The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) released its 2017 All-American Teams on Tuesday and Lake Forest College's Joey Valdivia was a First Team selection.
Valdivia, a senior running back, led the nation in scoring for the second year in a row with 18 points per game. He broke his own program record with 1,809 rushing yards on the season and ranked second in the country with 180.9 rushing yards and 218.6 all-purpose yards per game. He was also third in the nation with 26 rushing touchdowns and 25th with nearly 6.5 yards per carry.
Among the 13 team records Valdivia owns are career marks for rushing yards (4,170), yards per carry (6.7), rushing touchdowns (64), and total points (414). The Foresters were 8-2 during three of his four years on the team and no player in program history was around for more victories than the 28 Lake Forest has posted in Valdivia's career.
Valdivia is just the second player in school history to be named First Team All-American by the AFCA, joining Alex Pasiewicz, who earned the honor a year ago as a kick returner. The award adds to the list of honors earned this season by Valdivia, who was also named First Team All-West Region by D3football.com and Midwest Conference Offensive Skill MVP.
Lake Forest finished 8-2 overall and in second place in MWC South Division play with a 4-1 league record in 2017.
