Penn quarterback Nolan McCullough and Kingsmen Head Coach Cory Yeoman earned top honors in the Northern Indiana Conference East-West Division.
Coach Yeoman won NIC East-West Coach of the Year. He led the Kingsmen to an impressive 10-2 record, winning the NIC title and a Sectional Championship.
Senior dual-threat QB McCullough achieved co-MVP. He rushed for 15 touchdowns, with 820 yards on 93 carries in the 2023 season. McCullough completed 58.5 percent of his passes and had 820 passing yards while also throwing for 15 touchdowns.
NIC First-Team selections:
Senior Auden Jones played the center position. Seniors Nevan Freitag and Riley Schramski joined him on the O-line first team. The three offensive linemen contributed to 2,110 yards on 361 rushing attempts. The Kingsmen average 5.8 yards per carrying and score 28 touchdowns.
Senior running back Jake Balis ran for 955 yards on 197 carries. Balis ran in 11 touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Elijah Coker averaged 13 yards per catch with 521 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also blocked a punt for the Kingsmen.
Senior Defensive end Brandon Lynch ran down 5 tackles for a loss, 11 QB pressures, and 8.5 sacks. He also broke up 2 passes and forced a fumble.
Senior Linebacker Tommy Powlus caused 57 primary tackles and 4 tackles for loss. He also forced a fumble.
Senior SS/Robber Maverick Brown had 46 primary tackles and also tacked on 3 defensive touchdowns. Brown had 2 interceptions for touchdowns and a fumble recovery for another score.
Seniors Vince Horner and Dom Bonner were first team all conference DB’s. Horner had 6 interceptions and returned 3 of them for touchdowns. Horner returned 3 punts for touchdowns. He also had 2 forced fumbles and had 25 primary tackles. Dom Bonner had 3 intreceptions and returned 2 of them for a touchdown. Bonner had 6 broken up passes and also ran down 21 primary tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.
Sophmore Vinny Freeman was the at large first team all conference player at the boundary saftey position. Freeman had 2 tackles for loss and 36 primary tackles. He broke up 4 passes and recovered a fumble for the Kingsmen.
Senior wide receiver Austin Eysol was Penn’s punter and he achieved first team all conference. Eysol punted the football 26 times and average 33.5 yards per punt.
Penn’s Second Team All-Conference Winners:
Junior receiver Kellen Watson caught 26 passes and had 569 yards. He ran in 3 touchdowns.
Junior Cole Bennett played the Tight End position. He caught 15 passes for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Senior Jackson Griffith played the Linebacker position. Griffith had 4 tackles for a loss and had 56 primary tackles. Griffith had 4 QB pressures and 2 broken up passes.
Senior Defensive tackle Evan Whitten had 5 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks. He also had 29 primary tackles. Whitten caused and recovered 2 fumbles.
