Two Grizzlies earn AFCA All-America honors

The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) named a pair of Montana Grizzlies to one of its two All-America teams on Thursday.

Cornerback Justin Ford picked up the fourth All-America award of the 2022 postseason with a place on the AFCA first-team, while FCS Punter of the Year Patrick Rohrbach was named to the second team.

Montana's two selections were the second-most of any team in the Big Sky Conference, with Sacramento State leading the way with four.

Ford, who led all of NCAA football in 2021 with nine interceptions, also earned first-team honors from HERO Sports and second-team honors from AP and Stats Perform, despite seeing little action on his side of the field in 2022.

UM's opponents completed 229 passes for 2,391 yards against the Griz all season. Just 12 of those passes were caught by the man Ford was defending for a total of 163 yards. He finished the year with four shut-outs where his opponent logged zero catches in a game.

He also amassed 34 total tackles, including two for loss this season. He finished fourth on the team in pass breakups with five, and was one of four players to lead the team with two interceptions and recovered a fumble as well.

Rohrbach earns his fifth All-America nod of the year from the AFCA, landing on the second team at punter.

The true freshman from Kalispell was named the FCS Punter of the Year after leading the Big Sky with an average of 45.2 yards per attempt, the second-best average in UM program history. Montana's punt coverage unit also posted the second-best net punt average in the FCS this season at 41.52 yards. Together, Montana allowed opponents to average just 3.68 yards per punt return.

The Glacier High product totaled 2,170 yards on 48 punts in 2022, dropping 18 inside the opponent's 20 and booming 15 punts 50-plus yards with a long of 68 yards.

With such gaudy numbers, accolades have poured in for Rohrbach. On Dec. 7 it was announced that he finished ninth in the voting for this year's Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award given to the nation's top freshman player at any position.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently picks teams in all five of its divisions. They are the only All-America teams chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best — the coaches themselves.

2022 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' All-America Team

First Team
Offense
Pos	Name	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
QB	Lindsey Scott Jr.	UIW	G.J. Kinne	Zachary, La. (Zachary)
RB	Geno Hess	Southeast Missouri St.	Tom Matukewicz	Peoria, Ill. (Peoria)
RB	Jaden Shirden	Monmouth (N.J.)	Kevin Callahan	West Haven, Conn. (St. Joseph's)
WR	Joey Hobert	Utah Tech	Paul Peterson	San Clemente, Calif. (San Juan Hills)
WR	Hayden Hatten	Idaho	Jason Eck	Scottsdale, Ariz. (Saguaro)
TE	Ryan Miller	Furman	Clay Hendrix	Jackson, Tenn. (University School)
OL	McClendon Curtis	Chattanooga	Rusty Wright	Chattanooga, Tenn. (Central)
OL	Colby Sorsdal	William & Mary	Mike London	Pittsburgh, Pa. (Mount Lebanon)
OL	Nick Olsofka	Holy Cross	Bob Chesney	Louisville, Ky. (Christian Academy)
OL	Cody Mauch	North Dakota St.	Matt Entz	Hankinson, N.D. (Hankinson)
OL	Mason McCormick	South Dakota St.	John Stiegelmeier	Sioux Falls, S.D. (Roosevelt)

Defense
Pos	Name	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
DL	Jay Person	Chattanooga	Rusty Wright	Cleveland, Tenn. (Bradley Central)
DL	David Walker	Central Arkansas	Nathan Brown	Stuttgart, Ark. (Stuttgart)
DL	Caleb Sanders	South Dakota St.	John Stiegelmeier	Glenwood, Iowa (Glenwood)
DL	*Isaiah Land	Florida A&M	Willie Simmons	Buffalo, N.Y. (Grayson)
LB	John H. Ford II	UT Martin	Jason Simpson	Nashville, Tenn. (Overton)
LB	John Pius	William & Mary	Mike London	Arlington, Va. (Yorktown)
LB	Zeke Vandenburgh	Illinois St.	Brock Spack	Freeport, Ill. (Freeport)
DB	Alijah Huzzie	East Tennessee St.	George Quarles	Franklin, Ga. (Heard County)
DB	*Justin Ford	Montana	Bobby Hauck	Concord, N.C. (Cox Mill)
DB	Kedrick Whitehead	Delaware	Ryan Carty	Middletown, Del. (Middletown)
DB	Khalil Baker	North Carolina Central	Trei Oliver	Winston-Salem, N.C. (East Forsyth)

