GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – Westminster College seniors Ryan Gomes and Brayden Thimons headline the 2022 All-Presidents' Athletic Conference football team.
Gomes (Tampa, Fla./Walter L. Sickles High) and Thimons (Natrona Heights, Pa./Highlands High) were named the PAC's respective Offensive and Defensive players of the year.
Undefeated PAC champion Carnegie Mellon University first-year Head Coach Ryan Larsen was selected as Coach of the Year, while Grove City College's first-year linebacker Ben Bladel was named Newcomer of the Year.
Westminster's Titans, led by veteran taskmaster Scott Benzel, won 5 consecutive conference contests to conclude the campaign en route to a 7-3 overall, 6-2 PAC mark.
The Titans were to have played SUNY-Brockport in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Clayton Chapman Bowl, but the game was canceled owing to weather issues in the Buffalo, N.Y. area.
Gomes was the PAC's regular-season rushing leader with 1,024 yards on 224 attempts. His 8 rushing touchdowns are the 3rd-highest total in the league this season. He also caught 13 passes for 108 yards and 2 TDs. His 60 points scored ranked 4th in the PAC. He posted 100 or more rushing yards 5 times this season, going for a career-best 194 yards in a win over Bethany College (42-3).
Gomes is Westminster's first 1,000-yard rusher since Dominique McKinley ran for 1,262 yards in 2015.
An All-PAC Honorable Mention selection in 2021, Gomes has 1,976 rushing yards and 13 rushing TDs on 435 attempts in 26 career games. He is Westminster's first PAC Offensive Player of the Year since Scott Froelich (2003).
Thimons, a 3-time All-PAC First-Team selection, ranked 3rd in the league with 16 tackles-for-loss and 4th in quarterback sacks with 8.5. His 16 TFL rank 33rd in Division III while his 8.5 sacks rank 43rd. He had 59 total tackles (42 solos). Also, he scored 3 rushing TDs, including a 13-yarder in a Senior Day win over Case Western Reserve University (14-13). Thimons posted 5 tackles (4 solos), 3.5 TFL and a pair of sacks in Westminster's win over Thiel College (41-6).
In 25 career games at Westminster Thimons totaled 47 TFL and 25 sacks.
In addition to Gomes and Thimons, there was a treasure trove of Titans who also earned honors.
Senior offensive lineman Gabriel Cleveland (Cumming, Ga./South Forsyth High) was named to the First Team. Cleveland anchored an O-line that enabled the Titans to average 26.4 points and 321.6 yards-per-game despite fielding three different starting quarterbacks.
Safeties Brice Butler (Farrell, Pa./Farrell High) and Bryce Thomas (Saint Marys, Ga./Camden County High) also were named to the First Team. The ballhawking Butler pilfered 6 passes – 2nd in the PAC – including a pair of Pick-Sixes and also forced 2 fumbles and returned 15 punts for a 9.8 average. Thomas also tallied another pair of interceptions for a Titans' team that yielded just 118.5 ypg. through the air.
Senior Chevy Dawson (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Centennial High) earned First-Team honors as a punter, as well as Second-Team laurels as an Athlete. In addition to his punting exploits – averaging about 39 yards-per-punt – Dawson doubled as a Titans' tight end, catching a pair of TD passes.
Second-Team laurels were accorded senior defensive lineman Tyree Reeder (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline High) and senior linebacker Nicholas Treloar (New Castle, Pa./New Castle High). This season Reeder recorded 10 TFL including 4.5 sacks, while Treloar's 64 tackles (25 solos) led Westminster, which limited opponents to 11.2 points and 219 total yards-per-game
Honorable-Mention selections for Westminster included senior offensive lineman Devin Little (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver Falls High), and wide receivers Tylon Eilam (Sharon, Pa./Sharon High) and Jalen Washington (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips High). Eilam (26 catches, 387 yards, 14.9 per-catch, 3 TDs) and Washington (27-374, 13.9, 5 TDs) are a junior and sophomore, respectively.
Also honorably-mentioned were senior linebacker Jarred Kohl (York, Pa./York Catholic High), junior defensive back Corte Williams (Sharon, Pa./Sharon High), and senior quarterback Cole Konieczka (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area High). Kohl collected 3 QB sacks and Williams went for a 32-yard Pick-Six against Case Western Reserve University.
Konieczka concluded his career as Westminster's 2nd-leading passer in terms of yards (6,806) and TD tosses (63) to former standouts Kevin Frantz (7,483) and Joe Micchia (68). Konieczka connected on 503 of 917 career passes (54.8%) and an efficiency rating of 136.2.
His senior season was short-circuited in Westminster's fifth game when he sustained an ankle injury. However he was named as one of this year's PAC Sportsmanship Award winners.
In 10 regular-season games Bladel boasted 44 tackles (19 solos), 10 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and a blocked kick. In a victory over Geneva College (55-17) he finished with 6 tackles (3 solos), 3.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. In Grove City's win at Bethany (55-7), Bladel returned a fumble 30 yards for a TD.
Bladel is Grove City's first Newcomer of the Year award winner since Cody Gustafson in 2017.
Larsen guided Carnegie Mellon to its 2nd straight PAC title – first outright conference championship since 1985 – after finishing the regular season 10-0 overall (8-0 PAC). This year's PAC title is the 9th for CMU. The Tartans also received the PAC's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Championships. Carnegie Mellon, No. 15 in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division III Coaches' Poll and No. 19 in the latest D3football.com Top 25, is riding a 17-game winning streak, the longest active streak across all NCAA divisions.
CMU hosted DePauw University (9-1), the North Coast Athletic Conference champion, in the D-III first round Saturday.
The All-PAC teams and yearly award winners are determined, by vote, of the league's 11 head coaches.
