BLUFFTON, Ohio - Junior defensive end Isaac Zickafoose (Middlebury, Ind./Northridge) has been named a pre-season 1st Team All-American by HERO Sports for 2017. The standout lineman was one of three 1st Team honorees from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The 2016 HCAC Defensive MVP, who was also nominated for the Cliff Harris Award, instilled fear in opposing quarterbacks en route to his second straight First Team All-Heartland Conference award as a sophomore. A menace in the backfield, Zickafoose topped the Heartland Conference with 20 tackles for loss (10th in the country) and 11.5 sacks (10th in the country). Those numbers place the defensive tackle third on Bluffton's single season list for both categories, behind just Ryan Aelker's historic 2014 and 2015 campaigns.
Zickafoose was named the HCAC Player of the Week after he stuffed the Manchester offense with 11 tackles, including 10 solos, on a day when he equaled Mitch Agner's (2008) school record with five tackles-for-loss. He blitzed the Spartans with three sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery in the Beaver victory. His 19 sacks are already third on Bluffton's career list while his 31.5 sacks are fifth all-time at Bluffton. Zickafoose finished the season with 46 tackles, including 33 solos.
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