Junior defensive back Lamont McPhatter II was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Defensive Athlete of the Year and quarterback Noah Mitchell was tabbed the PSAC West Freshman of the Year on Wednesday afternoon, as the Vulcans featured eight All-PSAC West selections.

In addition to McPhatter, junior linebacker London Cloud, sophomore wide receiver Tyson Hill and junior offensive lineman Craig McCorkle were honored on the All-PSAC West First-Team.

McPhatter is the first player to earn PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year since former All-American Rontez Miles accomplished the feat in both 2011 and 2012, which was also the last time a defensive back earned the award. A New Castle product, McPhatter repeated as an All-PSAC West First-Team honoree in his second season with the program. He led the team and ranked third in the league with five interceptions, while his 198 interception return yards paced the 15-team conference. McPhatter finished third on the team with 63 tackles (37 solo) and also recorded 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one blocked kick. The 5-foot-11 junior posted at least one interception in four-straight games and tallied at least five stops in eight of nine games played.

Mitchell became the first newcomer to receive PSAC West Freshman of the Year since 2010, while his selection marks the program’s first offensive recipient of the honor since Sam Mannery in 1987. A native of Ohio, Mitchell ranked second in the league with a freshman school record 2,759 passing yards behind three-consecutive 300-yard games to open the year. He also finished with a 56.2 completion percentage (219-of-390) and 19 passing touchdowns, totaling at least one touchdown pass in all but one of his 11 starts.

In his first year with the program, Cloud led the team and finished sixth in the PSAC with 92 tackles (54 solo) after posting double-digit tackles in each of the last three weeks of the year. He also ranked sixth in the league with a team-high 15.5 TFL while tallying 5.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and two blocked kicks.

Hill led the team with 61 receptions and 905 receiving yards in his first year as a starter. He finished the season with five touchdown receptions and registered three 100-yard games after entering the season with eight career catches.

A three-year starter, McCorkle received All-PSAC West First-Team laurels for a consecutive season after earning second-team status in 2016. He started 10 games at left tackle this season after previously making 19 career starts at right tackle. The Vulcans led the league and ranked ninth in the country in sacks allowed, yielding a combined seven sacks on over 400 pass attempts.

In addition to Mitchell, junior running back Nelson Brown, redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Dandridge and junior center Christian DiGalbo were selected to the All-PSAC West Second-Team.

Brown tied for the league lead and was third in NCAA Division II with 21 rushing touchdowns after totaling three touchdowns in a game five times. He also ranked fourth in the PSAC with 1,201 rushing yards in his first year with the program. Dandridge set career highs with 549 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 38 receptions despite missing over four full games due to injury. DiGalbo received the laurel in his first year as a starter, as he made all 11 starts at center. He helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for Brown to record the most rushing yards in over a decade and the seventh-most all-time.