AF1 Mid-Season Awards

Eight weeks of hard-nosed, high-flying Arena Football action is in the books and we’re just getting started. There are eight more weeks of action before an epic playoff run begins. As we’ve reached the halfway point, it’s time to see where some of the stars of our league stack up when it comes to yearly awards. We asked TheAF1.com contributors along with a few other great minds to stack up the votes for Mideast on MVP, Coach of the Year, and many other awards! 

First Team All-arena Fullback 

Tracy Brooks - Salina Liberty 

Tracy Books is a veteran of the arena game who has been with the Salina Liberty since 2018. Brooks overwhelmingly won this award receiving over 90% of the ballots cast for First-Team and 100% of votes for either First or Second-Team. The short yardage specialist has been a key to the Liberty’s recently found success, with seven touchdowns on the season, four of which have come in the last three games. 

Second Team All-Arena Fullback 

Logan Wright - Southwest Kansas Storm

With Brooks being the overwhelming vote-getter for First-Team, Logan Wright, the fullback for the Southwest Kansas Storm was overwhelmingly the next on everyone’s list. The Storm have been one of the best teams in the league all season and Wright has been the perfect running mate for his quarterback and league leader rusher Jalen Morton. Wright has racked up 130 yards on 41 carries with five touchdowns so far this season. 

Others Receiving Votes:

Carlton Brown - Nashville 

Desmond Maxwell - Albany 

All- Arena Wide Receiver

Duane Brown - Albany Firebirds

Demarius Washington - Southwest Kansas Storm

Darius Prince - Billings Outlaws 

Duane Brown of the Albany Firebirds was the only unanimous decision for this award, he made the ballot of every voter. Albany has been the best team over the first half of the year, and Brown is a huge reason why. He leads the league in receiving yards with 536 yards on 40 catches for an astonishing 20 touchdowns. 

Demarius Washington of the Southwest Kansas Storm has been a force. The 6’ 5” Arena veteran who shined against his former team the Salina Liberty a few weeks ago rests second in the league in receiving yards with 454 on 36 catches. Washington has added seven touchdowns to his name. 

Darius Prince needs no introduction. The Arena Football legend has only played in five games compared to Brown’s seven and Washington’s eight but he’s got on their heels. He tallied up 452 yards in those five games including 115 yards in his first game with the Billings Outlaws in Week 8. 

Others Receiving Votes: 

Shilo Flannigan - Southwest Kansas 

Kenneth Brewer III - Billings 

Robert Jones Jr - Nashville 

Isiah Scott - Albany 

Malik Honeycutt - Salina 

First-Team All-Arena Offensive Line

Colby Byrd - Albany Firebirds

Jeremy Martin - Salina Liberty

Sama Paama - Southwest Kansas Storm

Great offenses don’t exist without the big men up front. Colby Byrd anchors the most potent offense in the league in Albany. Jeremy Martin has been part of the Liberty resurgence and Paama anchors the line that leads the league in rushing in Southwest Kansas. 

Second-Team All-Arena Offensive Line

Alex Heil - Southwest Kansas Storm 

Alekisanita Tapa - Salina Liberty 

Brandon Nicholson - Albany Firebirds

You’ll notice the same trend on the Second-Team Votes, multiple votes came in that were simply labeled “Entire Albany offensive line” or simply “Southwest Kansas. Alex Heil helps out that top rushing offensive in Dodge City. Alekisanita fights in the trenches for Salina, while Brandon Nicholson helps his team hang up big scores.  

Others Receiving Votes: 

Joshua Zacher - Albany 

Bray Walker - Nashville

Isaiah Hardy - Albany 

Terrance Ames Jr - Billings 

Zechariah Thomas - Nashville

Kyle Davis - Nashville 

Steven Stella - Billings 

All-Arena Defensive Lineman 

Ezekiel Rose Albany 

Henry Kellogg Salina 

Chei Hill Washington 

Ezekiel Rose was easily the leader in the clubhouse for the defensive lineman vote. While the Albany Firebirds offense is the story, and they recently hung up a 100-point game, Rose has been the leader of a strong defensive unit. He’s racked up seven tackles for loss, six sacks, and assisted on five more tackles. 

Henry Kellogg might be listed as a running back for the Salina Liberty, but they aren’t fooling anyone. Kellogg has been a key cog in one of the best defenses (see others receiving votes) in the league with eight tackles, five tackles for loss, six sacks, and two forced fumbles. 

Chei Hill has wreaked havoc on the league from the defensive line. He leads the league in sacks with 10 and also leads the league in tackles for loss with seven. 

