VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota senior wide receiver
Dakarai Allen (Largo, Fla.) has been named to the Missouri Valley Football Preseason Offense Team announced Tuesday by the league office. In addition, senior quarterback
Austin Simmons (Council Bluffs, Iowa) and junior offensive lineman
Mason Scheidegger (Fonda, Iowa) received enough votes to earn honorable mention.
Allen was the Coyotes' leading receiver in 2018 with 48 catches for 703 yards and five touchdowns. Those numbers made Allen an all-MVFC honoree for the first time. He ranked seventh in the Valley in receiving yards and was sixth for catches.
Allen has played in 31 games over the past three seasons. He has accumulated 75 catches for 1,004 yards and 11 scores. Allen totaled a career-high 183 yards in last year's win at Southern Illinois, the sixth-highest total in program history. Allen is the 12
th Coyote since 2000 to surpass 1,000 yards receiving.
In his first year as the starting signal caller, Simmons led the Valley and ranked fourth nationally with 3,124 yards passing during the regular season. That total is second-highest in program history to
Chris Streveler's high in 2017. Simmons started all 11 games and completed 287-of-469 passes with 18 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He completed more passes than six other quarterbacks in the league attempted.
Simmons earned honorable mention honors from the conference last year after leading the Valley and ranking sixth nationally for total offense at 314 yards per game. Not accounting for sacks, he was the team's leading rusher with 459 yards and a 6.5-yard per carry average. He passed for a season-high 462 yards with four touchdowns in last season's home opener against Northern Colorado, and threw for at least 325 yards in four of eight MVFC games.
Scheidegger also earned honorable mention honors a year ago for his work in leading the Coyotes' offensive line. He made all 11 starts at left guard and aided an offense that led the Valley and ranked 13
th nationally in passing at 285 yards per game. Scheidegger has started all 24 games since the start of the 2017 season.
2019 Missouri Valley Football Preseason Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| QB |
Ryan Boyle |
Indiana State |
Sr. |
Urbandale, Iowa |
| RB |
D.J. Davis |
Southern Illinois |
Sr. |
Pompano Beach, Fla. |
|
James Robinson |
Illinois State |
Sr. |
Rockford, Ill. |
|
Pierre Strong Jr. |
South Dakota State |
So. |
Little Rock, Ark. |
| FB |
Clint Ratkovich |
Western Illinois |
Jr. |
Crete, Ill. |
| WR |
Dakarai Allen |
South Dakota |
Sr. |
Largo, Fla. |
|
Dante Hendrix |
Indiana State |
So. |
Florence, Ky. |
|
Cade Johnson |
Soiuth Dakota State |
Jr. |
Papillion, Neb. |
| TE |
Briley Moore |
UNI |
Sr. |
Blue Springs, Mo. |
| OL |
Drew Himmelman |
Illinois State |
Jr. |
Geneseo, Ill. |
|
Zack Johnson |
North Dakota State |
Sr. |
Blaine, Minn. |
|
Dillon Radunz |
North Dakota State |
Jr. |
Becker, Minn. |
|
Jackson Scott-Brown |
UNI |
Sr. |
Council Bluffs, Iowa |
|
Wyatt Wozniak |
Indiana State |
Sr. |
Cypress, Texas |
| LS |
Bradey Sorensen |
South Dakota State |
Jr. |
Yankton, S.D. |
| PK |
Jerry Nunez |
Indiana State |
Sr. |
Naples, Fla. |
Honorable Mention (Offense): QB
Austin Simmons, South Dakota; FB Luke Sellers, South Dakota State; WR John Brunner, Western Illinois; WR Tyler Currie, Missouri State; WR Andrew Edgar, Illinois State; TE Ben Ellefson, North Dakota State; OL Isaiah Edwards, Indiana State; OL Evan Greeneway, South Dakota State; OL Gabe Megginson, Illinois State; OL
Mason Scheidegger, South Dakota; LS Ross Kennelly, North Dakota State; PK Chase Vinatieri, South Dakota State
