Valpo Football Announces 2022 Team Awards at Postseason Banquet
The Valparaiso University football program revealed its team award winners for the 2022 campaign at the group’s annual postseason awards banquet on Sunday. The team awards were peer-selected as they were voted upon by the players.
Fifth-year senior running back Aaron Dawson (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clarke / Milford Prep [Central Connecticut]) was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year, fifth-year senior defensive back Kohlton Sherman (Millington, Mich. / Millington) garnered Defensive Player of the Year recognition and redshirt senior punter Evan Matthes (Reston, Va. / South Lakes [West Virginia]) was tabbed Special Teams Player of the Year.
In addition, redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Appel Jr. (Springboro, Ohio / Springboro) was named the squad’s Most-Improved Player, redshirt senior offensive lineman Aaron Byrd earned the Sever Award presented annually to the team’s top offensive lineman and freshman defensive lineman Logan Chastain (Clackamas, Ore. / Clackamas) garnered the squad’s Newcomer of the Year nod.
Freshman linebacker Wade Abrams (Fox River Grove, Ill. / Cary-Grove) received Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year recognition, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Daniel Ojaide (Charlotte, N.C. / North Mecklenburg) achieved Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year status and freshman tight end Devin Yeats (Hampshire, Ill. / Hampshire) was tabbed Scout Team Special Teams Player of the Year.
The team also presented its Scholar-Athlete Award to junior defensive lineman Kurt Kessen (Shelby Township, Mich. / Utica), the Koenig Award for outstanding sportsmanship and character to senior defensive back Anthony Sciarroni (Columbus, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales [Alderson Broaddus at Findlay]), the Outstanding Four-Year Man Award to redshirt junior wide receiver Solomon Davis (Brighton, Tenn. / Brighton), the Outstanding Hitter Award to redshirt senior linebacker Ben Hines (Snohomish, Wash. / Archbishop Murphy [Washington]) and the Most Inspirational Player to redshirt junior linebacker Evan Annis (Hilliard, Ohio / Hilliard Davidson).
Dawson, who was named to the All-Pioneer Football League First Team, rushed for a league-most 1,204 yards, a total that ranked second in single-season program history. He also competed in the FCS National Bowl. Sherman, an All-PFL Second Team honoree, enjoyed a streak of four straight games with an interception including a program-record 95-yard pick six at Marist. Matthes, also named to the All-PFL Second Team, averaged 41.4 yards per punt with a long of 67, pinning 22 kicks inside the 20 and booting 10 for 50+ yards.
Byrd garnered All-PFL First Team status and received an FCS National Bowl invite based upon his work on the offensive line. He earned the Sever Award for the third straight season. After redshirting a year ago, Appel passed for 1,878 yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 149 passes this season as the starting quarterback. Chastain accrued 23 tackles including 2.5 TFL and a pair of sacks in his maiden collegiate voyage.
Hines was an All-PFL First team choice after registering a team-high 91 tackles. Kessen owns a 3.99 cumulative grade point average in mechanical engineering and was an Academic All-PFL First Team pick. Annis was a captain who remained the heart and soul of the team despite incurring a season-ending injury at the end of fall camp. Davis led the team with 748 receiving yards and 43 catches en route to First Team All-PFL status. Sciarroni had 19 tackles, an interception and one tackle for loss.
The Beacons finished with four PFL wins for the third straight season after the team had won four PFL games in the same season just once (2017) prior to this stretch. The team has finished with a PFL record of .500 or better in three straight seasons for the first time since 1998-2000. Valpo had its highest league-only road win total in its 30 seasons in the PFL and had its highest league-only win total in any conference since 1962. Highlights of the season included a victory over defending PFL co-champion San Diego, the program’s first ever win at Marist and the program’s first win at Morehead State since 2006.
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