Spartans’ Fehoko gets MWC honor
Viliami Fehoko has become the second San Jose State defensive lineman in three seasons to be named the Mountain West Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
On Tuesday, the MWC announced its award winners for the 2022 season and Fehoko received the top defensive honor. The 6-foot-4, 263-pound junior from St. Francis led the conference with 18.5 tackles for loss, including nine sacks. The sack total ranked second in the MWC.
Teammate Cade Hall won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2020. Hall, the son of former Cal and 49ers defensive lineman Rhett Hall, had 7.5 sacks and joined Fehoko as a first-team All-MWC selection.
Other San Jose State players who were firstteam All-MWC choices were linebacker Kyle Harmon (team-high 95 tackles) and wide receiver Elijah Cooks. A transfer from Nevada, Cooks had 63 receptions, was second in the conference in receiving yards with 983 and led the conference with 10 receiving touchdowns.
A transfer from Hawaii, Chevan Cordeiro was named the second-team All-MWC quarterback; Fresno State’s Jake Haener got the first-team nod. Cordeiro threw for 2,885 yards with 28 touchdowns and a mere four interceptions. He also ran for eight touchdowns.
The Spartans finished the regular season 7-4 (5-3 in MWC play). They will learn Sunday to which bowl game they are headed.
Stanford award finalists: Stanford’s Joshua Karty, who connected on all 18 of his field-goal tries this season, was named one of the three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, which goes to the nation’s top kicker. Karty nailed a school-record 61-yarder on the final play of the Cardinal’s 2720 loss at Cal on Nov. 19. The other finalists are N.C. State’s Christopher Dunn and Michigan’s Jake Moody.
Also, Stanford defensive back Patrick Fields is one of three finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy, which recognizes a player’s on-field and community-service work. Florida State’s Dillan Gibbons and Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan are the other finalists. Fields was a finalist last season when he was at Oklahoma. Stanford backup quarterback Isaiah Sanders won the Wuerffel Trophy last year.