Others Receiving Votes: 

Miquel Pillow-Smiley - Oregon

Roderick Perry II - Nashville 

Amani Peoples - Oregon 

Trevonte Carter - Washington 

Reggie Howard - Southwest Kansas

Nick Evans - Southwest Kansas

Marje Smith - Southwest Kansas

Joe Golden - Southwest Kansas

Sidney Houston Jr - Billings 

All-Arena Linebacker 

Dejon Walden - Albany Firebirds

Drew Singleton - Albany Firebirds

Dejon Walden was just two votes short of being unanimously an All-Arena Linebacker.  In seven games he’s gathered 16 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and six sacks to go along with a forced fumble for a strong Firebirds defense. His running mate Drew Singleton was the second most vote-getter. He’s added 17 tackles of his own, six tackles for loss, and six sacks. On top of that, he’s added three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. 

Others Receiving Votes: 

Kerry Starks - Salina 

Jerimiah Spicer - Oregon 

Jonathan Navarro - Washington 

Marje Smith - Southwest Kansas 

All-Arena Defensive Back 

Michael Lawson - Southwest Kansas Storm

Isaiah McFarland - Nashville Kats 

Shaun Lewis - Nashville Kats 

Michael Lawson leads the league in tackles and it’s not even close. Lawson has racked up 56 tackles through eight games, and has four interceptions, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. 

Isaiah McFarland is the league leader in interceptions with nine. Most impressively, he’s done that in just four games played in 2025. He also has 19 tackles, a forced fumble, and three touchdowns. The former Triton will debut with the Nashville Kats on Saturday. 

Shaun Lewis trails only McFarland in interceptions with six to his name in the first half of 2025, he’s added 14 tackles and a tackle for loss, all in five games played. 

Others Receiving Votes:

DeWayne Autrey II - Salina 

Markus Smith - Albany 

Caleb Brown - Washington 

Lakeith Murray - Corpus Christi 

First-Team All-ARENA kICKER 

Henry Nell - Albany fIREBIRDS

Nell is unanimously the First-Team All-Arena kicker amid his legendary season. He’s 2-3 on field goal attempts, hitting one the full length of the field. He’s 41-47 on extra points, no easy feat with the small goalposts, and most impressively, he has 12, yes 12 Deuces. Giving his team 24 free points in the first half of the season. The next best only has three deuces on the season. It’s worth noting that Nell also received an MVP vote. 

sECOND-tEAM aLL-aRENA kICKER 

Dillon Burkhard - sOUTHWEST kANSAS sTORM

Burkhard was by far the leader in votes for Second-Team All-Arena kicker. The Southwest Kansas Storm specialist is 5-8 from field goal range and 24-32 on extra point attempts. Burkhard has also added two deuces of his own. 

Others Receiving Votes:

Dean Faithfull - Billings 

Bailey Hale - Salina 

aLL-aRENA kICK rETURNER 

Marquel Wade - Albany fIREBIRDS

Wade ran away with this award as the Firebirds’ main return man. In his 26 kick returns Wade has added up 470 kick return yards an average of 18.08 per return and taken it to the house twice. 

Others Receiving Votes:

Duane Brown - Albany 

Maurice Ashley - Oregon

Coach of the Year 

Damon Ware - Albany Firebirds 

This was a hotly contested vote with Damon Ware edging out Southwest Kansas’s Gary Thomas by a single vote. The Albany Firebirds Head Coach has led his team to an undefeated 7-0 record through the first half of the season. We asked voters why they cast their ballot on Ware here’s what they had to say. “Coach Ware has Albany as far and away the most complete team in the league.” “Undefeated, put together the league's best roster.” “Undefeated.” 

Others Receiving Votes:

Gary Thomas - Southwest Kansas 

Darren Arbet - Nashville 

First-Team All-Arena Quarterback 

Sam Castronova - Albany Firebirds

Castronova was a single ballot away from being unanimously the First-Team selection. Both this and the MVP debate would come down to Castronova and Morton. Castronova has led the Firebirds to their undefeated 7-0 record, with a 58% completion percentage and throwing for 1,112 yards. He’s tossed 33 touchdowns with only one interception and added three more touchdowns on the ground. 

Second-Team All-Arena Quarterback 

Jalen Morton - Southwest Kansas Storm

Morton was easily the lead vote getter here, also receiving a vote for First-Team. From the quarterback position he leads the league in rushing. In eight games Morton has 285 yards on the ground, and 11 touchdowns. He’s not bad through the air either, leading the league in passing yards at 1,355 with 22-touchdowns through the air. 

Others Receiving Votes:

Dalton Cole - Oregon

Most Valueable Player 

Sam Castronova - QB Albany Firebirds

Like the quarterback vote this one was closely contested between Castronova and Morton and it’ll be fun to watch them fight it out over the rest of the season. Some of the comments that accompanied Castronova votes were. “He is him.” “Dominating the competition and leading the league in most passing categories, along with a perfect 7-0 record.” “Could it really be anybody else?” “No brainer best player on the best team.” 

Others Receiving Votes:

Jalen Morton - QB Southwest Kansas 

Henry Nell - K Albany 

Duane Brown - WR Albany