En route to winning its first North Coast Athletic Conference championship since 2011, the Wabash College football program dominated the league's postseason honors.
 
Senior running back Mason Zurek was named Offensive Player of the Year, senior defensive lineman Tyler McCullen named Defensive Player of the Year, and head coach Erik Raeburn earned Coach-of-the-Year honors, while 18 Little Giants earned all-conferences accolades in voting done by the league's head coaches.
 
It marks only the third time that a school has claimed both player-of-the-year awards and the coach-of-the-year kudos in the same season (2002, 2004) since Wabash joined the NCAC in 2000, and the Little Giants are the first to accomplish the feat twice.
 
A 6-foot, 225-pound native of Saint John, IN, Zurek earned the Mike Gregory Award by rushing for 1,430 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 regular season games. He was the only NCAC player to break the 1,000-yard barrier on the ground this season and tallied 100 or more yards eight times in those 10 tilts, including a whopping 278 yards in the annual Monon Bell Classic, a 45-17 Wabash win over DePauw.
 
Zurek is the first running back to win the Gregory Award since 2007, and he is the fourth Wabash player to earn the distinction (total of six times), joining Matt Hudson (2008, 2009), Russ Harbaugh (2005), Jake Knott (2001, 2002).
A 6-foot-5, 265-pound product of Apache Junction, AZ, McCullen won the Hank Critchfield Award after finishing the regular season with 40 tackles (24 solo), including an NCAC-leading 8.5 sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss (2nd), a fumble recovery and a pass break up. He earned NCAC Player-of-the-Week honors on Nov. 7 after amassing five tackles for loss, including four sacks, in a 38-7 win over Denison.
 
McCullen is the third consecutive Wabash player to collect the Critchfield Award, continuing a run that has seen the Little Giants claim this award 10 times since 2000. Other Wabash winners include Cody Buresh (2014), Nate Scola (2013), C.J. Gum (2010, 2011), Darryl Kennon (2008), Adrian Pynenberg (2006, 2007), Blair Hammer (2003) and Nate Boulais (2002).
 
Raeburn guided the 2015 Little Giants to a spotless 10-0 regular season record, a 9-0 NCAC mark, and a berth in the NCAA Division III Playoffs for the fifth time in eight seasons as the Wabash head coach. His squad averaged 43.1 points and 467.4 yards per game and ranked in the top-five nationally in total defense (5th/209.6 ypg), rushing defense (2nd/49.7 ypg), and scoring defense (3rd/7.6 ppg) in posting the second 10-0 regular season in Raeburn's head coaching career.
 
It's the second time (2011) that Raeburn has been named NCAC Coach of the Year, and the third time he's earned such honors in the two leagues in which he's coached (2002/IIAC). 2015 marks the fifth time that Wabash has claimed NCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors since joining the league (2002, 2005, 2007).
 
Joining Zurek and McCullen on the first team all-NCAC squad are Kyle Stucker (OL/6-3/257/Jr.), Wes Brown (OL/6-7/275/Sr.), Deryion Sturdivant (OL/6-2/270/Jr.), Ethan Buresh (OLB/6-0/223/Jr.), Connor Ludwig (ILB/5-10/203/Jr.), Connor Karns (DL/6-1/234/Sr.), Evan Rutter (DL/6-3/237/Sr.), Austin Brown (DB/6-1/230/Jr.), Delon Pettiford (DB/5-9/178/Jr.), and Andrew Tutsie (K/6-1/2-8/Jr.).
 
Little Giants named to the second team all-conference team are Shamir Johnson (RB/5-10/189/Jr.), Klay Fullenkamp (TE/6-3/265/So.), Jordan Culp (OL/6-4/280/Sr.), and Eddie Cmehil (DB/5-7/194/Sr.).
 
Honorable Mention selections included Connor Rice (QB/6-4/220/Jr.), A.J. Clark (LB/5-11/208/Sr.), and Brian Parks (DB/5-7/166/So.).
 
The 18 Wabash players to earn first-, second-, or honorable mention all-conference honors in 2015 marked the second-most in school history, topped only by 2011's 19; and the 11 first-teamers equaled the mark originally set in 2008.
 
Seventh-ranked Wabash (11-0, 9-0 NCAC) hosts ninth-ranked Thomas Moore College (11-0, 8-0 PAC) in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Division III Playoffs at noon EST on Saturday, Nov. 28, at Hollett Little Giant Stadium.