Specialists
Pos	Name	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
P	Jake Gerardi	Southern Utah	DeLane Fitzgerald	Oceanside, Calif. (Oceanside)
PK	Skyler Davis	Elon	Tony Trisciani	Acworth, Ga. (Allatoona)
AP	Abraham Williams	Weber St.	Jay Hill	Salt Lake City, Utah (West)
LS	Brock Powers	UT Martin	Jason Simpson	Cornersville, Tenn. (Cornersville)


Second Team
Offense
Pos	Name	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
QB	Tim DeMorat	Fordham	Joe Conlin	Merritt Island, Fla. (Viera)
RB	^Jaleel McLaughlin	Youngstown St.	Doug Phillips	Marshville, N.C. (Forest Hills)
RB	Cameron Skattebo	Sacramento St.	Troy Taylor	Rio Linda, Calif. (Rio Linda)
WR	Xavier Smith	Florida A&M	Willie Simmons	Haines City, Fla. (Ridge)
WR	*Xavier Gipson	Stephen F. Austin	Colby Carthel	Dallas, Tex. (Wilson)
TE	*Marshel Martin	Sacramento St.	Troy Taylor	Vallejo, Calif. (St. Patrick-St. Vincent)
OL	Jacob Johanning	Furman	Clay Hendrix	Simpsonville, S.C. (St. Joseph's)
OL	Phil Saleh	Fordham	Joe Conlin	Oak Park, Ill. (River Forest)
OL	John Allen	Southeastern Louisiana	Frank Scelfo	Jackson, Miss. (Forest Hill)
OL	Mike Edwards	Campbell	Mike Minter	Hope Mills, N.C. (South View)
OL	Nash Jensen	North Dakota St.	Matt Entz	Maple Grove, Minn. (Osseo)

Defense
Pos	Name	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
DL	Muhindo Kapapa	San Diego	Dale Lindsey	Fairfield, Calif. (Armijo)
DL	Daylan Dotson	UT Martin	Jason Simpson	Savannah, Ga. (Jenkins)
DL	Truman Jones	Harvard	Tim Murphy	Atlanta, Ga. (Westminster)
DL	#Spencer Waege	North Dakota St.	Matt Entz	South Shore, S.D. (Watertown)
LB	Marte Mapu	Sacramento St.	Troy Taylor	Hawthorne, Calif. (Hawthorne)
LB	Johnny Buchanan	Delaware	Ryan Carty	Brick, N.J. (St. John Vianney)
LB	Aubrey Miller Jr.	Jackson St.	Deion Sanders	Memphis, Tenn. (Whitehaven)
DB	Lawrence Johnson	Southeast Missouri St.	Tom Matukewicz	St. Louis, Mo. (Riverview Gardens)
DB	Devin Haskins	Holy Cross	Bob Chesney	Celina, Tex. (Prosper)
DB	Benny Sapp III	Northern Iowa	Mark Farley	Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Eden Prairie)
DB	Michael Tutsie	North Dakota St.	Matt Entz	Indianapolis, Ind. (Warren Central)

Specialists
Pos	Name	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
P	Patrick Rohrbach	Montana	Bobby Hauck	Kalispell, Mont. (Glacier)
PK	Kyle Sentkowski	Sacramento St.	Troy Taylor	Blaine, Wash. (Blaine)
AP	Dylan Laube	New Hampshire	Rick Santos	Westhampton, N.Y. (Beach)
LS	*Robert Soderholm	VMI	Scott Wachenheim	Stafford, Va. (Mountain View)