Novak, Busse earn MSFL prestigious awards; 17 players receive All-Conference recognition

Whiting, IN – The Calumet College of St. Joseph Sprint Football team earned two of the Midwest Sprint Football League's most prestigious awards, along with 17 all-conference accolades on Tuesday when postseason honors were announced. 

Jay Novak was awarded with the 2024 MSFL Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Crimson Wave to their second consecutive MSFL Championship. During this season, CCSJ set the MSFL record for the longest win streak of 11. En route to hoisting the 2024 championship trophy, CCSJ lost one game all season and outscored opponents 265 to 99.

Junior linebacker Trevor Busse was acknowledged as the 2024 MSFL Defensive Player of the Year. The Knox, Indiana native had 58 total tackles this season, 37 solo, in eight games played. He also had nine tackles for a loss, one sack and five pass break ups. Busse is the all-time leading tackler in the MSFL and is now a two-time all-conference player, a two-time all-American and a two-time MSFL Champion.

Along with Busse, junior quarterback Nino Barbosa, junior offensive lineman Jose Cortes, sophomore running back Jamall Warnell, junior linebacker Jared Cuevas Cottrell, junior safety Quindarius Davis, junior linebacker Alexander Dellaechaie, sophomore defensive end Robinson Hale, junior defensive back Daymon Johnson, junior linebacker Josh Tejeda and freshman kicker Jeau Vinatieri received first-team all-conference honors.

Sophomore wide receiver Zaire Davis, junior offensive lineman Ryan Davenport, junior offensive lineman Tristan Dietiker, sophomore wide receiver Stevie Salman, junior wide receiver Tre Simmons and junior defensive lineman Tony Madrueno received second-team all-conference honors.  

Caleb Davis and Ryan Davenport were both recognized as members of the 2024 MSFL Champion of Character team as well. 

Nino Barbosa (First Team All-Conference) – Barbosa completed 55 of his 117 pass attempts, which resulted in 918 passing yards and nine touchdowns. Barbosa brought a spark to this CCSJ offense passing and running, as he tallied 72 carries for 324 yards and nine touchdowns. He also saw a couple snaps on the defensive end, recording two tackles and one interception in the championship game. Since taking over at the quarterback position mid-season last year, Barbosa has helped lead the Crimson Wave to a 13-1 record with him behind center. 

Jamall Warnell (First Team All-Conference) – Warnell rushed for 455 yards and nine touchdowns on 81 attempts this season. Warnell was already recognized in Week 4 this season as the offensive player of the week, recording 12 rushes for 120 yards against Bellarmine. The Orange, Texas native was the second leading running back on the team in terms of attempts, yards and yards per carry.

Jared Cuevas Cottrell (First Team All-Conference) – Cuevas Cottrell was second on the team with 5.5 tackles per game. He accumulated 33 total tackles this season, 21 solo, in six games played. He also had five tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception and two pass break ups. Cuevas Cottrell was already recognized in Week 4 this season as the defensive player of the week, posting 10 tackles, two for a loss and six solo, along with his lone interception on the year.

Quindarius Davis (First Team All-Conference) - Davis earned his second consecutive first-team all-conference honors. Davis led the defense with six pass break ups this season. He had 26 total tackles this year, 23 solo. He also had two tackles for a loss and one interception. For special teams, Davis had six kick returns for 207 yards, giving him the highest team average of 34.5 yards per kick return. 

Alexander Dellaechaie (First Team All-Conference) – Dellaechaie earned his second consecutive first-team all-conference honors as well. He posted 39 total tackles this season, 24 solo, in seven games played. He also had 8.5 tackles for a loss, along with 2.5 sacks.

Robinson Hale (First Team All-Conference) – Hale had 24 tackles this season and 17 of them were solo. He also had four tackles for a loss, along with one sack, two forced fumbles and one pass break up. 

Daymon Johnson (First Team All-Conference) – Johnson went from honorable mention last season to first-team all-conference this season. He led the defense with three interceptions and had 27 total tackles, 19 solo. Johnson, along with three interceptions, had four pass break ups, four tackles for a loss and one fumble recovery.

Josh Tejeda (First Team All-Conference) – Tejeda had 37 tackles this season and 24 of them were solo. He also had 5.5 sacks, nine tackles for a loss of 44 yards, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and an interception. 

Jeau Vinatieri (First Team All-Conference) – Freshman kicker Vinatieri made three field goals this season, including his longest field goal of 41 yards in the championship game. Vinatieri was responsible for 39 points as he also made 30 of his 33 PAT kicks. He also had 20 punts this season for 631 yards. That's an average of 31.6 yards per punt and five of them were downed within the opposing teams 20-yard line. Vinatieri also sacrificed his body on kick and punt returns, coming up with three tackles. In Week 4 of the season, he was recognized as the special team's player of the week after making a 35-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

Zaire Davis (Second Team All-Conference) – Davis led the team on the ground with 110 rushes for 530 yards and four touchdowns. His longest rush came in the MSFL Semifinals against Bellarmine when he ran for a 75-yard touchdown in the first quarter. As a receiver, Davis had 13 receptions on the season for 166 yards and one touchdown. He also had eight kick returns for 189 yards and five punt returns for 62 yards.

