Walter Payton Award finalists Bo Levi Mitchell of Eastern Washington and Shakir Bell of Indiana State have been selected to The Associated Press FCS All-America team.

North Dakota State, which hosts Georgia Southern on Saturday in the other semifinal, placed offensive lineman Paul Cornick and defensive back Marcus Williams on the first team.

Williams, a 5-foot-11, 186-pound, sophomore from Minneapolis, Minn. (Hopkins H.S.), leads the Valley and is 4th nationally with seven interceptions. He is one away from school record of eight set by Frank Esposito in 1953. Williams was a first-team All-MVFC, a MVFC Defensive Player of Week and a MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week selection this season.

Williams has scored three times on interceptions (including lateral from Colten Heagle at Minnesota) and once on kickoff return this season. He leads the Valley and is tied for fifth nationally in passes defended. Williams has 23 of 27 games in career with at least one pass defended. He had career-high nine tackles vs. Illinois State and vs. Youngstown State. Williams  recorded two interceptions at Southern Illinois and at Western Illinois.

Cornick, a 6-foot-6, 309-pound senior from Orono, Minn. (Orono H.S.) graded out 95.6 percent this season with 84 knockdown blocks and allowed just one sack in pass protection and no quarterback hurries. He had a season-high 10 knockdown blocks in the season opener against Lafayette.

Cornick, who was named to the 2011 AFCA Coaches All-America team, was part of an offensive line that provided protection for quarterback Brock Jensen, who has completed 199 of 291 passes for 2,267 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions Jensen completed 68.4 percent of his passes and ranks 21st nationally in passing efficiency.

The offensive line, known as the "Rams", opened holes for running backs D.J. McNorton and Sam Ojuri, who have combined for 331 carries for 1,865 yards and 22 touchdowns. The pair have averaged 5.63 yards per carry.

Collectively, the offfensive line allowed 18 sacks. The offense is tied for 4th nationally in Red Zone offense, converting 45 of 50 chances at 90 percent including 34 touchdowns.

Mitchell leads FCS in yards passing per game at 364.5, and his 33 touchdown passes are tops in the nation. Bell is the leading rusher in FCS with 151.8 yards per game, 20 more than the next best average.

The third finalist for the Payton Award as FCS player of the year, Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum, was picked as the second-team quarterback. The award will be presented Jan. 6.

Bell's teammate, defensive end Ben Obaseki, was also selected to the team, making Indiana State one of five schools with two All-Americans.

Montana, which plays at Sam Houston State on Friday night in the FCS semifinals, is represented by linebacker Caleb McSurdy and defensive back Trumaine Johnson. McSurdy was the Big Sky defensive player of the year.

Furman linebacker Kadarron Anderson and defensive back Ryan Steed also made the first team, and Idaho State was represented by receiver Rodrick Rumble and punter David Harrington, who led the nation with a 48.7-yard average.

Joining Mitchell and Bell in the backfield was Wofford fullback Eric Breitenstein, who has 1,474 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns.

The other two receivers on the first team were Elon's Aaron Mellette, who led the nation in catches (113) and yards (1,639), and Lehigh's Ryan Spadola, who was second in yards (1,614).

The other offensive linemen on the first team were: Weber State's J.C. Oram, Stephen F. Austin's George Bias, Georgia Southern's Brett Moore and South Dakota's Tom Compton.

The all-purpose player was William & Mary's Jonathan Grimes, who led the nation in all-purpose yards with 228 per game.

Portland State's Zach Brown was the kicker.

On defense, Prairie View A&M's Adrian Hamilton made the first team after leading the nation and setting a Southwestern Athletic Conference record with 20 1/2 sacks.

Northern Iowa's Ben Boothby and Sacramento State's Zack Nash were the other linemen.

Joining McSurdy and Anderson at linebacker was Tyler Holmes of Massachusetts.

Josh Norman of Coastal Carolina rounded out the secondary.

Associated Press FCS All-America Team