ASHLAND — Following a transcendent sophomore season that made him the Frontier Conference’s offensive MVP, Southern Oregon’s Gunner Yates was named to NAIA All-America first team on Wednesday by the American Football Coaches Association.

Yates led the NAIA this fall with 1,488 total rushing yards in 11 games. He ranked second in rushing yards per game (135.3), rushing touchdowns (27) and total touchdowns (29), breaking SOU single-season records in the scoring categories.

The Coquille product is the Raiders’ first underclassman to make the first team since his father, Griff, earned the first of his three All-America honors in 1997. The last SOU running back to make the list had been Dusty McGrorty, 21 years ago.

Yates joined their elite company by posting 6.7 yards per carry. He rushed for over 100 yards on seven different occasions. He helped the Raiders announce themselves as contenders early with back-to-back top-10 wins over College of Idaho and Montana Western in September, accumulating 293 and 148 rushing yards respectively in those games.

In his final appearance at Raider Stadium of the year, Yates put up 269 yards on just 21 carries against rival Eastern Oregon. It was the only game of the season in which he didn’t register multiple TDs.

Yates’ rushing yards-per-game number was the highest for any Frontier player in seven years. His rushing TD total was the conference’s highest in at least 20 years. Yates is already sitting on 39 total TDs through 22 career games.

He led the Raiders to an 8-3 overall record and the No. 22 spot in the final NAIA Top 25 poll. They were one win short of a spot in the NAIA Championship Series.

Yates is SOU’s first All-American on the offensive side of the ball since quarterback Tanner Trosin landed on the first team in 2017.