Stevie Salman (Second Team All-Conference) – Salman led all receivers in receptions, receptions per game, yards, yards per catch and touchdowns. The Highland, Indiana native had 12 catches for 382 yards and five touchdowns. He also had five rushes for 17 yards as well. 

Tre Simmons (Second Team All-Conference) – Simmons earned second-team all-conference honors with his season of 12 receptions for 175 yards and four touchdowns.

Tony Madrueno (Second Team All-Conference) – Madrueno went from second-team all-conference last season to first-team all-conference this season. He had 30 total tackles this year, 20 solo, in seven games played. He also had 13 tackles for a loss of 68 yards, 6.5 sacks, one fumble recovery and one interception. Madrueno was recognized as the defensive player of the week in Week 1 of the season after seven tackles, six for a loss of 29 yards, and three sacks against Walsh. 

Offensive lineman Jose Cortes (First Team All-Conference), along with Ryan Davenport and Tristan Dietiker (both Second Team All-Conference) were all-conference honorees who don't have personal stats that reflect their impact. This year's offensive line helped the Crimson Wave become the best red-zone offense in the MSFL, as well the best rushing attack in the MSFL. CCSJ lead the entire league in total rush yards, rush yards per game, rushing first downs and rushing touchdowns. The Wave also scored on 86 percent of their trips in the red-zone, 75 percent of the time resulted in a touchdown. This would not be possible without the contribution of these three all-conference linemen.

Each league head coach received one vote for MSFL Coach, Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Special Teams Player of the Year. The all-conference teams were also selected by league coaches who nominated their own players and then ranked the Top 28 players in the league on offensive and defense as well as the top six performers in special teams. After all the votes were received, the league office honored the top vote getters in all three phases of game. Ties were not broken, everyone who received enough votes in the rankings have been honored this season.

The 2024 MSFL Champions of Character Team was also selected by the league head coaches with two selections per institution. Our Champions of Character Team honors the top players for each league member who excelled this season on the field, in the classroom and in the community. For CCSJ, Caleb Davis and Ryan Davenport were selected to represent the Crimson Wave.

Below are all of the 2024 MSFL Postseason honors.
 
MSFL All-Conference Offense First Team:
Nino Barbosa, CCSJ
Corbyn Cleveland, SMWC
Jose Cortes, CCSJ
Derron Hazzard, SMWC
Kyle Horvath, Bellarmine
CJ Jackson, Quincy
Devron Johnson, SMWC
Nathan Kitchens, Bellarmine
Marcus Reese, SMWC
Brenden Reid, Bellarmine
Tyler Smith, Bellarmine
Quintel Thomas, Midway
Shannon Tonge, Bellarmine
Jeremiah Tosky, SMWC
Jamall Warnell, CCSJ
 
MSFL All-Conference Offense Second Team:
Zach Bowman, Walsh
Nasir Carson, Quincy
Jacob Cruz-Perez, Walsh
Zaire Davis, CCSJ
Ryan Davenport, CCSJ
Tristan Dietiker, CCSJ
Tanner Gilbert, Oakland City
Preston Moore, Midway
Camden Pye, Quincy
Stevie Salman, CCSJ
Tre Simmons, CCSJ
Lane Sluder, SMWC
Kyle Varnelson, SMWC
Chase Williams, Midway
Trayonn Wright, Walsh
 
MSFL All-Conference Defense First Team:
Peyton Brazier, Midway
Trevor Busse, CCSJ
Jared Cuevas Cottrell, CCSJ
Quindarius Davis, CCSJ
Alexander Dellaechaie, CCSJ
Robinson Hale, CCSJ
Royce Hall, Bellarmine
Allan Ho, Bellarmine
Daymon Johnson, CCSJ
Kerry Lacey, SMWC
Gavin Lay, Midway
Austin Moore, Quincy
Austin Petrillo, SMWC
Josh Tejeda, CCSJ
Joshua Wence, SMWC
 
MSFL All-Conference Defense Second Team:
Gavin Brazzell, Bellarmine
Joell Campos, Quincy
Nic Crone, SMWC
Frederick Ellis, Oakland City
Noah Getz, Quincy
Luke Jackson, Bellarmine
Kanye Johnson, Oakland City
Trenton Leach, Midway
Tony Madrueno, CCSJ
Riley McGrath, Bellarmine
Peyton Metzger, SMWC
Caleb Murray, Bellarmine
Willy Wallace, Walsh
Aiden Weatherholt, Midway
Lance Weiter, Bellarmine
 
MSFL All-Conference Special Teams First Team:
CJ Jackson, Quincy
Marques Reese, SMWC
Jeau Vinatieri, CCSJ
 
MSFL All-Conference Special Teams Second Team:
Devin Burgess, Walsh
Preston Moore, Midway
Chase Williams, Midway
 
MSFL Champions of Character Team:
Caleb Davis, CCSJ
Ryan Davenport, CCSJ
Samson Ajao, SMWC
Payton Harris, SMWC
Roy Shrout, Bellarmine
Caleb Murray, Bellarmine
Zechariah McGahan, Midway
Peyton Brazier, Midway
Noah Getz, Quincy
Johnathan Sessions, Quincy
Chris Walls, Walsh
Paul Walsh, Walsh
Brody Kramer, Oakland City
Cam Robertson, Oakland City