2017 All-PFL Teams 

SAINT LOUIS, Mo.– Fifty-nine student athletes have been named to the 25th All-Pioneer Football League teams, Tuesday. All selections were made by the league’s coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes. The Toreros had a total of nineteen players selected with a league-best ten players earning first team honors, along with three second team picks and seven honorable mention honorees.

San Diego senior defensive lineman Jonathan Petersen (Poway, Calif.), who was the league’s unanimous selection as Defensive Player of the Year, was a unanimous pick for First-Team All-PFL. It is the third consecutive year the Torero’s defensive leader has earned First-Team All-PFL honors.

Petersen was joined as a unanimous First-Team All-PFL honoree by Dayton punter Sean Smith and Butler wide receiver Pace Temple. It is the second consecutive season three student-athletes were unanimous First-Team choices by the league’s coaches.

In addition to Petersen, Marist wide receiver Juston Christian, Dayton defensive back and return specialist Christian Searles and Dayton’s Smith also were named First-Team All-PFL for a third time in their career. Searles earned First Team All-PFL honors at two different positions in the same season for the second time in his career and has earned five first-team citations in his career.

Three additional 2017 honorees received their second first-team award, each from San Diego: junior quarterback Anthony Lawrence (La Mesa, Calif.), senior offensive tackle Miles McArdle (Napa, Calif.) and junior offensive tackle Daniel Cooney (Western Springs, Ill.). Additional first team offensive picks for USD included senior wide receiver Justin Priest (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), senior tight end Ross Dwelley (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), sophomore fullback Zach Nelson (Danville, Calif.) and senior offensive center Joe Hurney (Charlotte, NC). Joining Petersen on the first team defense were senior nickel back Max Michaels (Poway, Calif.) and senior safety Colton Giorgi (El Dorado Hills, Calif.).

A testament to the league’s burgeoning underclassmen group, fifteen of the first and second-team All-PFL selections were freshmen or sophomores in 2017. That total includes a quartet of freshmen named All-PFL: first-team selection Davidson freshman running back Wesley Dugger as well as second team honorees Campbell quarterback Daniel Smith, San Diego freshman running back Emilio Martinez (Salinas, Calif.), Dayton tight end Adam Trautman and Stetson defensive back JJ Henderson.

Joining Martinez on the second team was senior safety Ray Clark (Brentwood, Calif.) and senior punter Jack Flatau (Oceanside, Calif.).

In addition to the 59 student-athletes recognized on the league’s first and second teams, 74 student-athletes received honorable mention recognition. San Diego selections for honorable mention included Martinez (return specialist), sophomore wide receiver Michael Bandy (La Mirada, Calif.), junior LB Kim Mahoney (San Diego, Calif.), senior CB Kishan Patel (Des Plaines, Ill.), junior offensive guard Trevor Provencio (Pasadena, Calif.), junior defensive tackle Connor Spencer (Boulder, Colo.) and junior LB Marcus Vaivao (Gilbert, Ariz.).

The Academic All-PFL team, highlighted by the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will be released Wednesday, concluding the league’s awards week.

San Diego (10-2) continues their playoff run this coming Saturday when they travel to Fargo, North Dakota to take on the No. 2 seed North Dakota State Bison (10-1) at the Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700). Kickoff is slated for 12:30 p.m. (Pacific) and will be streamed on ESPN3. The game will also air on ESPN 1700 AM with Jack Cronin providing play-by-play for the Toreros.