NAPERVILLE – North Central quarterback Luke Lehnen was named Offensive Player of the Year, one of four student-athletes from the College Conference of Illiois & Wisconsin (CCIW) to earn a spot on the 2024 Associated Press (AP) NCAA Division III Football All-America Teams released on Thursday.
 
Lehnen was joined on the First Team by teammate and offensive lineman Sam Pryor. NCC offensive lineman Jeske Maples and Wheaton wide receiver Ben Bonga were named to the Second Team.
 
Lehnen received the bulk of the votes for National Offensive Player of the Year, adding to a postseason awards haul which already includes the CCIW Art Keller Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year and D3football.com Region 5 Offensive Player of the Year accolades. The graduate student has completed 164 of 240 passes (67.5 percent) for 2,685 yards and 35 touchdowns while also rushing for 894 yards and 13 scores this season as the Cardinals (13-0) are set to host a national semifinal Saturday for the second time in three seasons. 
 
Also a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, which recognizes the nation's top scholar-athlete in the sport among all divisions, and the 2023 recipient of the Gagliardi Trophy as Division III's most outstanding player, Lehnen is the all-division collegiate leader in career touchdowns responsible for (203) and consecutive games with a touchdown pass (57), and is poised to establish a new collegiate record for career passing efficiency. Lehnen has established a new Division III career record for total offensive yards (15,327) and, with a North Central-record 154 touchdown passes, just four TDs away from matching the Division III career record of 158.
 
Pryor, a First Team honoree on this season's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches' All-America Teams, was named the CCIW Offensive Line Student-Athlete of the Year this season after earning First Team All-CCIW honors for the third time. Pryor has started all 13 games at right guard this season and 53 games over the last four years. 
 
Maples, North Central's left tackle for 57 straight games, is an All-American for the seventh time and the third player in the Cardinals' history to earn First Team All-CCIW honors four times.
 
Bonga had a record-setting season as he tied Wheaton's single-season touchdown reception record this year with 19 touchdown catches. He caught 74 passes this season for 1,294 yards, averaging 117.6 receiving yards per game. Bonga's 19 touchdown receptions ranks fourth in Division III, his 1,294 receiving yards is seventh, he is ninth in the country in receiving yards per game (117.6 YPG), and is 18th in D3 in scoring (10.4 PPG).
 
The All-America team and individual honors are chosen by a panel of sports information directors from Division III football schools.

North Central and Wheaton athletics communiations contributed to this release.
 
2024 Associated Press (AP) NCAA Division III Football All-America Teams
First Team Offense
QB, Luke Lehnen, North Central*
OL, Sam Pryor, North Central
 
* – Offensive Player of the Year
 
Second Team Offense
OL, Jeske Maples North Central
WR, Ben Bonga, Wheaton