Paul Spreen (47) -- HCAC Defensive Player of the Year

TERRE HAUTE, IND. – The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology football team captured two major awards and placed 10 players on the all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference team, in results released by the league office.

Junior Paul Spreen (Williams/ Bedford N. Lawrence) was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Year, while Reed Eason (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) claimed league Freshman of the Year accolades to lead the Engineer honors.

First-team all-conference honorees also included senior defensive back Alex Dimoff (Stow, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), sophomore quarterback Derek Eitel (Marshall, Ill.), junior wide receiver Nate Richter (Zionsville), senior wide receiver Thomas Reives (Indianapolis/Arsenal Tech) and junior running back Bryan Wong (Warsaw/ Tippecanoe Valley).

In addition, three Engineers earned second-team all-conference recognition.  Freshman defensive tackle Matt Behling (Columbus/North), senior linebacker Casey Boley (Nashville/Brown County) and senior linebacker Steve Hawkins (Casey, Ill.) claimed the spots.

Three players rounded out the awards with honorable mention all-league accolades.  Senior linebacker Austin Hastings (Santa Ana, Calif.), senior Jeremy Sharp (Warsaw) and senior offensive guard Nick Zee-Cheng (Fort Wayne/Homestead) were recognized for their efforts.

Reed Eason -- HCAC Freshman of the Year

Spreen becomes Rose-Hulman's first league Defensive Player of the Year since Jake Vieck claimed the honor from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2004.

Spreen led the HCAC with 19 tackles-for-loss and two forced fumbles, while leading all conference defensive linemen with 62 tackles.  He tallied the second most tackles on Rose-Hulman's defensive roster and increased his career totals to 39 tackles-for-loss and 16.5 sacks in three seasons.

Eason led all HCAC tight ends and ranked third overall with 47 receptions this fall.  He also finished sixth in the league with 535 yards and led Rose-Hulman with five touchdown receptions.

His efforts included nine receptions for 121 yards in a Homecoming victory over Hanover College.

Other first-team honorees included Dimoff, Eitel, Richter, Reives and Wong.  Dimoff tallied 39 tackles, five pass breakups and tied for team-high honors with three interceptions from his starting cornerback position.  Dimoff capped his career with 83 tackles, 13 pass breakups and five interceptions.

Derek Eitel -- 2nd in the HCAC in passing and offense

Eitel ranked second in the HCAC in passing yards and total offense, while also finishing second in school history in each category.  He completed 173 of 327 passes for 2,270 yards and 13 touchdowns while recording a quarterback efficiency rating of 116.39.  Eitel crossed the 300-yard passing mark in a game three times and ranks sixth in school history with 3,220 passing yards in two seasons.

Richter became the 12th receiver in school history to cross the 1,000-yard mark in a career as part of a 35-catch, 415-yard season.  He averaged 11.9 yards per catch and increased his career receiving marks to 77 catches for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns as a two-time first-team all-league selection.

Reives electrified the Engineer offense with six plays of 50 or more yards, including a 98-yard kickoff return and a 74-yard touchdown reception.  He ranked second in the HCAC in receiving yards with 634 and led the conference with an average of 21.0 yards per catch.  Reives also punted 26 times for a 32.8 yard average, with eight kicks inside the 20-yard line.

Nate Richter -- two-time first-team all-league honoree

Wong led the Rose-Hulman ground attack with 606 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the campaign.  His efforts included a career-high 122 yards and two touchdowns in a victory at Anderson that moved Wong over the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his career.  The junior has rushed for 1,032 yards and 11 scores in three seasons.

The second-team award winners included the defensive trio of Behling, Boley and Hawkins.  Behling ranked second on the team with five sacks and nine tackles-for-loss as a freshman defensive tackle.  Boley amassed 44 tackles, scored a defensive touchdown on an interception at Defiance, and increased his career total to 83 stops.  Hawkins led the Engineer defense with 68 tackles to record an even 250 during his Fightin' Engineer career.

Honorable mention accolades were received by Hastings, Sharp and Zee-Cheng.  Hastings returned from injury to tally 48 stops in seven games to increase his career totals to 213 tackles and 29.5 tackles-for-loss.  Sharp holds the Engineer school record with 91 extra points and ranks third in school history with 21 field goals.  Zee-Cheng returned after missing the entire 2006 campaign to start all 10 games for the Engineer offensive line.

Thomas Reives -- 2nd in the HCAC in receiving yards

Rose-Hulman finished the season with a 7-3 record for its best season since 1994.  The Engineers also tallied a 4-3 conference mark for its first winning season in league play since 1995.  Head coach Steve Englehart holds the football coaching school record for winning percentage at .650, after compiling a 13-7 mark over his first two seasons at the college.