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KENNESAW, Ga. – After back-to-back undefeated conference championship runs, the Kennesaw football program swept nearly every Big South Conference postseason award the league office announced Tuesday afternoon.
 
The awards are starting to pile up as head coach Brian Bohannon earned Coach of the Year honors, Chandler Burks claimed Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, Anthony Gore swiped the Defensive Player of the Year and Isaac Foster garnered Special Teams Player of the Year. Overall, the Owls took 44.8 percent (13 of 29 spots) of the First Team awards and took home five of the seven Player of the Year awards.
 
In just four years, Bohannon has turned a start-up Kennesaw State football program into a national powerhouse and ranked No. 2 in the nation for six-straight weeks. Under his watch, the Owls are joined by UCF and Alabama as the only Division I teams in the country to win 10 consecutive games in each of the last two seasons.
 
KSU has been unstoppable at home and enters the playoffs with the third longest home winning streak in FCS football, winning 14 consecutive games in a streak that dates back over two calendar years. The Owls are 21-3 all-time at Fifth Third Bank Stadium as they look to make another deep run in the playoffs.
 
After being the only student-athlete in Big South history to win Offensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2017, Burks repeated his accolades this season and wrote his name in the FCS record books. After three rushing touchdowns against Jacksonville State on Nov. 17, the signal caller broke the all-time FCS record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 29 scores.

He has rushed for multiple touchdowns in 10-straight contests, a Big South conference record, and has seven games with three or more rushing touchdowns. He is the only FCS player with four rushing scores in a game each of the last two seasons and is the only player in the Big South with 2,000 rushing yards and 3,000 passing yards. This season, he leads the country with 15.8 points per game, which is 4.8 points better than the next player.
 
Gore has been named Big South Defensive Player of the year after being an integral piece of a defense that ranks third in total defense, allowing just 262 yards per game. The senior leader checks in at second in the Big South in sacks per game (.45) and 15th in tackles per game with 5.5. His 45 solo stops checked in at sixth in the conference, while his 61 total tackles rank 13th in the Big South.

The senior has recorded more than eight tackles on three separate occasions and has five total sacks, included two sacks against Jacksonville State on Nov. 17.

Foster has been a weapon in the return game for the Owls and picked up Special Teams Player of the Year honors. He became the first player in Big South history to record two 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same season. Against Alabama State on Sept. 15, he took his lone kickoff return to the end zone for a touchdown and repeated the same result against Gardner-Webb.

The freshman has not been limited to kickoff returns and has showed off his skill on punt returns as well. He ranks 21st in the country and fourth in the Big South in punt return yards, averaging 10.5 yards per return.

The Owls' 13 First-Team awards are tied for the most selections since Gardner-Webb in 2002. In addition to the First-Team selections, Kennesaw State also had six players named to the Second-Team All-Conference list.

Below is a complete list of Kennesaw State's postseason awards by the Big South Conference.
 
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE                                                                      
QB - Chandler Burks
RB - Darnell Holland
WR - Justin Sumpter
OL - CJ Collins
OL - Joseph Alexander Jr.
OL - Chiaza Nwadike
 
DEFENSE
DL - Desmond Johnson, Jr.
DL - Andrew Butcher, Jr.
LB - Anthony Gore, Jr.
LB - Bryson Armstrong
DB - Dorian Walker
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
LS - Drew McCracken
KR - Isaac Foster
 
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OFFENSE                                                                      
RB - Shaquil Terry
 
DEFENSE
DL - McKenzie Billingslea
LB - Charlie Patrick
DB - Jace White
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Justin Thompson
PR - Isaac Foster
 
SPECIAL AWARDS

ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Chandler Burks
 
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chandler Burks
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Anthony Gore, Jr.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Isaac Foster
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Brian Bohannon
 
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Chandler Burks

For more information on Kennesaw State athletics, follow @KennesawStFB on Twitter or like Kennesaw State Football on Facebook and Instagram.

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