Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore quarterback Taron Dickens was selected to the fourth-annual FCS Football Central All-American team, as released Monday by FCS Football Central, a partnership with Sports Illustrated, as the national postseason awards season ramps up. The national honorary team selected by FCS Football Central is among the first to be unveiled this week, ahead of the holiday season, culminating with the national players of the year in early January in Nashville, Tenn.
 
Dickens, one of three national finalists for the Walter Payton Award to be given out on Sat., Jan. 3, was among seven honorees from The Southern Conference, including first-team defensive team selections DL Andrew Zock from Mercer and Furman DL Joshua Stoneking, who both will also be on hand in The Music City, as two-thirds of the finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the top defensive player at the NCAA FCS level.
 
Also on the second-team with Dickens were Wofford defenders Brandon Mania (DL) and Maximus Pulley (DB), with Mercer OL Xavier Jennings and James Platte of The Citadel, who was named the NCAA FCS Punter of the Year by the Augusta Sports Council, collecting third-team plaudits.
 
Dickens is just the fourth Catamount to land on one of the first four All-America teams selected by FCS Football Central. He joins WCU's second all-time leading scorer placekicker and first-team selection Richard McCollum and Christian Coulter (3rd) from the 2023 squad, as well as DB Jordy Lowery, named to the third-team in 2024. Last year, Dickens was named a Freshman All-American by the same publication.
 
Combined, 42 Catamount football players have graced an All-America squad from one of the numerous outlets to award teams over the years.
 
Dickens will be joined in Nashville by the two first-team FCS Football Central All-America selections in Youngstown State QB Beau Brungard and QB Cole Payton of North Dakota State. Montana signal caller Keali'I Ah Yat of Montana was also selected to the second team, while Chris Parson (Austin Peay), Devin Farrell (Rhode Island), and DJ Williams (Southern Illinois) were third-team honorees at quarterback.
 
Taron Dickens had one of the all-time greatest single-seasons in NCAA FCS, Southern Conference, and Western Carolina football in 2025, amassing 3,508 passing yards through just nine games, averaging an NCAA FCS-best 389.8 yards per game through the air as part of an NCAA-best at all four levels 425.5 yards of total offense per outing. The Miami, Fla., product tossed a SoCon single-season record 38 touchdown passes – four more than any other QB in the NCAA FCS in 2025 despite two fewer games than second-place on the list.
 
All told, at the end of the regular season, Dickens led the nation in passing yards (3,508), passing yards per game (389.9), completion percentage (74.2%) – which includes the NCAA record for most consecutive completions (46-of-46, at Wofford) and most over two games (50-of-50) – total offense per game (425.5 yds/gm), and passing scores (38).
 
A first-team All-SoCon selection and the Roy M. "Legs" Hawley SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, Dickens had four of the top 13 single-game passing efforts on the season. He holds the top two spots on the ledger with 582 yards against Samford and 551 yards through the air against SoCon champion and 10th-ranked Mercer, throwing an NCAA FCS single-game best seven touchdown passes. He also ranks 12th with 427 yards at Campbell and 13th with 426 yards against mountain-rival ETSU. Dickens was also third in the NCAA in single-game completion percentage with more than 10 attempts, completing an eye-popping 53-of-56 (94.6%) of his attempts against the Terriers.
 
In its fourth year of selecting an All-America team, a combined 127 players representing 59 schools across all 13 NCAA FCS conferences were honored by FCS Football Central. North Dakota State leads all programs with eight selections, followed by Stephen F. Austin and Montana with six selections. Illinois State, Lehigh, Youngstown State, Montana State, Rhode Island, and Yale each have five selections.
 
Additionally, this week, with the NCAA FCS down to its final four teams in contention for the national championship, the postseason All-America teams from Stats Perform FCS and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) are all expected to be announced.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/westerncarolinafootball; FB.com/CatamountSports) and Twitter (@CatamountsFB, @catamounts).

FCS Football Central 2025 All-American Team

First-Team Offense:
QB - Beau Brungard (Youngstown State)
QB - Cole Payton (North Dakota State)
RB - Joshua Dye (Southern Utah)
RB - Eli Gillman (Montana)
RB - L.J. Phillips Jr. (South Dakota)
WR - Jared Richardson (Penn)
WR - Bryce Lance (North Dakota State)
WR - Marquis Buchanan (Rhode Island)
WR - Josh Derry (Monmouth)
TE - Chris Corbo (Dartmouth)
OL - Seth Anderson (North Dakota)
OL - Titan Fleischmann (Montana State)
OL - Trent Fraley (North Dakota State)
OL - JT Cornelius (Monmouth)
OL - Delby Lemieux (Dartmouth)
OL - Jake Pope (Illinois State)
 
First-Team Defense:
DL - Andrew Zock (Mercer)
DL - Lando Brown (Southern Utah)
DL - Kaleb Proctor (Southeastern Louisiana)
DL - Joshua Stoneking (Furman)
DL - Keyshawn Johnson (UT Martin)
DL - David Hoage (West Georgia) 
LB - James Conway (Fordham)
LB - A.J. Pena (Rhode Island)
LB - Theron Gaines (Tennessee Tech)
LB - Jaydon Southard (Stephen F. Austin)
LB - Tye Niekamp (Illinois State)
DB - Kaysus Kurns (Tarleton State)
DB - Abu Kamara (Yale)
DB - Caden Dowler (Montana State)
DB - Charles Demmings (Stephen F. Austin)
DB - Jarod Washington (South Carolina State)
DB - Jalen Jones (William & Mary)
 
