Dixie State football defensive lineman Anthony Yarbrough was tabbed as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year, while 11 other Trailblazers earned All-RMAC honors.
Yarbrough landed DSU’s second RMAC Defensive Freshman of the Year award in the last three years, finishing the season with 24 tackles, including 18 solo stops and 13.5 tackles for loss. Yarbrough also tied the DSU single-game sacks record with three sacks against Fort Lewis on Sept. 8, as well as the single-season sacks record (Keanu Foki, 7.5; 2016) with 7.5 sacks. Additionally, he recorded six quarterback hurries while forcing and recovering two fumbles.
Five Trailblazers earned first-team All-RMAC honors, including offensive lineman Tevia Tolutau, linebacker Abraham Reinhardt, defensive lineman Remington Kelly, punter Josh Carlson and wide receiver/kick returner Isaiah Wooden. The five first-team honors mark the most first-team honorees for Dixie State since garnering five in 2010.
Tolutau, a 2018 preseason All-RMAC honoree, started all 11 games on the offensive line, anchoring the unit that provided the DSU quarterbacks with the protection necessary to set a single-season passing yards record with 3,558 total passing yards. The Trailblazers offensive line also produced four 100-yard rushing performances (Sei-J Lauago – three, Trent Darms – one) during the 2018 campaign.
Reinhardt finished the season as DSU’s leader in three different defensive statistical categories. He recorded a team-best 79 tackles, including 47 solo stops and a team-high (tied with Yarbrough) 13.5 tackles for loss. Additionally, Reinhardt logged 3.5 sacks and a team-best (tied with Trayovn Watson) three interceptions, including a 66-yard pick-six at Adams State on Nov. 10.
Kelly, a two-time RMAC All-Academic team honoree, capped an illustrious four-year career at Dixie State with his first first-team All-RMAC honors. Kelly finished the 2018 season with 31 tackles, including 16 solo stops and seven tackles for loss. He also logged five sacks, forced two fumbles and blocked two kicks.
Carlson closed the 2018 season as the top punter in all of NCAA Division II, setting a DSU single-season record with an average of 45.7 yards per punt. Carlson blasted 17 punts of 50 more yards, including a DSU record 81-yard punt on Sept. 1, at CSU-Pueblo in his first game in a Trailblazer uniform. Additionally, he placed 14 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Wooden earned first-team All-RMAC honors as a kick returner, logging a team-high 288 kick return yards on eight returns for an average of 36.0 yards per return. He returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown against South Dakota Mines on Sept. 22, teaming up with Aaron Simpson for the reverse on the kick return. Additionally, Wooden caught seven passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
Three Trailblazers earned three second-team All-RMAC honors, including receiver Dejuan Dantzler, safety Trayvon Watson and linebacker Shiloh Pritchard.
Dantzler enjoyed a breakout season in 2018, catching 46 passes for 932 yards and seven touchdowns to become just the fourth DSU receiver in the Division II era to eclipse the 900-yard mark in a single season. Additionally, Dantzler set the DSU single-game receiving record in the Trailblazers’ 52-45 win over No. 6 Colorado School of Mines, making 11 receptions for 241 yards and three touchdowns.
Watson recorded his second-consecutive season of 50 or more tackles, logging 55 tackles during the 2018 campaign, including 38 solo stops and 8.5 tackles for loss. Additionally, Watson finished the season with a team-high (tied with Reinhardt) three interceptions, to go with seven pass breakups, two sacks and one forced fumble. He also logged a 92-yard kickoff return touchdown against No. 6 Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 3.
After earning RMAC honorable mention honors in 2016, Pritchard logged a career-best 63 tackles in 2018, including 39 solo stops and eight tackles for loss. He also recorded 2.5 sacks and two interceptions, including a 36-yard pick-six at CSU-Pueblo on Sept. 1. Additionally, Pritchard forced an RMAC-best four fumbles and one safety.
Three other Dixie State players garnered RMAC honorable mention honors, including quarterback Michael Sanders, offensive lineman Nathan Aceves and defensive lineman Sebastian Demartini.
Sanders broke multiple DSU passing records after appearing in just seven games in 2018. He completed 144-of-235 passes for 2,190 yards and 11 touchdowns. Sanders set the DSU single-game passing record at Chadron State (527 yards) before breaking his own mark with 553 yards passing and five touchdowns against No. 6 Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 3, to become the only DSU quarterback in the Division II era to pass for 500 yards or more in a single contest. Additionally, he set a DSU single-season record and finished third in the RMAC with 312.9 yards passing per game.
Aceves appeared in all 11 games and made 10 starts as a freshman on the offensive line, and he helped anchor the unit that gave DSU quarterbacks the protection necessary to set a single-season passing yards record with 3,558 total passing yards. The Trailblazers offensive line also produced four 100-yard rushing performances during the 2018 campaign.
Demartini recorded his second-consecutive season of 30 or more tackles, logging 33 tackles during the 2018 season, including 15 solo stops and 8.5 tackles for loss. He also recorded 5.5 sacks and forced one fumble.
Dixie State finished the 2018 season with a 7-4 overall record and 7-3 mark in RMAC play, marking the most successful season in the program’s Division II era.