Seven football players earn IIAC recognition
INDIANOLA - Seven members of the Simpson football team earned honorable mention all-conference honors, as announced by the Iowa Conference last week.
Seniors Jake Rissi, Paul Scaletta and Vinni Smith; juniors Braden Everding and Rory Hennessy; sophomore JJ Nair and freshman Brad Vogel all earned a spot on the Honorable Mention All-Iowa Conference team.
Simpson finished the season 2-8 overall, going 2-6 in the IIAC to finish in a tie for seventh.
Rissi is the only member of the team repeating as an all-conference performer, earning honorable mention honors a year ago. The senior fullback from Marion started all 10 games for the Storm, making 10 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Scaletta started eight games for the Storm as a cornerback, making 32 tackles. The senior from Sioux City also broke up three passes.
Smith started all 10 games on the interior defensive line, making 30 tackles, including 1 1/2 for loss. The senior from Brooklyn, Iowa forced two fumbles and blocked a kick.
Everding led the team with 82 tackles on the season, including eight tackles for loss. The junior from Tripoli recorded five sacks, had an interception and forced one fumble. He earned Iowa Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors Sept. 20 and landed a spot on the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District First team earlier this fall.
Hennessy, a junior from Dysart, started all 10 games for the Storm as the left tackle on the offensive line.
In his first season with Simpson, Nair tied for the team-lead with five sacks. The sophomore from Spencer - who transferred from South Dakota - had 24 total tackles from his defensive end position. He recorded three quarterback hurries and forced two fumbles.
Vogel proved one of the most versatile players in the conference in his rookie season, accumulating the second-most all-purpose yards of any player. The freshman from Donnellson gained 128.1 yards per game between receiving, rushing, punt returns and kick returns. He led the team with 36 catches for 383 yards and four touchdowns and was second in the league in both punt return average (6.9) and kick return average (21.2).
