George Ferguson Column: No All-Conference for Fowler is a travesty

When you finish a college football season with 115 tackles, in just 11 games, you've done something special. When you average 10.5 tackles per game over an 11-game season, you've proven yourself.

That's actually what Montana State University-Northern senior linebacker Garet Fowler did in his final season as a Light.

And for that Fowler should have been named to the 2017 Frontier All-Conference Team. No question, no doubt.

So the fact that Fowler was left off the All-Conference team, in my opinion, is an absolute shame. And I'm very disappointed in the process that enabled Fowler to get left off the list.

I know the excuses. I know Northern lost 10 games, and from a defensive standpoint the Lights lost many of those games by a wide margin. Nobody needs to tell me that. I covered the Lights. I watched the games.

But All-Conference lists are supposed to reflect individual performance over the course of an entire season. They should represent the top individual players at each position. They're not just supposed to represent the best players on the most successful teams. All-Conference teams are about individual players and those players' achievements.

So this year the Frontier voters didn't get the job done.

Fowler not only led the Frontier in total tackles by 11 over College of Idaho defensive back Nate Moore, he averaged more than two tackles per game over anyone else in the league. Fowler also finished the season with 6.5 tackles for loss, which ranked him inside the Top 15 in the Frontier, two interceptions, which was in the Top 10 in the league, three forced fumbles, which was tied for the most in the Frontier, one fumble recovery and four pass breakups.

Simply put, those numbers stack up well with any of the names that were on the All-Conference list for 2017.

Now, let's make this clear, the linebackers who were named to the list, are all very good players, no question. They all deserved the accolades. I'm not trying to take anything away from them. But bottom line, that doesn't mean Fowler didn't deserve it. I don't care how many more opportunities he got because of how much MSU-N's young defense struggled this year, it doesn't take away from what Fowler did as an individual player.

The fact is he made those tackles, 115 different times a guy didn't get away from him this season. To further illustrate how dominant Fowler was this season, he had 56 solo tackles, which was also tied for the most in the Frontier with Eastern Oregon linebacker Michael Arenas, who was named the Frontier Defensive Player of the Year.

So again, I just don't understand how the coaches who vote All-Conference could have ignored what Fowler did as an individual player this season.

I have either met in person or talked to all of the head coaches in the league in some form or another. They are all great guys. And darn good coaches. I don't know if they did the voting or if they left it up to assistant coaches, and I don't know how the coaching change at Northern with three games to go affected MSU-N's All-Conference nomination process. But I'm going to say again that, whoever in the league ignored Garet Fowler's accomplishments this season, I'm personally disappointed in them, and the process.

Northern may have had a very rough season, but Garet Fowler was every bit an All-Conference linebacker, and he deserved to be recognized as such. And it's unacceptable that he wasn't.

2017 Frontier All-Conference Team

First team offense

QB: Tanner Trosin, sr., Southern Oregon

RB: Major Ali, soph., Carroll; Jed Fike, soph., Montana Tech.

TE: Eric Dawson, jr., Carroll.

WR: Brenden Kelly, jr., Eastern Oregon; Dion Williams, jr., Montana Tech; Bronson Ader, jr, Southern Oregon

OL: Chris Emter, sr., Carroll; Brayden Kersley, sr., Eastern Oregon; Mike Wilson, jr., Eastern Oregon; Troy Bacon, jr., Rocky Mountain; Dan Skriloff, sr., Southern Oregon.

First team defense

DL: Alex Basterrecha, sr., Carroll; Tyler Sanders, sr., Montana Tech; Ryder Rice, soph., Rocky Mountain; Sean Rogers, jr., Southern Oregon.

LB: Michal Arenas, sr., Eastern Oregon; Isiah Carter, sr., Southern Oregon; Tyson Cooper, jr., Southern Oregon; Devvon Gage, soph., Southern Oregon.

DB: Tucker Johnson, sr., Carroll; Nate Moore, sr., College of Idaho; Keenan Fagan, jr., Rocky Mountain; Oshay Dunmore, sr., Southern Oregon.

First team special teams

K: Griff Amies, sr., Rocky Mountain.

P: Nathan Harden, jr., Eastern Oregon.

KR: Shane Sipes, fr., Carroll.

PR: Levi Lynde, soph., Red Lodge.

Second team offense

QB: Quinn McQueary, sr., Montana Tech.

RB: Hunter Thomsen, sr., Montana Western; Ray Vega, jr., Southern Oregon.

TE: Darneail Jenkins, jr., Rocky Mountain.

WR: Melvin Walser, jr., Montana Western; George Sherwood, sr., Montana Western; Matt Boudreaux, sr., Southern Oregon.

OL: Joel Kramer, sr., Carroll; Sam Zvirzdys, sr., College of Idaho; Jalen Whitley, sr., Montana Tech; Jack Hape, sr., Montana Tech; Donovan Hucke, sr., Montana Western.

Second team defense

DL: Trevor Henderson, sr., College of Idaho; Josh Price, sr., College of Idaho; Chance Hansen, jr., Montana Tech; Conlan Smith, soph., Montana Western.

LB: David Anderson, sr., Carroll; Forest Rivers, soph., College of Idaho; Connor Wines, jr., Montana Tech; Jason Ferris, soph., Montana Western.

DB: Andre Brown, sr., Montana Tech; Kendell Jefferson, jr., Rocky Mountain; Terrance Williams, sr., Rocky Mountain; Keegan Lawrence, sr., Southern Oregon.

Second team special teams

K: Marcus Montano, jr., Southern Oregon

KR: Sam Sparks, soph., Rocky Mountain

PR: Calvin Connors, sr., Eastern Oregon.

Offensive player of the Year: Tanner Trosin, Southern Oregon

Defensive player of the year: Michael Arenas, Eastern Oregon.

Coach of the year: Charlie Hall, Southern Oregon.