GRINNELL, Iowa ­— The Midwest Conference revealed its all-conference teams for football today with a pair of Knox College players receiving second-team honors in Creed Justice and Colin Finnigsmier. In addition, the Prairie Fire received the Team Sportsmanship Award from the league.

For Justice, a fifth-year offensive lineman from Raleigh, Illinois, this is his third time being honored on the all-conference second team, first in his sophomore campaign of 2021 and again last season. Starting all 10 games at right tackle, Justice was the key cog in helping Knox run for nearly 200 yards a game and finish third in the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns (21).

A sophomore cornerback from Florence, Colorado, Finnigsmier avoided any kind of sophomore slump, continuing his terrific play from his rookie campaign a year ago to earn his first all-conference honor. His five pass breakups led the team, and he had 36 tackles (30 solo) with one going for a loss. Finnigsmier had a career-high 10 tackles at conference champion Lake Forest, and two pass breakups at Lawrence proved crucial in the 35-34 victory.

The Team Sportsmanship Award can be hard to quantify, but as the least-penalized team in the league in both number and yards, while ranking in the top 12 nationally on a per-game basis in those categories, that aspect spoke volumes to the league's coaches. This is the first time Knox earned the honor, which has been awarded since 2018.