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Nine Cavaliers Earn VaSID All-State Recognition
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Jan. 14, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Nine Virginia football players were named to the 2015 Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID) All-State Division I Football team, announced Thursday (Jan. 14) by the organization. Four Cavaliers earned first-team honors: Quin Blanding (S), Nicholas Conte (P), Micah Kiser (LB) and Mike Moore (DL). The second-team honorees are Ross Burbank (OL), David Dean (DL), Ian Frye (PK), Jackson Matteo (OL) and Taquan Mizzell (RB).
Sports information directors from throughout the state took part in the voting which, in addition to the top individual awards, named all-state first and second teams on offense, defense and special teams.
Blanding (So., Virginia Beach, Va.), a first-team All-ACC honoree, finished the regular season No. 2 in the ACC and No. 20 in the nation with 115 tackles. Blanding was named the Touchdown Club of Richmond’s defensive back of the year and was a second-team All-American by USA Today. Also earned All-America honors from Sports Illustrated (HM) and College Sports Madness (2nd). Blanding was a second-team all-state honoree in 2014 and was VaSID’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Conte (Jr., Roanoke, Va.) through the regular season led the ACC in punting with a 44.7 punting average. He booted 14 balls of 50 yards or more and placed 15 kicks inside the 20. Conte was an honorable mention All-ACC selection in 2015. This is the first VaSID honor for Conte.
Kiser (So., Baltimore, Md.), a first-team All-ACC honoree, finished the regular season No. 1 in the ACC and No. 17 in the nation with 117 tackles. Kiser led UVA with 82 tackles on rushing plays and recorded double-digit tackles in seven of 12 games. He was named ACC Player of the Week after setting a career high with 17 tackles against Duke. Kiser was named the Touchdown Club of Richmond’s linebacker of the year. This is the first career VaSID honor for Kiser.
Moore (Hyattsville, Md.) started all 12 games for Virginia with nine starts at defensive end and three at outside linebacker. Moore finished the regular season ranked No. 8 in the ACC with 7.0 sacks and No. 14 with 12.5 tackles for loss. This is the first career VaSID honor for Moore.
The second-team honors for Dean (Virginia Beach, Va.), Matteo (Ashburn, Va.) and Mizzell (Virginia Beach, Va.) are their first career VaSID accolades. Burbank (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Frye (Bristol, Va.) earned their second nod on the VaSID all-state team, both earning second-team honors in 2014.
JMU quarterback Vad Lee was named the 2015 VaSID Offensive Player of the Year, while William & Mary’s DeAndre Houston-Carson was voted the VaSID Defensive Player of the Year. Offensive Rookie of the Year went to Virginia Tech’s Travon McMillian, while Richmond’s Andrew Clyde was voted Defensive Rookie of the Year. Richmond’s Danny Rocco was named Coach of the Year.