First-Team Special Teams:
K - Eli Ozick (North Dakota State) 
P - Jeff Yurk (Elon)
KR - Javon Ross (Bethune-Cookman)
PR - Bugs Mortimer (Stephen F. Austin)
AP - Michael Wortham (Montana)
 
Second-Team Offense:
QB - Taron Dickens (Western Carolina)
QB - Keali'i Ah Yat (Montana)
RB - Rodney Nelson (Monmouth)
RB - Josh Pitsenberger (Yale) 
RB - Kente Edwards (Lafayette)
WR - Daniel Sobkowicz (Illinois State)
WR - Larenzo Fenner (South Dakota)
WR - Nico Brown (Yale) 
WR - Samuel Gbatu Jr. (UC Davis)
TE - Nathan Levicki (Presbyterian)
OL - Michael Bennett (Yale)
OL - Langston Jones (Lehigh)
OL - Hunter Smith (Tarleton State)
OL - Erik Gray (Stephen F. Austin)
OL - Griffin Empey (North Dakota State)
OL - Gavin Ortega (Weber State)
OL - Temi Ajirotutu (Villanova)
 
Second-Team Defense:
DL - Lance Rucker (North Dakota)
DL - Brandon Maina (Wofford)
DL - Keenan Wilson (North Dakota State)
DL - Jacob Psyk (UC Davis)
DL - Kenneth Eiden IV (Montana State)
DL - Kahmari Brown (Elon)
DL - James Stewart (Tennessee State)
LB - Shane Hartzell (Villanova)
LB - KK Reno (Southeastern Louisiana)
LB - Rashon Myles Jr. (Abilene Christian)
LB - Malachi McNeal (North Dakota)
LB - Tyler Ochojski (Lehigh)
LB - Peyton Wing (Montana)
DB - Mikey Munn (South Dakota) 
DB - Shadwel Nkuba II (Illinois State) 
DB - Maximus Pulley (Wofford)
DB - Ayinde Johnson (Rhode Island)
DB - Cam Chapa (Northern Colorado)
DB - Kimal Clark (Indiana State)
DB - Jalen Mayo (Stephen F. Austin)
 
Second-Team Special Teams:
K - Trajan Sinatra (Idaho State)
P - Adam Watford (North Alabama)
KR - Ja'briel Mace (Villanova) 
PR - Elijah Kennedy (North Carolina A&T)
AP - Kolbe Katsis (Northern Arizona)
AP - Rodney Hammond (Sacramento State)
 
Third-Team Offense:
QB - Chris Parson (Austin Peay)
QB - Devin Farrell (Rhode Island)
QB - DJ Williams (Southern Illinois)
RB - Luke Yoder (Lehigh)
RB - Marquis Gillis (Delaware State)
RB - Julius Davis (Montana State)
RB - Barika Kpeenu (North Dakota State)
WR - Jalen Jones (Alabama State)
WR - Kylon Harris (Stephen F. Austin)
WR - Javon Gipson (Abilene Christian)
WR - Geoffrey Jamiel (Lehigh)
WR - Max Tomczak (Youngstown State)
TE - Ryder Kurtz (Cornell)
OL - Cameron Smith (Alabama State)
OL - Desmeal Leigh (Youngstown State)
OL - Drew Wilder (Tennessee Tech)
OL - Xavier Jennings (Mercer)
OL - Quinten Christensen (South Dakota State)
OL - Cannon Panfiloff (Montana)
OL - Landon Woodard (Illinois State)
 
Third-Team Defense:
DL - Michael Wells (Youngstown State)
DL - Ezekiel Larry (Yale)
DL - Thomas Johnson (North Carolina Central)
DL - Jeremiah Williams (Jackson State)
DL - Paul Brott (Montana State)
DL - TJ Burke (Lehigh)
DL - Quincy Ivory (Jackson State)
LB - Rohan Davy (Rhode Island)
LB - Will Shaffer (Abilene Christian)
LB - Mikey D'Amato (Cal Poly)
LB - Erick Hunter (Morgan State)
LB - Logan Kopp (North Dakota State)
LB - Sean Allison (Drake)
DB - Jeremiah McClendon (Southern Illinois)
DB - Jaheim Ward (Eastern Kentucky)
DB - Dorian Plumley (Abilene Christian)
DB - Quentin Moten (Northern Arizona)
DB - Ty Bartrum (Harvard)
DB - Mekhai Smith (Lehigh)
DB - Christopher Jean (Central Connecticut State)
 
Third-Team Special Teams:
K - Nick Reed (New Hampshire) 
P - James Platte (The Citadel)
KR - Brandon Hayes (Southeastern Louisiana)
PR - Drew Deck (Montana)
AP - Kylon Wilson (Youngstown State)
AP - Rashad Rochelle (Indiana State)