Following a second-place finish in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, 11 Spire football players have earned designation to all-conference teams and USM's head coach Lance Hinson was named co-winner of the conference's coach of the year award.
Hinson, who's served as USM's head coach since 2005, shares the coach of the year award with Kent Kessinger, coach of KCAC regular season champs Ottawa University. He last earned a share of the award in his first season as USM head coach.
“I was honored and humbled by our conference coaches electing me as the co-coach of the year along with Coach Kessinger,” Hinson said. “It is truly an award based on the hard work and efforts of our team, coaches and athletic department staff. Coaching is just like playing the game of football — it's a team sport and you're only successful if you're surrounded with people who work and care about the team's success as much as you do.”
Multiple Spires players also were recognized with end-of-season honors by the KCAC.
Junior quarterback Mike Keese was tapped for the first team after leading the league in passing with 330.7 yards per game and a .568 completion percentage. The Olathe native threw for 21 touchdowns on the year.
Joining Keese on the first team are wide receivers Fred Edison and Billy Owens. Edison, a sophomore from Compton, Calif., led the KCAC with 10.8 receptions per game. He totaled 1,286 yards on 108 catches for the year, averaging 128.6 yards per game. Owens, a sophomore from Galveston, Texas, racked up 1,084 yards on 63 catches for an average of 108.4 yards per game.
The Spires’ final first-team honor went to linebacker Cris Basch, a junior from Las Vegas. Basch had a total of 111 tackles on the year, 21 tackles for loss and two sacks. He also had four fumble recoveries, caused three fumbles, blocked two field goals and grabbed four interceptions.
Defensive lineman Opetia Tuiava, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colo., was named to the KCAC second team. He had 34 total tackles on the year, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Six more Spires were named to the honorable mention. Kameron Ridley, a junior running back from Dalton, Ga., averaged 44.3 rushing yards per game and 35.2 receiving yards per game. He totaled six touchdowns on the year. Bobby Schattle, a senior kicker/punter from Plano, Texas, had 33 extra points and 12 field goals for USM and also punted 26 times with an average of 36.8 yards per punt. Nick Ruiz, a senior defensive back from El Cajon, Calif., had 40 tackles, two tackles for loss and three interceptions for the Spires. Jacob Stout, a senior defensive lineman from Anderson, Calif., had 46 tackles and six tackles for loss. Offensive linemen Alan Gudka, a freshman from Keenesburg, Colo., and Logan Fritz, a sophomore from Garnett, Kan., were both voted honorable mention as well.
“I am proud of all of their accomplishments,” Hinson said. “We broke a lot of records this year: most wins, most passing and receiving yards, most conference players of the week. This was a great year for Spire football and we should all be proud of the accomplishments of our student-athletes.”
The Spires finished the season second in the KCAC with a 7-2 conference mark and a 7-4 record overall.
