Chadron State College football players Gunnar Jones and Hunter O’Connor were selected to the Division II Conference Commissioners’ Association’s All-Super Region 4 Teams, in a release from Colorado School of Mines on Thursday.
All-Region teams were voted on by sports information directors from among the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Lone Star Conference, and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference members.
Jones received All-Region First Team recognition as the region’s top placekicker after hitting on 10 of 16 field goals for a percentage of 62.5 percent. Twice in one game, he booted 57-yard scoring kicks which tied the school record held by Aaron Turner. At the time, they were the longest field goals made at any NCAA level, and they remain tied for second after a Division I player hit a 61-yarder late in the season.
Taking Second Team honors was O’Connor, a standout defensive end. O’Connor put together a breakout season in 2022, with more than 75 percent of his stats coming in the last five games of the season. His 16 sacks during the regular season make him the national statistical runner-up in NCAA Division II, and he was fourth in tackles for loss with 24.0. He tied for second on the team with 60 total tackles. In addition, his 16 sacks broke the CSC single season record held by Casey Beran and Scott Dolfi.
The region’s voters also selected Mines’ quarterback John Matocha as the Super Region 4 Offensive Player of the Year, and Northern State defensive lineman Ian Marshall, coached by former CSC defensive coordinator Jeff Larson, was the region’s Defensive Player of the Year.