The 18^th annual D3football.com All-Region Teams were released Wednesday, and seven players from the nationally-ranked Linfield Wildcats made the list.
 
Highlighting the Wildcats with First Team All-Region 6 honors are graduate student center Matt Metcalf, senior offensive tackle Taylor Adams, sophomore returner Maclain Stoneking and junior linebacker Blake Rybar. Senior guard Julien Sears landed on the All-Region 6 Second Team while sophomore quarterback Blake Eaton and senior defensive tackle Chase Lydig were picked as third-teamers.
 
Metcalf, Adams and Sears were all named to the All-Northwest Conference First Team. Metcalf (Third Team) and Sears (First Team) were picked as Preseason All-Americans by D3football.com entering the season. With the trio leading the offensive line, Linfield ranks No. 5 in Division III in scoring offense, averaging 44.7 points per game. The 'Cats also rank eighth in the country with a .537 third down conversion percentage and allowed 24 sacks in 11 games.
 
Stoneking leads the nation with 407 punt return yards on 26 attempts, averaging 15.7 yards per return. He was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week on Oct. 3 after returning six punts for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Linfield's 72-2 home rout of Puget Sound. The first return to the house was a season-long 82-yarder. Stoneking also returned 15 kickoffs for 330 yards.
 
The NWC Defensive Player of the Year, Rybar captained the Linfield defense with 67 tackles, 48 solo. He racked up 13 tackles for loss, including 3 ½ sacks, while also contributing three pass breakups and a forced fumble. Rybar was named the NWC Football Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week on three occasions.
 
Eaton earned a First Team All-NWC nod in his first season as a starter. He threw for 2,712 yards and 31 touchdowns while also scoring four touchdowns on the ground. Eaton ranks sixth in Division III with a .713 completion percentage while also ranking ninth with 22.55 completions per game.
 
Lydig was a staple on the Wildcat defensive line, totaling 22 tackles, 14 solo, on his way to earning a second straight First Team All-NWC selection. He was fourth on the team with 6 ½ tackles for loss, four coming via sack. 
 
Adams, Stoneking, Rybar and Eaton all made their All-Region debuts while Metcalf, Sears and Lydig were repeat selections. The seven Wildcats were among 78 players chosen from 192 nominations. Along with the NWC, Region 6 also includes the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
A total of 1,096 student-athletes were nominated for the D3football.com All-Region Teams. The All-Region honorees are now eligible to be considered for the D3football.com All-America Team, which will be announced Friday, Dec. 16, at Stagg Bowl XLIX.