Click here to view full 2021 All-SAA football teams
The SAA announced their 2021 football postseason award winners and All-SAA teams Tuesday, as voted by the league's head football coaches. Trinity took four of the five major awards, with quarterback Tucker Horn winning SAA Offensive Player of the Year, linebacker Caleb Harmel earning SAA Defensive Player of the Year, kick returner Chris Stewart nabbing SAA Special Teams Player of the Year and Head Coach Jerheme Urban notching SAA Coach of the Year. Berry freshman running back Brandon Cade garnered SAA Newcomer of the Year honors.
Horn put himself atop the SAA passing leaderboard in a variety of passing categories in 2021. He led the league in completion percentage (.681), completions per game (20.5), passing efficiency (171.3), passing touchdowns (33), passing yards (2,473) and passing yards per game (247.3). He was responsible for more points than any other SAA player over the course of the season, both overall (214) and per game (21.4). He finished second in the league in total offense (248 yards per game) and yards per pass attempt (8.22), and finished third in passing yards per completion (12.06).
Harmel enjoyed an outstanding season for the Tigers on the defensive side of the ball. He finished the season with 70 total tackles, 36 of the solo variety, to go with two tackles for loss and eight sacks. He also made a pair of interceptions and forced a pair of fumbles, finishing tied for first in the conference in the latter category with 0.2 forced fumbles per contest. Harmel averaged seven tackles per game for the SAA champion Tigers.
Stewart earned All-SAA second-team honors as a wide receiver in 2021, but proved to be the best overall return man in the league. He scored a pair of touchdowns on punt returns to tie for the league lead in that category, and led the conference with an average of 16.9 yards per punt return. He also finished fourth in the SAA with 462 combined return yards on the season. He also finished third in the SAA in receiving touchdowns (7), fourth in total touchdowns (11) and total points scored (66), and sixth in scoring average (6.6 points per game).
Freshman Brandon Cade exploded onto the scene for the Vikings in 2021. He found himself on the league leaderboard in a variety of categories and earned himself All-SAA first-team honors at running back for his efforts. He finished fourth in the league in rushing yards per game (72.9); fifth in rushing touchdowns (8), rushing yards (656) and scoring (6.7 points per game); and sixth in total touchdowns (10).
Jerheme Urban earned his second SAA Coach of the Year honor, guiding the Trinity Tigers to their second SAA championship with a 7-0 conference mark and a perfect 9-0 regular season. He led the team to their first berth in the NCAA Division III Football Championship since 2011, clinching the spot with a thrilling 28-27 road win over fellow NCAA qualifer Birmingham-Southern on Nov. 6.