By John RittenhouseFour Luverne High School players earned roster spots on the first All-Southern Minnesota Alliance Football Team.Along with the four All-Alliance selections, three more Cardinals drew honorable mention from the league’s coaches.Forty-five players grace the All-SMA roster, and 24 more drew honorable mention selections.Senior Ben Nath, one of Luverne’s All-Alliance selections, received a special award when he was named the SMA’s Defensive Back of the Year.Senior Nick Heronimus and juniors Craig Rogers and Derek Elbers join Nath on the All-SMA roster.Seniors Derek Johnson and Mike Kunstle and junior Jake Cark are Luverne’s honorable mention selections.Fairmont, the league champion, drew six All-SMA selections. Seniors Mike Wubbena, Kyle Sheehan, Brody Padgett, Kurt Erickson, Jake Peymann and Ryan Ebert are the Cardinals on the squad.Fairmont’s Troy Cody is the Coach of the Year, Wubbena the Offensive Back of the Year and Sheehan the Defensive Lineman of the Year.Windom and Marshall drew five All-SMA selections each. Windom seniors Travis Karschnik, Tyler Knutson, Kody Johnson and Matt Anderson, and junior Colin Bennett made the team. Marshall senior Kyle Meier and juniors Clay Welch, Anthony Awoleye, Nate Baumann and Dan Marron grace the roster.Blue Earth Area and Pipestone matched Luverne by picking up four All-SMA selections.Pipestone seniors Creighton Schroyer, John Lentz and Matt Paulsen, and junior Seth Garrett are the Arrows on the team. Schroyer and Lentz were selected as the Co-Offensive Linemen of the Year.BEA seniors Dan Fanta, Jordan Becker and Ty Sturtz, and junior Cody Sukalski grace the roster.Worthington, St. Peter and Jackson County Central landed three All-SMA selections each.Worthington seniors Matt Cowdin, Derek Hellstrom and Alex Solem, JCC senior Matt Stegenga and juniors Marcus Schultz and Justin Schmit, and SP seniors Andrew Grean, Joe Kautt and Matt Knutson represent their schools on the roster. Knutson is the Special Teams Player of the Year.Rounding out the roster are New Ulm senior Chris Koob and junior Joey Carda, St. James senior Cody Anderson and junior Lucas Seive, Redwood Valley seniors Ross Potter and Eric Ellingworth and Waseca junior Brian Sommers and sophomore Jimmy Loonan.Other honorable mention selections include Fairmont senior Jon Abel and juniors Matt Reeve and Eric Hugoson, Windom seniors Trent Anderson and Brent Fredin, Marshall senior Ben Haugen and junior Keith Graven, BEA seniors Cody Hyland and Brian Barnes and sophomore Logan Becker, Pipestone senior Wade Newgard and junior Colin Taubert, Worthington seniors Ray Landberg and Zach Traphagen, JCC senior Bryan Vancura, NU sophomore Wade French, SJ senior Justin Schwanz, RWV senior Craig Kodet and Waseca senior Chad Hollerud.
