By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

After another championship season for the Evangel Christian Lightning, several players and head coach Tim Smith are being honored with postseason awards and All-Star game bids.

Evangel capped off an 8-3 state championship season with a 58-34 victory against Ezekiel in the ACSC state title game, as the Lightning’s dynasty in 8-man football continued.

After going 3-3 through their first six games, the Lightning went on to close out the season with five wins in a row and pulled off wins in seven of their final eight games of the season.

For that strong effort, eight of Evangel’s standout players will be going on to play in the NAAPS All-Star game played in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 5.

Will Ferrell, Tyler Henderson, Nate Arvizu, Dawson Humphries, Noah Shears, Will Parker, Hunter Green and Samuel Graham will all be taking part in the game as eight of the best 8-man football players from around the country.

“I’m so proud of these kids and what they’ve done this year,” head coach Tim Smith said. “They’ve been through a lot with injuries and much more, but they never gave up and worked so hard and deserve all the recognition they get.”

Some of those players also got recognized as national players of the year by the NAAPS, while Smith received a top honor as well.

Hunter Green, who ended the season with 140 tackles for the Lightning’s defense, was named the 2018 NAAPS National 1A Defensive Player of the Year.

Young quarterback Tyler Henderson also received a top honor by being named the National 1A Underclassman of the Year by the NAAPS.

Smith, who in two seasons at Evangel has led the Lightning to back-to-back state championships and an overall record of 18-5, was named as the NAAPS National Coach of the Year.