NOTE: SWX TV will air a live show from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pacific time live from the Big Sky Conference Kickoff at the Davenport Grand in Spokane, Wash. The show will feature EWU head coach Aaron Best and Eastern tight end Jayce Gilder and nose tackle Dylan Ledbetter.


On a team of worthy candidates, senior offensive tackle Chris Schlichting was the lone Eastern Washington University football player picked to the 2019 Big Sky Conference Preseason All-Conference Team announced Monday (July 15) by the league.
 
The 2015 graduate of Mount Si High School in North Bend, Wash., has started all 40 games he has played as an Eagle. He was a second team All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2018, and is one of nine Eagles returning who have previously received Big Sky accolades. Included were fellow offensive linemen Spencer Blackburn (center) and Kaleb Levao (guard), who also earned second team honors in 2018.
 
The 6-foot-5, 295-pound Schlichting started all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2016, all 11 in 2017 and all 15 in 2018 when EWU won a share of the Big Sky Conference championship and lost to North Dakota State 38-24 in the NCAA Division I Championship game.
 
The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards on offense to rank third in FCS, including 255.9 rushing (10th) and 272.3 passing (20th). Eastern was also ranked fourth in scoring (43.1). En route to a 12-3 finish overall and runner-up finish in the NCAA Division I Championship Game, the Eagles as a team finished the 2018 season with a school-record 6.62 average per rush on the season to break the previous record of 6.41 set in 2001. The Eagles set team records for rushing yards (3,839) and rushing touchdowns (41).

In 2017, he helped Eastern rank fifth in FCS in total offense (476.7 per game), and was also eighth in passing (320.5), 14th in scoring (34.5) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1 percent).
 
In 2016, Schlichting made his debut as an Eagle starter versus Washington State (9/3/16) in EWU's thrilling 45-42 win. He helped Eastern rank second in FCS in total offense with an average of 529.6 yards per game, trailing only Sam Houston State at 547.3 per outing. Eastern was the FCS leader in passing offense (401.0 yards per game), and was third in third down conversions (52.1 percent), third in completion percentage (.679), third in scoring offense (42.4), and third in passing efficiency (168.2).

He redshirted at EWU in 2015, and as a high school senior in 2014 he earned second team All-4A KingCo selection and was nominated to play in the Washington All-State game. Rated as a two-star recruit and was ranked as the #25 recruit (second-best offensive guard) in the state of Washington by Scout.com. He was named by the Seattle Times as a "White Chip" selection as one of the top 100 prospects in the state of Washington. He was a starter on the offensive line for Mount Si since mid-way through his sophomore season.

 

 
Preseason All-Conference list

 
Preseason Offensive MVP: Jake Maier, QB, UC Davis
Preseason Defensive MVP: Dante Olson, LB, Montana
 
Offense
QB: Jake Maier, Sr., UC Davis
WR: Mitch Gueller, Sr., Idaho State
WR: Samuel Akem, Jr., Montana
WR: Jared Harrell, Jr., UC Davis
OT: Mitch Brott, Sr., Montana State
OT: Chris Schlichting, Sr., Eastern Washington
OG: Noah Johnson, Sr., Idaho
OG: Ty Whitworth, Jr., Weber State
C: Zach Larsen, Sr., Southern Utah
TE: Charlie Taumopeau, Sr., Portland State
RB: Josh Davis, So., Weber State
RB: Elijah Dotson, Jr., Sacramento State
FB: Troy Andersen, Jr., Montana State
PK: Trey Tuttle, Jr., Weber State
RS: Rashid Shaheed, Jr., Weber State
 
Defense
DT: Jalen Goss, Sr., Northern Arizona
DT: Kenton Bartlett, Sr., Portland State
DE: Adam Rodriguez, Sr., Weber State
DE: Jonah Williams, Jr., Weber State
OLB: Auston Tesch, Sr., Weber State
OLB: Bryce Sterk, Sr., Montana State
ILB: Dante Olson, Sr., Montana
ILB: Kody Graves, Sr., Idaho State
CB: Khalil Dorsey, Sr., Northern Arizona*
CB: Greg Filer, Sr., Montana State
S: Adkin Aguirre, Sr., Idaho State
S: Brayden Konkol, Sr., Montana State
P: Cade Coffey, Jr., Idaho
ST: Jace Lewis, Jr., Montana