Two Eastern Washington University football players in Efton Chism III and Joshua Jerome have been selected to the All-Big Sky Preseason team, as announced as part of the Big Sky Conference Kickoff in Spokane today (July 25).
 
The duo both hail from Monroe, Wash., and graduated from Monroe High School, with Jerome graduating in 2018 and Chism in 2020. They each earned All-Big Sky third team honors last year as well as earning All-America honors from HERO Sports.
 
UC Davis' Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. earned the Big Sky's Preseason Offensive MVP nod, while Montana's Patrick O'Connell earned the same on the defensive side.
 
Chism, a sophomore wide receiver, has appeared in 20 games for the Eagles, making nine starts. He currently holds an average of 4.00 receptions per game, which is tied for eighth in school history. He has caught 80 passes for a total of 1,002 yards and 10 touchdowns.
 
He played in all 13 games for the Eagles in 2021, making seven starts. He caught 80 passes for 735 yards (12.9 per reception), which puts him over the 1,000-yard mark for his career. Chism led the team in receiving touchdowns with a total of nine, which was tied for second in the Big Sky Conference.
 
Jerome, a redshirt junior defensive tackle, has played in 35 career games (20 as a starter), and has 143 tackles with 11 1/2 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, a pass broken up, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Jerome was in the opposing offense's backfield all season long in 2021, leading EWU in sacks (seven) and tackles for loss (13 1/2). He racked up 61 total tackles, six quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery, and he forced three fumbles.
 
Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best, along with player guests in wide receiver Freddie Roberson and defensive back Anthany Smith, will be live from Spokane today at the Davenport Hotel on (July 24) on ESPN+ beginning at 12:22 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Big Sky Conference Preseason Team
 
Offensive MVP – Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. (UC Davis)
Defensive MVP - Patrick O'Connell (Montana),
 
QB – Tommy Mellott (Montana State)
RB – Isaiah Ifanse (Montana State), Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. (UC Davis)
FB – R. J. Fitzgerald (Montana State)
TE – Marshel Martin (Sacramento State)
WR – Beau Kelly (Portland State), Efton Chism III (EWU), Pierre Williams (Sacramento State)
C – Connor Pettek (UC Davis)
OG – Jake Parks (UC Davis), Brandon Weldon (Sacramento State)
OT – Noah Atagi (Weber State), Jonas Leader (NAU)
K – Kyle Sentkowski (Sacramento State)
RS – Malik Flowers (Montana)
AP – Asher O'Hara (Sacramento State)
 
DT – Alex Gubner (Montana), Joshua Jerome (EWU)
DE – VJ Malo (Portland State), Brody Grebe (Montana State)
OLB – Patrick O'Connell (Montana), David Hoage (UNC)
ILB – Callahan O'Reilly (Montana State), Fa'Avae Fa'Avae (Idaho)
CB – Justin Ford (Montana), Anthony Adams (Portland State)
S – Robby Hauck (Montana), Morgan Vest (NAU)
P – Bryce Leighton (Montana State)
LS – Tommy Sullivan (Montana State)
 
More on the EWU Players Honored
 
Efton Chism:
 
Career: Chism has appeared in 20 games for the Eagles, making nine starts. He currently holds an average of 4.00 receptions per game, which is tied for eighth in school history. He has caught 80 passes for a total of 1,002 yards and 10 touchdowns.

2021: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Chism was selected to the Hero Sports All-America Freshman team, also earning All-Big Sky Conference third team honors. He played in all 13 games for the Eagles, making seven starts. He caught 80 passes for 735 yards (12.9 per reception), which puts him over the 1,000-yard mark for his career. Chism led the team in receiving touchdowns with a total of nine, which was tied for second in the Big Sky Conference. In the first game of the season, against FBS opponent UNLV (9/2/21), Chism caught three passes for 65 yards (21.7 per reception) and a touchdown. On 9/18/21, against Western Illinois, he hauled in five catches for 71 yards and a score. The following week (9/25/21) at Southern Utah, Chism had the best game of his collegiate career up to that point, catching eight passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He had two other multi-touchdown games, one against Idaho on 10/16/21 and the other against Portland State on 11/20/21. Chism also returned 25 punts for 104 yards and 10 kicks for 203

2020-21: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. He made his Eagle debut in EWU's opener versus Idaho (2/27/21) as a starter, and played in a total of seven games with two starts. Chism caught six passes for 50 yards in his debut, then caught his first touchdown catch as an Eagle versus Cal Poly (3/27/21) when he finished with four catches for 53 yards. He also caught three passes for 46 yards against UC Davis (4/3/21) and had three for 43 in the second game versus Idaho (4/10/21). He closed the season with three catches for 56 yards in the FCS Playoffs against North Dakota State (4/24/21). He also was EWU's main punt returner, finishing with nine returns for 38 yards and a long of 15 versus Northern Arizona (3/6/21).
 
Joshua Jerome:
 
Career: He has played 35 career games (20 as a starter), and has 143 tackles with 11 1/2 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, a pass broken up, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

2021: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Jerome was selected to the Hero Sports All-America Sophomore team, also earning All-Big Sky Conference third team honors after playing in and starting all 13 games for the Eagles. Jerome was in the opposing offense's backfield all season long, leading EWU in sacks (seven) and tackles for loss (13 1/2). He racked up 61 total tackles, six quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery, and he forced three fumbles. Jerome started the season with seven tackles and two sacks against UNLV on 9/2/21. He had a strip sack, recovering the fumble that he forced. His season-high of eight tackles came in another multi-sack performance against Idaho (10/16/21). He forced his second fumble of the season in that game, also doing so the next week (10/23/21) in a seven-tackle outing against Weber State. In the first round of the FCS Playoffs against Northern Iowa (11/27/21), Jerome recorded four quarterback hurries, as the Eagles held UNI to one touchdown. Jerome was named by Phil Steele Publications as a preseason second team All-Big Sky Conference selection.

2020-21: Jerome earned All-Big Sky Conference honorable mention after starting all seven of Eastern's games as a defensive tackle. He had 41 tackles to rank third on the team, and had a team-leading three sacks and a pair of quarterback hurries. He made the first start of his career against Idaho (2/27/21) and responded with eight tackles (three of them for loss), a sack and two quarterback hurries. He had two of his sacks versus Cal Poly (3/27/21) when he had a total of seven tackles. He had a career-high nine tackles in the rematch with Idaho (4/10/21).

2019: Played in 10 EWU games and made his season debut versus Washington (8/31/19). Jerome closed the year with 26 tackles, including four for loss with 1 1/2 sacks. He was the team's defensive player of the week against Cal Poly (11/16/19) when he finished with six tackles, giving him 15 total in two games against the option-oriented Mustang attack. His tackle on a two-point conversion with 4:58 left against Cal Poly (11/16/19) helped preserve EWU's 42-41 victory. He also had four tackles on two other occasions. In EWU's three scrimmages in the spring, including the Red-White Game, Jerome had 15 tackles, with three sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery.

2018: Redshirted, but played in four games in accordance with a new NCAA rule that allows student-athletes to play in up to four games and still redshirt. He had 15 tackles, including nine in his first action as an Eagle versus Cal Poly (9/20/18). He also had one against Southern Utah (10/6/18), three versus Idaho (10/27/18) and a pair in the FCS Playoffs against Maine (12/15/18).