TAMPA, Fla. – The Sun Conference announces its postseason major award winners for the 2023 football season.
 
St. Thomas's Rontavious Farmer is this year's Offensive Player of the Year. Farmer led the conference and leads the nation in total rushing yards (1,358). He also is first in the conference in rushing touchdowns (20), second in rushing yards per game (123.5), and is a team captain for the Bobcats. Farmer also earned First Team All-Conference honors.
 
Nicholas Engler of St. Thomas is the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in tackles for loss (16.5). He also was first in the conference in solo sacks (7), and tallied seven pass breakups, two blocked punts, two blocked field goals, and scored two touchdowns. Engler is also a captain for STU and was named the Defensive Lineman of the Year along with being First Team All-SUN. 
 
Keiser's Wendol Philord is named the Special Teams Player of the Year. Philord led the Sun Conference with four Player of the Week awards and led the SUN with a 17.1 punt return yard average. He also averaged 26.6 yards per return on kick returns. Philord is a First Team All-SUN recipient and was named the Defensive Back of the Year.

The Seahawks' Christian Ware is the Freshman of the Year. Ware contributed a lot on defensive for No. 3 Keiser, holding its opponents to at least 129 yards below their season averages. He played in all 10 games for KU and recorded 24 total tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss. 

Keiser's Doug Socha is this year's Coach of the Year. Socha led the Seahawks to their second straight undefeated season in the Sun Conference, claiming their second Regular Season Title. Under Socha, the Seahawks earned the automatic bid to the NAIA Championship Series and earned a program record of 18 players on the All-Conference Teams.

Florida Memorial's Michael Jones is the Assistant Coach of the Year inagural award winner. Jones serves as the Offensive Coordinator and the Quarterback Coach for the Lions and helped lead them to a 6-4 overall and 5-2 conference record, after not having one league win last year. Jones helped develop the offense that finished first in the conference in rushing offense and third in passing. FMU averaged 480 yards of offense per game and Jones was a key contributor to the success of the Lions' seven All-Conference honorees.

Keiser's Matt Disisto is this year's Champion of Character. Disisto, not only earned Second Team All-SUN honors, but has carried a perfect 4.0 grade point average every semester at KU. He is a two-time Academic All-SUN recipient and in 2022, garnered NAIA Scholar-Athlete and CSC Academic All-District honors. 

In the KU community, Disisto has volunteered his time at local elementary schools by reading and helping with physical education classes. He also put in time to help the Keiser women’s flag football team as a manager, planning travel, practices, and assisted with equipment organization. Disisto also led the KU football team in the organization and planning of adopting two families during the Christmas Season to provide gifts and make their holiday special. Disisto is one of the team’s undisputed leaders in planning, organizing, and participating in our team’s community service outreach events. He also leads as an acadmic liaison, and has been an integral part of the team's and campus's academic culture. As stated by Coach Socha, "He is one of the most well-known and well-liked students in the entire population of Keiser and his impact on our program both on and off the field, cannot be overstated."

2023 Sun Conference Football Award Winners
 
Offensive Player of the Year
Rontavious Farmer, St. Thomas
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Nicholas Engler, St. Thomas

Special Teams Player of the Year
Wendol Philord, Keiser

Freshman of the Year
Christian Ware, Keiser

Coach of the Year
Doug Socha, Keiser

Assistant Coach of the Year
Michael Jones, Florida Memorial
 
Champion of Character
Matthew Bisisto, Keiser 


2023 Positional Award Winners

Back of the Year
Bryan Stiemke, Ave Maria
 
Receiver of the Year
David Hayes, St. Thomas

Offensive Lineman of the Year
Scarlee Jean, Keiser

Defensive Lineman of the Year
Nicholas Engler, St. Thomas

Linebacker of the Year
Jaelin Willis, Keiser

Defensive Back of the Year
Wendol Philord, Keiser

Click here for the 2023 Football All-Conference release.
 

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ABOUT THE SUN CONFERENCE
Now entering its 34th year, The Sun Conference, a 501c3 organization, continues to be one of the most successful intercollegiate athletic conferences in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Under the guidance of Commissioner Dustin Wilke, the league sponsors championships in 24 NAIA sports. Learn more at thesunconference.com