BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Five Patriot League football student-athletes and one head coach are among the finalists for the five annual Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) major awards presented by Stats Perform.
Lehigh junior running back Luke Yoder, the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, and Lafayette junior running back Kente Edwards are among the 30 finalists for the 2025 Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the national offensive player of the year in the FCS. Edwards and Yoder were two of the most productive offensive players in the FCS. Edwards ranked fourth with 1,454 rushing yards and third with 20 rushing touchdowns. Yoder finished sixth in the nation in rushing yards (1,329) and eighth in the FCS with 15 rushing touchdowns.
Walter Payton Award Release
Fordham graduate student linebacker James Conway and Lehigh senior linebacker Tyler Ochojski, the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, are among the 30 finalists for the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award, which will be presented to the FCS national defensive player of the year. Conway led the FCS with 13.3 tackles per game, while Ochojski ranked 13th with 0.83 sacks per game.
Buck Buchanan Award Release
Colgate first-year wide receiver Matt Fogler, the Patriot League Rookie of the Year, is listed among the 25 finalists for the 2025 Jerry Rice Award, which celebrates its 15th anniversary of honoring the FCS national freshman player of the year. Fogler ranked 30th in the FCS with seven touchdown receptions.
Jerry Rice Award Release
Lehigh third-year head coach Kevin Cahill was selected as one of the 15 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented to the FCS Coach of the Year, for the second straight season. Cahill has helped the Mountain Hawks to an FCS-long 17-game regular-season winning streak and their second straight Patriot League title.
Eddie Robinson Award Release
Fordham’s Conway is also one of the 13 finalists for the 2025 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award, given annually to the top scholar-athlete in the FCS. Conway earned Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and broke the FCS and NCAA DI career tackles records during the 2025 season.
Doris Robinson Award Release
All 13 FCS conferences are represented by a finalist for each award. The winners will be selected by a national voting panel and announced at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show on Jan. 3 in Nashville, Tenn.
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.