The Eastern football team may not have made the postseason, but five Panthers have given the team plenty to cheer about by earning All-OVC honors.

Redshirt senior Devin Church and senior Seth McDonald led the way as they did all season long by being named to the All-OVC First Team.

Redshirt senior Evan Kanz and redshirt junior David Johnson also earned honors on the All-OVC second team while Johnson and redshirt junior Mitch Kimble were named to the OVC All-Newcomer team.

Church led the OVC with 1,066 rushing yards to become the 12th player in school history with a 1,000-yard rushing season.

His accomplishments went beyond just the conference though as Church was 13th in the NCAA in rushing following the regular season. His 13 total touchdowns tied for the conference lead as he finished with seven rushing touchdowns and six touchdown receptions.  Church was also the Panthers’ top receiver finishing with 41 catches for 386 yards.

McDonald led the Panthers with 99 tackles to rank fourth in the OVC while adding 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack. McDonald just missed becoming the first player since Nick Ricks to record back-to-back 100 tackle campaigns.

Kanz’s All-OVC second team honor comes after leading a Panther offensive line that ranked third in the OVC in total offense by averaging 404.8 yards per game.

Johnson was able to help the Panthers at the beginning of conference play this season as a transfer from South
Carolina.

He did so by finishing fifth on the team with 51 tackles as well as tying the team lead with 12.5 tackles for loss.

Kimble dealt with injuries all season long, and that led to many thinking what could have been for Eastern, but he still earned conference honors because of his performance in those limited games.

Kimble finished with 1,414 passing yards and 15 total touchdowns in just seven games on the year, and he also ranked seventh in the conference in passing yards as well as fifth in touchdown passes.

As those Panthers earned honors to cap their seasons, the team finished at 6-5 overall for the program’s second-straight winning season and fourth in the last five years.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].