Wildcats Rake in Five Major Awards, Land 13 on Heart South All-Conference Teams
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - After winning its first conference championship since 2020, Baker football hauled in a collection of awards and honors as the league announced its 2023 Heart South Football All-Conference teams and major award winners on Friday afternoon.
The Wildcats bagged both player of the year awards with Truman Juelsgaard (So., Lawrence, Kan.) being named Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Canon Karn (Jr., Holton, Kan.) selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. DeAndre Pruett Jr. (Fr., Kansas City, Mo.) earned Heart Freshman of the Year honors after finishing in a three-way tie for the award.
Karn led the Wildcats defense with 69 tackles and seven interceptions this season with his seven interceptions ranking second in the entire NAIA. He had two games with multiple interceptions this fall, including a pair of picks at Missouri Valley this past Saturday in the regular-season finale.
Juelsgaard and Pruett Jr. helped lead a BU offense that ranked third in the league with 35.7 points per game during the regular season with Juelsgaard passing for 2,178 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first season under center, while Pruett Jr. hauled in 51 catches for 519 yards and four touchdowns. Juelsgaard added 633 rushing yards and scored four or more touchdowns in a game on four separate occasions this year.
In his first season back on the BU sideline, head coach Miguel Regaldo was named the Heart Co-Head Coach of the Year after guiding the NAIA's all-time winningest program back to the postseason with an 8-2 record during the regular season and a 4-1 record against Heart South opponents. Baker's defensive coordinator Tucker Pauley picked up his second Assistant Coach of the Year award after boasting one of the NAIA's top defenses this season.
The Wildcats landed seven total players on the All-Heart First Team with Gavin Greenwood (So., Lincoln, Neb.), Zac Kramer (So., Seneca, Kan.), Jaleel Laffitte (Sr., Tempe, Ariz.), Thad Metcalfe (Jr., Grantville, Kan.), Seth Simpson (So., Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Shane Skwarlo (Sr., Lawrence, Kan.) all joining Karn with first-team honors.
Along with Juelsgaard, Rashaan Graves (Sr., Grandview, Mo.) and Toby Thomas (Jr., Baldwin City, Kan.) were second team all-conference selections after contributing to a BU rushing attack that ranked first in the Heart with 14 rushing touchdowns this season.
Deshon Lewis II (Jr., Lawrence, Kan.), Will Roberts (Sr., Tempe, Ariz.) and Kanyon Sanders (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.) received honorable-mention honors with Lewis and Roberts earning their second straight all-conference laurels.
Making its first appearance since the 2020-21 season, No. 20 Baker is set to host a home playoff game with No. 21 Louisiana Christian coming to town for the first round of the NAIA Football Championship Series on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. at Liston Stadium in Baldwin City, Kan.
You can purchase an advance ticket for Saturday's game online here.
If you're unable to attend the game, you can watch a live stream of the game on the Heart Conference Network and follow along with the live stats on BakerWildcats.com.
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