UMAC Football Postseason Awards Release
Video Reaction: UMAC Coach of the Year Kirk Talley

ST. PAUL -- 13 Northwestern College football players were named in Thursday's release of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) postseason awards announcement. In addition to the league's football all-conference accolades, Northwestern was awarded the UMAC Lineman of the Year and Coach of the Year award while being named the recipient of the league's team sportsmanship honor.

The Eagles were awarded eight UMAC All-Conference First Team selections, including Josh Swore (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central), who received the league's lineman of the year honor for the second consecutive season. Swore had 50 tackles in eight UMAC games while adding 13.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. Swore was the lone Northwestern player to be named a repeat all-conference award-winner in the same position for two years running.

Northwestern had seven offensive players earn all-conference first team status, including quarterback Josh Balzer (Shorview, Minn./Mounds View), who threw for 1,650 yards and 19 touchdowns, completing 55.5 percent of his passes while averaging 206.2 yards and a 167.23 efficiency rating per UMAC contest. Sophomore running backs Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia) and Chris Simon-Wallace (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) were also named to the first team. Sinnen rushed for 691 yards and seven TDs in conference affairs, while Simon-Wallace finished with 496 yards and five touchdowns in the same eight games.

Wide receiver Brian Lecheler (Abbotsford, Wis./Abbotsford) also had a standout season in UMAC games, catching 29 passes for 577 yards to go with six touchdowns in those contests en route to a first team All-UMAC honor. Lecheler averaged 72.1 yards per game against league teams, which was in the top five for all UMAC players. Lecheler and Balzer were both all-conference award recipients in 2011, but at other positions with Lecheler earning accolades as a kick returner while Balzer was awarded for his punting. Lecheler's fellow senior, Matt Dammann (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson), also earned first team honors. In addition to his role as a blocker on the offensive line, Dammann hauled in 15 catches for 198 yards and a Northwestern-best seven scores to be named to his first-ever All-UMAC team.

Much of the success of the previously mentioned student-athletes wouldn't have come without the work of offensive linemen Ryan Friesen (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) and Connor Leach (Winter Park, Fla./Lake Howell), who both were named to the UMAC All-Conference First Team. With Friesen and Leach in the trenches, along with second-teamer Kassidy Cook (Postville, Iowa/Postville), the Eagles rushed for 1,580 yards while passing for 1,696 more, both of which were ranked in the league's top three.

Senior running back Tim Youtzy (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) joined in on the fun as a second team all-conference running back, completing the trio of Youtzy, Sinnen and Simon-Wallace all being awarded All-UMAC honors. Youtzy, who often times lined up as a fullback, had 335 yards and three touchdowns on the ground while contributing 184 yards and a score through the air. Youtzy also had one of the Eagles' 20 passing touchdowns throughout the conference season as he hooked up with Dammann on a halfback pass.

Linebacker Kendall Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) rounded out the first team awards for Northwestern following his team-best 64 tackles in UMAC affairs. Sommerlot had one interception against league opponents while also forcing a fumble.

Three more defensive players from Northwestern were selected to the UMAC All-Conference Second Team including linebacker Luke Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area ) and defensive backs Cody Kielsa (Howard Lake, Minn./Rogers) and Austin Warner (Fridley, Minn./Fridley). The younger Sommerlot, who played in all eight UMAC games as a freshman, had 53 tackles in an Eagles uniform with 2.5 of those tackles coming behind the line of scrimmage. Kielsa had 41 tackles from his rotating positions between cornerback and safety. Both Luke Sommerlot (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area ) and Kielsa had interceptions in UMAC games in 2012. Warner posted 38 tackles while breaking up five passes in eight games.

Northwestern, who will participate in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Victory Bowl against Greenville College on Saturday of this week, finished its regular season with an 8-2 record, going 7-1 against UMAC foes to earn a share of the conference championship with Greenville and the College of St. Scholastica. Following the regular season, Eagles head coach Kirk Talley was voted the UMAC Coach of the Year by his peers after leading Northwestern back to a 7-1 conference mark from a 1-5 league record in 2010 and a 6-3 UMAC finish in 2011. NWC was also awarded the UMAC Team Sportsmanship Award, an accolade that that is selected by the UMAC coaches to honor the team which best exemplified sportsmanship throughout the entire 2012 season.  Each team also had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list, with Balzer earning that honor.