OGDEN, Utah -- Northern Arizona placed 19 players on the All-Big Sky teams for a total of 21 honors, announced Tuesday. NAU and Eastern Washington both placed a league-best five players on the first team.
Leading the way for the Lumberjacks is three-time selection senior running back Zach Bauman, who was named to the first team. The Chandler native leads NAU with 1,355 rushing yards on 248 carries. He ranks third all-time in Big Sky history with 5,031 career rushing yards. He is one of nine players in FCS history to rush for 1,000 yards four times. Bauman also has a total of 1,632 all-purpose yards.
The other first-team selections are junior tight end R.J. Rickert of Gilbert, senior cornerback Anders Battle of Phoenix, senior safety Lucky Dozier of Sacramento, Calif., and senior defensive lineman Tim Wilkinson of Las Vegas. Dozier and Battle were first-team selections a year ago, and Wilkinson was a second-team choice.
Rickert has been a solid blocker for Bauman all season and has picked up 215 yards on 20 catches.
Battle has 47 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one quarterback hurry, one forced fumble, one pick-six for 49 yards and 10 pass breakups.
Dozier ranks second on the team in tackles with 72. He has one forced fumble, one recovered fumble, nine pass break ups and three interceptions for a total of 85 yards.
Wilkinson has 27 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Picking up second team honors for NAU were center Roy Garcia and fullback Nick Butier.
Five Lumberjacks were selected to the All-Big Sky third team: Freshman tackle Jacob Julian, senior tackle Chima Ike, senior linebacker Mike Dosen, junior linebacker Austin Hasquet and senior punter Andy Wilder.
Honorable mention accolades went to senior wide receiver Nick Cole, senior wide receiver Jesse Brantley, senior kicker Andy Wilder, senior return specialist Lucky Dozier, senior defensive end Steven Garcia, senior safety Blair Wishom, sophomore cornerback Marcus Alford, senior linebacker Ryan Reardon and senior Anthony Hughes for his play on special teams.
