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Wabash Players and Coach receive All-Region Honors

Four Wabash College football players, along with head football coach Chris Creighton, have been recognized by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette as members of the Division III All-North Region Team.

Senior tight end Ryan Short (Indianapolis, ?IN/Perry Meridian) and junior kick returner Josh Bronaugh (Crawfordsville, IN/North Montgomery) were named to the All-North Region First Team. Senior linebacker Nate Boulais (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis)was an All-North Region Second Team selection, while senior quarterback Jake Knott (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) earned All-North Region Third Team honors. Creighton was named the Division III North Region Coach of the Year.

Short earned First Team honors after finishing the season with 71 receptions for 705 yards and 17 touchdowns. His 17 scoring catches broke his own school and North Coast Athletic Conference record of 13 set in 2000 and again in 2001. He caught four TD passes in the Monon Bell victory against DePauw, tying a school record and setting a Monon Bell Classic record. He finished his career with 45 touchdown receptions, more than any other receiver in Indiana collegiate history. Short also finished with a school-record 243 receptions, and finished third on the Wabash career receiving yards list with 2,773.

Bronaugh was named to the All-District First Team after leading the nation for most of the season in kick return yardage. He finished the year with 21 returns for 636 yards, an average of 30.3 yards per return. Bronaugh set the school and conference record by returning a kick 100 yards for a touchdown against Hiram. He also averaged 10.8 yards per punt return this season for Wabash.

Boulais was selected to the All-District Second Team after leading the Little Giants for the fourth consecutive season in tackles. He topped the 100-tackle mark for the second time in his career, finishing the year with 102 (42 solo, 60 assisted). Boulais also finished his career as the second-leading tackler in school history with 364. He anchored a Wabash defensive unit that ranked in the top-ten in rushing defense and scoring defense throughout most of the year. The Little Giants held the opposition to 75.7 yards on the ground, currently eighth-best in the nation. The opponents averaged only 15.3 points per game against the Little Giants this season. Boulais’ efforts this season earned him the Hank Critchfield NCAC Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Knott earned All-District Third Team honors, in addition to winning the Mike Gregory NCAC Offensive Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive season. Knott owns nearly every quarterback record in the Wabash and NCAC record book. He is the only quarterback in Indiana collegiate history to throw for over 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns in a career, and is one of only 16 in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. He threw for a school-record 2,954 yards and a school and conference-record 35 TDs. Knott finished his career with 11,213 passing yards and 116 touchdown passes. He also showed his mobility, rushing for 261 yards this season and 841 yards in his career, giving him 12,054 yards of total offense in four years in a Wabash uniform. He finished his career against Mount Union having started in every game from his freshman to senior season.

Creighton was named the North Region Coach of the Year after guiding Wabash to an undefeated regular season record and its first NCAC championship since joining the league as a football member in 2000. Creighton also led the Little Giants to the playoffs for the first time since 1977. He is already tied for eighth on the list of winningest coaches in Wabash history with a record of 20-3 in just two seasons. Creighton received the NCAC Coach of the Year Award for 2002, and was named the American Football Coaches Association Division III District II Coach of the Year.