COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On Wednesday morning, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selected its All-RMAC teams for 2024.

The South Dakota Mines football program honored 13 players on those teams, with Henry Dryden and Connor Taylor headlining as they earned spots on the RMAC All-Conference First Team. AJ Kelly joined them, earning a spot on the second team. Smith headlining as they were named to the RMAC All-Conference First Team.

Henry Dryden repeats as a first-team selection after also earning the honor in 2023. In 2024, he outdid his catch total, catching 35 passes in one less game, as he only played in 10. On those receptions, he had 297 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.

Connor Taylor had a phenomenal year as the kicker for the Hardrockers. He tied for the conference lead in field goals with 13, hitting 13 of 17, which was also the second-highest in the league, but had nearly double the attempts of the only kicker with a higher percentage. Taylor was fourth in the RMAC in points per game, averaging 6.8, while he was third in total points with 75. Taylor set school records for the Hardrockers in making field goals and points in a career and tied the school record for field goals made in a season. Taylor made 46 of 49 of his extra points and booted 38 touchbacks. Also, a punter this year named as an honorable mention at that spot, Taylor set a school record for the longest punt with an 81-yard punt.

AJ Kelly earned a second-team all-conference spot, emerging this season as a regular starter and picking up the mantle left behind by Grant and Connor Smith. Kelly has played in 32 games over the past three seasons, starting all 11 this season, and was a huge factor in an offense that saw a lot of success, especially in the run game over the past few weeks. Overall, the Hardrockers had five games of over 200 yards rushing, including three-in-a-row to end the season, and Kelly was a large part of that.

The Hardrocker Football team also had ten honorable mention players: Caleb Franklin, Connor Taylor (P), Holden Gilbert, Hunter Newsom, Isaac Engle, Jake Martinelli, Keegan Tandy, Kevin Bruxvoort, Trevor Griffin, and William Lester.

The full teams are listed below with the RMAC press release linked above.

RMAC Football First Team All-Conference – Offense

 
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.