Pictured (L to R): North Central's Andrew Kamienski and Sharmore Clarke, and Wheaton's Dallas McRae.

2021 AFCA Division III Coaches' All-America Team

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Three College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) student-athletes were named to the 2021 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches' All-America Team announced Tuesday.

All three players were repeat All-American selections by the AFCA led by First Team honorees Andrew Kamienski (North Central) and Dallas McRae (Wheaton). North Central's Sharmore Clarke earned a Second Team nod.

Making the All-America First Team for the second straight season is wide receiver Andrew Kamienski, while guard Sharmore Clarke  is also a repeat All-American, earning Second Team honors. Kamienski, this year's College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Art Keller Offensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Region 5 selection by D3football.com, has caught a team-high 67 passes for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns this season and has been named one of five finalists for the Gagliardi Trophy, the premier individual award in Division III football. He ranks fourth in Division III history in career receiving yards (4,904), sixth in touchdown receptions (58) and eighth in total receptions (329). Clarke earned his third straight First Team All-Region nod this season, which follows a third straight CCIW Offensive Lineman of the Year award. 

A two-time winner of the CCIW's "Don Larson Defensive Player of the Year" award, senior defensive tackle Dallas McRae is also a three-time All-CCIW honoree. He is also a two-time D3football.com Regional Defensive Player of the Year (2019 & 2021).

McRae led the Wheaton defense with 13 sacks (91 yards) this season. His 22 tackles for loss (-118 yards) led the Thunder defense and he was second on the team in total tackles with 51, including 37 solo stops. He registered eight quarterback hurries this season, breaking up five passes. McRae is ranked 15th in Division III in sacks per game (1.08 SPG) and is 16th in the nation in tackles for loss per game (1.8 TFLPG).

With 14 All-America honors earned by 12 student-athletes, North Central ranks 17th among all Division III programs in selections to the Coaches' All-America Teams. The Cardinals have had a total of 59 All-America awards achieved by 34 players in the football program's history. McRae's back-to-back selections mark the seventh-consecutive year that a Wheaton player has been selected to the AFCA team. Wheaton's 19 selections to the AFCA Division III All-American Team since the awards began in 1996 is tied for sixth-most in the history of the award.  
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2018-19 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,200 academic all-conference recipients, 18 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 43 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.