GRANVILLE, Ohio (November 4, 2023) – The North Coast Athletic Conference has released its All-Decade Football Team for the years spanning 2013-22, and Denison University running back DuShawn Brown '16, quarterback Canaan Gebele '19, defensive lineman Nate Keirn '20 and running back Alex Minton '20 made the list. The NCAC is celebrating its 40th playing season by selecting All-Decade teams in all 23 championship sports.

DuShawn Brown (2012-15), who holds every major receiving record in Denison Football history, was the 2014 NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and was a two-time First-Team All-NCAC selection ('14, '15). He was the first wide receiver to win the NCAC's Offensive POY award. He was also named second-team all-region by D3football.com in both 2014 and 2015 and was named first-team all-conference in 2015 as both a wide receiver and as a return specialist. In 2014, Brown was named to the Associated Press list All-America team after posting the best receiving season in NCAC and establishing himself as one of the top receivers in all of Division III football by setting school records for receptions (83), receiving yards (1,397), touchdown catches (13) and all-purpose yards (1,807). His 1,397 receiving yards broke the single-season NCAC mark set by Wittenberg's Josh McKee in 2010. In Denison's 45-7 win over Allegheny (Nov. 8), Brown recorded the eighth best receiving day in NCAA Division III history with 15 catches for 339 yards and four touchdowns. Brown finished third in Division III in receiving yards and eighth in all-purpose yards. As a senior in 2015, Brown hauled in 60 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns, and also had 15 kickoff returns for a total of 330 yards. He is Denison's career leader in receiving yards (3,193), receptions (197) and receiving touchdowns (29), and owns the program records for receiving yards in a season (1,397; 2014), receptions in a season (83; 2014), receiving yards in a game (339; Nov. 8, 2014, vs. Allegheny), receptions in a game (15; Nov. 8, 2014, vs. Allegheny) and touchdowns in a game (4; Nov. 8, 2014, vs. Allegheny & Sept. 19, 2015, vs. Oberlin). He previously held the record for receiving touchdowns in a season with 13 (2014) until it was broken this past season by Josh Aiello.

Canaan Gebele (2015-18) was the 2018 NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and was a three-time All-NCAC honoree ('18: first-team; '16, '17: second-team). In 2018, he was a national semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy (Division III Player of the Year Award) and was named third-team all-region by D3football.com. Gebele left Denison as the career leader in nearly every passing category. Gebele led Denison to a share of the 2018 NCAC championship, the program's first championship since 1986, and also led Denison to its first NCAA playoff appearance since 1985. He finished the 2018 season by passing for 2,153 yards and a career-high 25 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 612 yards and 14 touchdowns, and caught two touchdown passes from wide receiver David Weimar. In a 66-18 win over Wooster (Nov. 3), Gebele accounted for eight total touchdowns (4 passing, 3 rushing, 1 receiving) and was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week. As a junior in 2017, Gebele completed 176 of 274 passes (64.2%) for 2,016 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed 132 times for 856 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, and was named NCAC Player of the Week after a 34-of-48 (70.8%) performance against Oberlin (Sept. 23) in which he passed for six touchdowns, setting a Denison single-game record. He set a career-high with 407 passing yards in a 62-26 win at Allegheny (Sept. 16) and rushed for a career-high four touchdowns against Southwestern in the season opener (Sept. 2). He is Denison's all-time leader in passing yards (7,608) and rushing yards by a quarterback (2,420), while his 66 career touchdown passes are also a Denison record. He is the third player in NCAC history to eclipse 10,000 yards of total offense in a career (10,028) and was responsible for 106 TDs in his career. He also ranks 11th at Denison in rushing yards (2,240) and third in career rushing touchdowns (38).

Nate Keirn (2016-19) was the 2019 NCAC Defensive Player of the Year, was a three-time All-NCAC honoree ('18, '19: first-team; '17: honorable mention), and was named second-team all-region by D3football.com in 2019. In addition, Keirn was a finalist for the 2019 Cliff Harris Award, which is presented to the top small college defensive player. That season, he led the NCAC in sacks (11.5) while Denison boasted the top defense in the NCAC at 13.5 points allowed per game and 255.7 yards per game. In 2018, Keirn finished second in the NCAC and entered the postseason ranked 17th in the nation in sacks with 10.5. He also ranked second in the NCAC in tackles for loss at 16.5 and in all, posted 47 tackles in 11 starts at defensive end. He totaled four stops and one tackle for loss in Denison's NCAA playoff loss to No. 1 Mount Union and became the program's career leader in sacks midway through his junior season. Keirn is Denison's career leader in sacks (36.0) and tackles for loss (55.0) and owns the program records for single-season sacks (11.5; 2019) and single-season tackles for loss (18.0; 2019) as well. He is also tied for the program record with three sacks in a game (Sept. 24, 2016, vs Wooster).

Alex Minton (2017-19) was the 2019 NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and was a three-time All-NCAC honoree ('18, '19: first-team; '17: second-team) and a two-time D3football.com All-Region selection ('19: first-team; '18: third-team). In 2019, Minton was named an Associated Press Division III Second-Team All-American, an Honorable Mention All-American by D3football.com and a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American®, and was a national semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy (Division III Player of the Year Award). Minton led the NCAC in rushing for the second consecutive season with 1,550 yards and ended the regular season ranked fourth in Division III in rushing yards, seventh in rushing touchdowns (18) and third in total touchdowns (21). He broke the Denison single-season rushing record of 1,517 yards, set by Clay Sampson in 1979, broke the Denison single-season record for rushing touchdowns set by Eric Ivary in 1966, and left Denison ranked third in rushing yards (3,919) and first in rushing touchdowns (44). He was just the second player in Denison history to post three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Minton, who also ranks first in program history with 6.4 yards per carry, rushed for a career-high 255 yards in the regular season finale vs. Kenyon (Nov. 16). His four career 200-yard rushing games is tied with Chris Spriggs for the most in program history. Minton had 17 100-yard rushing games in 31 career games played and is the program's all-time leading scorer (300 points: 50 TDs) while also ranking second in career all-purpose yards (4,429). As a junior in 2018, Minton led the NCAC in rushing with 1,368 yards and posted his second-straight 1,000-yard rushing season, becoming the fifth player in program history to accomplish the feat. He became the first player in Denison history with back-to-back 200-yard games when he totaled 226 yards against Ohio Wesleyan (Oct. 20) and 219 yards against Hiram (Oct. 27). In just his first season with Denison in 2017, Minton became the 15th player in Denison history to rush for over 1,000 yards (1,001), was third in the NCAC in rushing, and totaled 14 rushing touchdowns.

In the last 10 years, four different NCAC teams have earned a league title in football including Denison (2018-19), DePauw (2021-22), Wabash (2015, '18-19), and Wittenberg (2013-14, '16-19). Over the course of the decade, there were repeat co-champions, as Denison, Wabash, and Wittenberg shared the crown in both 2018 and 2019.

NCAC Football All-Decade Team