Don Hansen honors 5 Bearcats

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Five members of the Northwest football team were named to the 2014 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America Team Wednesday.

Senior defensive end Matt Longacre was named a second team performer while senior linebacker Eric Reimer and junior nose tackle Brandon Yost earned third team honors. Senior linebacker D.J. Gnader and senior offensive tackle C.J. Keeney both were named honorable mention.

In 2014, Longacre recorded 37 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. He had 17 quarterback hurries, four pass breakups and one forced fumble. He finishes his career as Northwest’s all-time leader in tackles for loss with 47.5 and sacks (30.5). Longacre earned first team All-America honors from the AFCA, D2Football.com, Daktronics and the Associated Press. He was a first team All-MIAA performer and was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year.

Yost was also a first team All-MIAA performer. He had 45 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

Remier was a Capital One First Team Academic All-America honoree and was a first team All-MIAA performer.

Gnader was a first team All-MIAA performer and was named second team all-region by both Daktronics and Don Hansen.

Keeney earned first team All-MIAA honors as the team’s starting right tackle.

The Don Hansen Division II All-America Team carries out the legacy of long-time small college football advocate Don Hansen, who passed away at age 75 on Aug. 29, 2010. Hansen, from Brookfield, Illinois, started and published Don Hansen’s National Weekly Football Gazette for three decades, selecting NCAA Division II All-America teams for the first time in 1988.