Idaho State senior punter Jon Vanderwielen and sophomore linebacker A.J. Storms earned spots on the All-Big Sky first team, which the conference released Tuesday. 

Five other Bengals — junior linebacker Phil Arias, senior center Ryan Henry, junior safety Chris Holmesly, senior placekicker Jarrett Huk and sophomore wide receiver Kelvin Krosch — earned honorable mention nods. 

Eastern Washington quarterback Matt Nichols won the Offensive Player of the Year award for the second time in three years, while Montana State defensive end Dane Fletcher, who dealt with a bout of mononucleosis midseason, took home Defensive Player of the Year honors. Sacramento  tate junior safety Zach Schraeder, who transferred from Western Washington after the Division II school dropped its football program, won the Newcomer of the Year award. 

Vanderwielen and Storms both improved on their honorable mention standing last year, with Storms' nod coming for his play as a true freshman safety,

Vanderwielen finished the season second in the nation with a 44.7-yard punting average. Among his 74 punts, 22 went for 50 yards or more, 21 pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line and 24 were fair-caught. Vanderwielen became the first Bengal to ever hammer three 70-yard punts in one season, with two of them coming during an Oct. 31 game at Montana State. He shared first-team honors with Weber State's Mike Snoy. 

Storms, a Meridian native, ranked second in the Big Sky with 120 tackles despite moving from safety during spring ball. Storms had 5.5 tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and an interception. 

Montana had a league-high nine selections on the first team, while Weber State had seven. Wildcats running back Trevyn Smith became just the third player in Big Sky history to make the first team in four straight seasons. 

The honor roll includdes six players who were unanimous selections: Montana wide receiver Marc Mariani, Weber State wide receiver Tim Toone, Montana offensive tackle Levi Horn, Montana State offensive guard Jeff Hansen and defensive end Dane Fletcher and Eastern Washington linebacker J.C. Sherritt.