COLUMBIA, Ky. – Lindsey Wilson football head coach Chris Oliver was selected as the Mid-South Conference Bluegrass Division Ron Finley Coach of the Year while Cameron Dukes repeated as the Craig Mullins MSC Bluegrass Offensive Player of the Year, conference officials announced on Thursday. It’s the third straight year this duo has won these awards.
Dukes helped the Blue Raiders capture the Bluegrass Division title for a second year in a row, throwing for 1,670 yards and 19 touchdowns in just eight games this season. He added 216 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to help Lindsey Wilson post a 10-0 record and the automatic bid into the NAIA Football Championship Series.
Dukes is the third Blue Raider in program history to repeat as an MSC Player of the Year. He joins Branden Cresap who did it on offense in 2013 and 2014 and Trent Mueller who managed the honor on defense in 2017 and 2018.
Oliver picks up his fifth Coach of the Year honor after guiding Lindsey Wilson to its fourth perfect regular season and fifth divisional title. The award comes on the heels of being named the 2020 Howard Schellenberger Coach of the Year earlier this season.
In addition, Eli Cross, Joe Gressette, Jaleel Warren, Joshua Lewis, Dukes, Jaylen Boyd, Ian Sauter, David Hylick, Luke Bowman, Cashawn Beasley and Robert Carter were all named First-Team All-MSC selections as Dawson Oliver, Darius Clark, Cameron Thurman and Darius Hylick each collected second-team conference honors.
The individual awards and all-conference teams are selected by a vote of the Bluegrass Division’s coaches. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Twenty-nine players earned first-team all-conference honors and 28 were selected second-team all-conference as voted on by the coaches. Ties for all-conference teams were not broken.
Georgetown’s (Ky.) DJ White is the MSC Bluegrass Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to the players of the year, Bethel’s (Tenn.) James Dixon is the Bluegrass Offensive Freshman of the Year and Pikeville’s (Ky.) Jonathan Morton is the Bluegrass Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Lindsey Wilson opens postseason play on Saturday when they welcome Montana Western to Parnell Family Stadium for the NAIA Football Championship Series Opening Round. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. CT.
