The Midwest Conference announced the All-MWC Football Teams and major award winners on Tuesday and the league champion Foresters had several honorees.
Lake Forest Head Coach Jim Catanzaro was selected by his peers as the MWC Coach of the Year after directing the team to a perfect 9-0 record in conference play. The Foresters were ranked third in the MWC Preseason Coaches Poll before outscoring league foes by a combined score of 415-75. It is the second such honor for "Coach Cat," who also earned the award in 2012 when Lake Forest claimed a share of the MWC title.
Forester quarterback Tre Stewart was a First Team All-MWC selection and the MWC Newcomer of the Year after leading the league with a 166.45 pass efficiency rating in conference play. The junior transfer also ranked among the top four signal-caller in the MWC with 1,586 yards, 18 touchdown passes, and a .633 completion percentage. In addition, Stewart rushed for another 312 yards and seven scores.
Cornerback Dante Esposito was voted MWC Defensive Skill MVP after intercepting a conference-best seven passes and tying for the league lead with seven pass breakups. The junior also made 22 tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage, and recovered a fumble during the MWC season.
On the other side of the ball right tackle Anthony DerManulian was selected as the MWC Offensive Line MVP and was joined on the First Team by center Connor Cahill. The two seniors helped the Forester offense rank second in the conference with 46.1 points per game and third with 383.3 yards per contest. Lake Forest allowed just nine sacks while averaging 4.9 yards per carry during the conference season.
Wide receiver A.J. Jackson was a First Team All-MWC selection on offense and as a kick returner for the second time in his career. Despite missing the team's MWC opener, Jackson caught 40 passes in the other eight conference games and led the league with 747 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches. He also scored on four of his 16 punt returns and averaged a conference best 31.4 yards per attempt in MWC action. With eight punt return touchdowns in 22 games as a Forester, Jackson is already the NCAA Division III career leader in that category.
First Team All-MWC running back Damon Bonds finished second in the conference with 831 rushing yards during the MWC season. He also averaged a healthy 7.2 yards per carry, ran for 11 touchdowns, and added nine receptions for 87 yards in the passing game.
Lake Forest defensive end Alex Bendler was a First Team honoree after tying for fourth in the MWC with 6.0 sacks during league play. The junior finished with 28 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss, during the team's nine league games. Bendler also forced one fumble and recovered two.
Joining Esposito and Bendler as First Team All-MWC selections on defense was linebacker Dominic Johnson, who led the Foresters with 47 tackles during conference play. Among those stops were 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks and the senior added a fumble recovery and a pair of pass breakups.
Lake Forest's three Second Team All-MWC honorees were sophomore left tackle Ian Ramey, senior defensive tackle Jamari Tansmore, and junior punter Logan Persson. Ramey started and played in all but one game on the offensive line and helped the Foresters set a school record for points in a season. Tansmore, a Second Team All-MWC North Division honoree in 2019, made 30 tackles against conference teams this fall and added 8.5 tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks, and his first career interception. Persson ranked second in the MWC at 38.6 yards per punt with 11 of his 26 attempts during league games ending up inside the 20-yardline.
In addition to recognizing individuals for their performance on the field, the league also announced that Lake Forest junior quarterback Vincent Wallace is the recipient of MWC Elite 20 Award, which in football goes the the player on the championship team with the highest cumulative grade point average.
In addition to capturing their first conference championship since 2012 and first outright league title since 1983, the Forester earned the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. They will travel to Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, to play a first round game this Saturday at noon.
