed the regular season ranked No. 10 in the latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll and No. 12 in the latest D2 Football poll.
 
Of the 59 student-athletes named to the 2023 RMAC Football All-Conference rosters, nine schools are represented. Colorado School of Mines leads the way with 19 honorees, 14 of whom were named to the first team. Western Colorado checks in next with 10 selections, followed by CSU Pueblo with nine spots. Chadron State earned seven all-conference positions, while Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines each claimed five honorees. Colorado Mesa grabbed two spots on the all-conference roster, while Fort Lewis and New Mexico Highlands rounded out the lists with one selection apiece.