Lueders earns national award

Morningside College offensive coordinator Lucas Leuders was tabbed the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Coordinator of the Year as presented by AstroTurf on the FootballScoop.com web site Friday, Jan. 4.

Selected by prior honorees, Leuders helped lead the Mustangs to their first national championship in 2018. Mside's offense was a juggernaut of remarkable proportions scoring at least 34 points in all 15 games — every one of them wins — and posting 49 points or more in 11 contests, including a five-game stretch in which they averaged 66.6 points. On the year, Morningside ranked second in NAIA with 52.6 points per game.

The Maroon finished seventh in NAIA in rushing while leading the country in passing, adding up to a unit that led the nation with 562.2 yards per game — more than 20 ahead of their next closest competition — on 7.1 yards per play. In raw numbers, the Mustangs snapped the ball 1,182 times for 8,433 yards with 420 first downs and 109 touchdowns over 15 games. Each of those numbers led the country.