INDIANAPOLIS—The coaches’ votes are officially in as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football All-Conference team along with individual awards were unveiled Thursday afternoon. 
 
Student-athletes were voted first or second team with a specific allocation of numbers by position on offense, defense, and special teams. 
 
Ashland captured the Great Midwest regular season title last weekend with a win over Kentucky Wesleyan. The Eagles earned a bid to the NCAA regional and will face No. 6 Charleston on Saturday, Nov. 23. 
 
Looking ahead, Tiffin University will represent the Great Midwest in America’s Crossroads Bowl, set to take place on Saturday, Dec. 7 in Hobart, Ind. 
 
Great Midwest Player of the Year was announced as Tiffin’s Ronald Blackman.
 
Blackman, a junior from Columbus, has had a stellar year at the running back position. He leads the conference in rushing yards with 1,385 and 125.9 per game. Blackman has totaled a league-high 12 touchdowns through 11 games. His best game of the season came against Lake Erie, where he rushed for 214 yards on 19 carries to earn Athlete of the Week honors. 
 
Earning Offensive Player of the Year honors was Tiffin’s Alex Johnson. Johnson, a redshirt Junior, is one of the league’s top quarterbacks with 220 completions on 321 attempts. He’s connected on a conference-high 27 touchdowns and has led the Dragons to the become the best offense in the league, averaging 262.2 yards a game with an efficiency rating of 164.9. 
 
Also from Tiffin is the Defensive Lineman of the Year in Khris Walton. Walton is second in the G-MAC in tackles for loss with 14.5 on the year total 96 yards. He finds himself atop the charts in sacks with 13 total including 11 solo, averaging at least one a game. In addition to Walton, Johnson, and Blackman, first-year head coach Brett Ekkens had eight more student-athletes named to the all-conference teams. 
 
Cam Hollobaugh from Walsh University was voted Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The redshirt junior led the Great Midwest in tackles with 120, including 78 solo tackles. Hollobaugh’s 120 tackles also tied the Walsh program record for tackles in a single season. 
 
Findlay’s Yoesph Carter and Hillsdale’s Nick Affholter earned a share of the Offensive Lineman of the Year award. Both Carter and Affholter have started in all 11 contests this season. Carter led an offensive line that allowed the team to rush for 1,496 yards this season. He helped the Oilers churn out 393.4 yards per contest. 
 
Affholter, a senior from Quincy, Michigan, was a member of an offensive line that allowed the Chargers to rush for a conference-high 163.2 yards per contest. 
 
Joining Affholter as an individual award winner is Special Teams Player of the Year Shea Ruddy. Ruddy was the league’s top kick returner, averaging 33.3 yards per return. Two of his kick returns were good for touchdowns, including one 95-yard return. This season, Ruddy has totaled 732 yards from kick returns. 
 
Gavin Myers was voted the conference’s top freshman by coaches. In his college debut season, Myers started in all 11 games as a punter. He totaled 48 punts for 2,061 yards and averaged 42.9 yards per punt. Of his 48 punts, Myers landed 18 inside the 20 yard line and nine inside the 10. 
 
Ashland’s Doug Geiser was voted by his peers as the Great Midwest Coach of the Year. Geiser led the Eagles to an 8-1 conference mark and their second G-MAC title in three years. In his second season at the helm of Ashland football, Geiser has posted an overall record of 17-6. This season, Geiser and his staff landed 11 student-athletes on the all-conference list, including five first-team selections. 
 
A full list of all-conference honorees can be found HERE.