DURANGO, Colorado —  The Fort Lewis College football team had five players recognized by the conference on Tuesday when the RMAC released its All-RMAC teams for the 2019 season.

Senior nose tackle George Marpaung was named First-Team All-RMAC for the third consecutive year after starting all 10 games for the Skyhawks, finishing with 21 total tackles, four tackles for a loss, and a sack as the heart of the FLC defensive line. The Aurora native finishes his decorated four-year career with 89 career tackles, 25 of which went for a loss.

Fellow senior Ka'Lonn Milton, a NCAA Division I transfer from Fresno State University, garnered Second-Team All-Conference honors as the Skyhawks' shutdown corner back.

Milton finished the season with one interception, 11 pass breakups, two sacks and 49 total tackles. His best performance came in 28-9 victory over Adams State on Oct. 5 when he limited ASU wide receiver Tariq Bitson, named First-Team All-RMAC and Offensive Player of the Year in the conference, to four catches for 40 yards.

"I think Ka'Lonn is the best defensive back in the conference. But it's hard to jump in one year and get recognized as a First-Team guy, but Second-Team is still very respectable," said Fort Lewis head coach, Brandon Crosby. "Obviously, George is a guy who has worked his tail off since he was a freshman here and has a tenure with the All-Conference voting. It's good to see those guys get rewarded."

Joining Marpaung and Milton on the All-RMAC teams were senior linebacker Darrian Stickney, redshirt sophomore running back Jeff Hansen, and freshman tight end Zach Russell as the trio were each named Honorable Mention.

Stickney played in all 10 games for the Skyhawks despite suffering a knee injury back in Week One against New Mexico Highlands University.

The Colorado Springs native led all Skyhawks with 70 total tackles this season, 5.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks for a Skyhawks' defense that ranked third in the RMAC at 21.3 points per game. Stickney, a Second-Team All-RMAC selection in 2017, will graduate with 234 career tackles in 51 games played.

"Stickney is one of those guys that every coach in the country would want on their football team," Crosby said. "I don't think most kids would have came back and played the remainder of the season after the injury he had. For him to do that just shows the character he has. You can't say enough about Stickney and we're happy for him."

FLC's two other Honorable Mention selections came on the offensive side of the ball.

Hansen rushed for 671 yards and two touchdowns, adding 19 receptions for 81 yards as the team's starting running back in 2019. He capped his breakout season with a monster 25 carries, 177-yard performance against South Dakota School of Mines.

As for Russell, a walk-on player out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, he proved to be a diamond in the rough as he finished his freshman season second on the team in receptions (32) and tied for the team lead in touchdowns (4).

He too had a career day in the Skyhawks' season finale against South Dakota School of Mines when he posted a line of eight catches, 72 yards and two touchdowns.

They are part of a young core on offense that Fort Lewis will look to build around heading into 2020.

"I think we only lose 2-3 guys on offense, so a lot of these guys are coming back," Crosby said. "To see Zach and Jeff get Honorable Mention, even with the productivity our offense lacked this season with injuries and some other things, it's a bright light and leaning toward where we want to be in the future."

RMAC Release: https://rmacsports.org/documents/2019/11/20//2019_FB_All_RMAC.pdf?id=8408