TACOMA, Wash. – The Puget Sound football program honors nine All-Northwest Conference awards, the NWC announced Wednesday. JohnJohn Nelson took home the Rookie of the Year honor, the first time a Logger football player has earned this award.

Wide-receiver Izaiah Jerenz finished the season with a first-team all league honor, followed by second-team honors from quarterback Mason Binning and offensive-lineman Caleb Puapuaga. Running-back Henry Hernandez, wide-receiver JohnJohn Nelson, tight-end Tommy Milton, defensive-lineman Nick Derrick, defensive-backs Amarian Culpepper and Tyler Evars all received honorable mentions from the NWC. 

As the top freshman receiver, Nelson totaled 559 receiving yards with his best game receiving for 154 yards against George Fox University (Oct. 7) which helped him get recognized with the title of Rookie of the Year.

Jerenz was presented honorable mention in last years All-NWC and has received an upgrade to first team due to his impressive receiving game, he received for the most yards by a landslide with 1,313 receiving yards, 115 receptions at 12.8 receptions per game adding the most touchdowns in the NWC with 13. His best game was at Willamette University (Oct. 28) receiving for 22 passes and collecting 264 yards. 

Binning had the most completed passes in the NWC with 267 covering 2,704 yards, his longest pass was 68 yards. Binning passed for 18 touchdowns, rushing for three touchdowns of his own. Puapuaga received honorable mention last year, improving his skill to second-team in the 2023 season, an impressive player who fought to protect Binning all season. 

Henry Hernandez is being recognized for the first time with All-NWC honors, leading the Loggers with 466 rushing yards, his most rushing yards was against George Fox University (Oct. 7) for 79 yards. His longest rush was for 50 yards against Lewis and Clark (Sept. 2). Hernandez completed four touchdowns in the 2023 season. Milton received for 21 passes, 186 yards and two touchdowns. 

Culpepper led the Loggers in tackles for the third year in a row with 59 total tackles, 34 solo tackles and ranked number seven in the NWC with 6.6 tackles per game. Derrick totaled 18 tackles for the Loggers. Evars managed 25 total tackles, 22 of which were solo tackles, his best game was against La Verne (Sept. 6) with seven total tackles.