ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris Cougars earned their second Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Football Championship this fall. Following the conference season, the Cougars earned four of the five top conference honors in addition to leading the UMAC with 18 All-Conference award winners, it was announced on Thursday.
Marty Hoffmann was named Coach of the Year after leading Minnesota Morris to their first conference championship since 2006. Under his leadership, the Cougars went undefeated against conference opponents with a perfect 5-0 UMAC record to end their 17-year championship drought. Against UMAC opponents, Hoffmann’s team led the conference with an average of 39.4 points scored per game while holding opponents to just 19.8 points per game.
Chayce Meyer was named Most Valuable Defensive Player this fall. The Cougars' defensive lineman had seven sacks, 48 total tackles, and a UMAC-best 18.0 tackles for loss. Against conference opponents, Meyer led the UMAC with 4.5 sacks and had the second-most tackles for loss with 9.5 in five games.
Alex Happ earned the Most Valuable Special Teams Player award. The Cougars' kicker made eight field goals this fall, five of which were made against conference opponents. Happ’s biggest kick was a go-ahead career long 42-yarder that would be the difference in the Cougars’ 42-39 victory over University of Northwestern in the final game of the season to win the UMAC Championship.
Christian Diederich won the Most Valuable Lineman honor. The Minnesota Morris offensive lineman was key to the Cougars leading the UMAC in points scored in conference play. With Diederich helping protecting the quarterback, the Cougars' offensive line only gave up nine sacks all season while holding UMAC opponents to just two in five games.
The Most Valuable Offensive Player award was shared by two players. Paul Garrett of Greenville University was one of those two. The senior running back led the UMAC with 1,474 rushing yards on 8.5 yards per carry for 147.4 rushing yards per game and scored 15 rushing touchdowns. Nationally throughout all of NCAA Division III, he is ranked second in total rushing yards, third in rushing yards per game, fourth in rushing yards per carry, and 13
th in total rushing touchdowns. Against conference opponents, Garrett ran for 806 yards on 8.1 yards per carry while finding the endzone nine times.
Beau Burk was also named Most Valuable Offensive Player. The Northwestern wide receiver led the UMAC with 1,250 receiving yards on 8.4 receptions per game for 125.0 yards per game and scored seven receiving touchdowns. Nationally throughout NCAA DIII, he is ranked fourth in total receiving yards, fourth in receptions per game, and fourth in receiving yards per game. Against conference opponents, Burk had 887 yards on 10.8 receptions per game for 177.4 yards per game and caught four touchdowns.
Martin Luther College won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
*Co-Most Valuable Offensive Player: Paul Garrett, Greenville
*Co-Most Valuable Offensive Player: Beau Burk, Northwestern
#Most Valuable Defensive Player: Chayce Meyer, Minnesota Morris
^Most Valuable Special Teams Player: Alex Happ, Minnesota Morris
%Most Valuable Lineman: Christian Diederich, Minnesota Morris
Coach of the Year: Marty Hoffmann, Minnesota Morris
Team Sportsmanship Award: Martin Luther College
| First Team All-Conference Offense |
| QB |
Caden Cantrell |
Northwestern |
| RB |
Izayah Boss |
Minnesota Morris |
| RB |
Paul Garrett * |
Greenville |
| RB |
Blake Johnson |
Minnesota Morris |
| WR |
Beau Burk * |
Northwestern |
| WR |
Mason Cox |
Martin Luther |
| WR |
Ethan Tang |
Minnesota Morris |
| TE |
Kaiden Cervantes |
Greenville |
| TE |
Jude Pederson |
Martin Luther |
| OL |
Luke Ainsley |
Northwestern |
| OL |
Cole Broekhuizen |
Martin Luther |
| OL |
Christian Diederich % |
Minnesota Morris |
| OL |
Dustin Konvalinka |
Greenville |
| OL |
Victor Lopez |
Minnesota Morris |
| OL |
Derek Martinez-Delgado |
Greenville |
| First Team All-Conference Defense |
| DB |
Rudy Criner |
Crown |
| DB |
Joey Ehlke |
Martin Luther |
| DB |
Garrett Elison |
Minnesota Morris |
| DB |
Hunter Infanger |
Minnesota Morris |
| DB |
Luke Malamisuro |
Northwestern |
| DB |
Jeremiah Stanton |
Martin Luther |
| DL |
Maurice Carter |
Minnesota Morris |
| DL |
Christian Koelpin |
Martin Luther |
| DL |
Thomas Linnear |
Greenville |
| DL |
Chayce Meyer # |
Minnesota Morris |
| DL |
Zane Schlabach |
Northwestern |
| LB |
Thomas Balge |
Martin Luther |
| LB |
Dawson Brandt |
Westminster |
| LB |
Alex Emmrich |
Minnesota Morris |
| LB |
Jayden Goodwin |
Northwestern |
| First Team All-Conference Special Teams |
| K |
Alex Happ ^ |
Minnesota Morris |
| KR |
Jacob Miranda |
Minnesota Morris |
| P |
Jakob Montesi |
Northwestern |
| PR |
Luke Malamisuro |
Northwestern |
| Second Team All-Conference Offense |
| QB |
Max Nordlie |
Martin Luther |
| QB |
Marcus Reeb |
Minnesota Morris |
| RB |
Adrian Hinton |
Greenville |
| RB |
Carson Oestreich |
Martin Luther |
| RB |
Jeremiah Staten |
Northwestern |
| WR |
Isaiah Anfield |
Crown |
| WR |
Jaylen Brown |
Northwestern |
| WR |
Delrey Crowder |
Greenville |
| TE |
Cole Mitchell |
Minnesota Morris |
| OL |
Dylan Brouillard |
Northwestern |
| OL |
Mitchell Foss |
Minnesota Morris |
| OL |
Elisha Green |
Crown |
| OL |
Jack Megason |
Northwestern |
| OL |
Samuel Rodriguez |
Martin Luther |
| Second Team All-Conference Defense |
| DB |
Edward Dyer |
Northwestern |
| DB |
Naketa Ellington |
Northwestern |
| DB |
Kourtland Harris |
Greenville |
| DB |
Isaiah Henderson |
Minnesota Morris |
| DB |
William Nowlin |
Greenville |
| DL |
Paul Berglund |
Northwestern |
| DL |
Mondo Calderon |
Minnesota Morris |
| DL |
Darvin Fowler |
Westminster |
| DL |
Jeffrey Markvicka II |
Northwestern |
| DL |
Devin Miller |
Westminster |
| DL |
Mitchell Schaeffer |
Greenville |
| LB |
Gabe Banks |
Crown |
| LB |
Brad Kulinski |
Northwestern |
| LB |
Gregory Ohman |
Minnesota Morris |
| LB |
Elias Velasquez |
Greenville |
| LB |
Braeden Wells |
Greenville |
| Second Team All-Conference Special Teams |
| K |
Micah Koschnitzke |
Martin Luther |
| KR |
Rudy Criner |
Crown |
| Individual Sportsmanship Awards |
| Jared Pardee |
Crown College |
| Jalen Dowell |
Greenville University |
| Isaiah Terry |
Martin Luther College |
| Dylan Naughton |
University of Minnesota Morris |
| Zach Gordy |
University of Northwestern |
| Deacon Steadman |
Westminster College |