KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Montana Western linebacker Jason Ferris was one of the top three linebackers in the NAIA this season, after the American Football Coaches Association named him first-team all-American on Tuesday.
Ferris, a redshirt junior from Dillon, led the Frontier Conference with 125 tackles in 2018, topping the league with 12.5 tackles per contest. He also added 9.5 tackles-for-loss, a pair of sacks, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries for coach Ryan Nourse’s Bulldogs. Ferris had a season-high 17 tackles in a win over Rocky Mountain College in September.
Ferris’ 12.5 tackles per contest ranked No. 3 in the NAIA this season. In his three years with the Bulldogs, Ferris has appeared in 32 games, accumulating 302 tackles, 152 of those solo tackles, 21.5 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, seven interceptions and a touchdown.
Montana Western, which was picked second-to-last in the Frontier Conference preseason coaches poll, opened the season with a 6-1 record, climbed into the top-25 poll in the third week of the season and was ranked as high as No. 16 before ending the season with a three-game losing streak to finish 6-4.
Rocky Mountain College defensive lineman Ryder Rice and Dickinson State University defensive back Cain Boschee were both named second-team all-American. Rice played high school football in Savage, while Boschee was a standout at Kalispell Glacier.
To view the complete list of AFCA all-Americans, please click here.
