AF1 NAMES KATS QB KULKA LEAGUE MVP & ARBET COACH OF YEAR

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Friday night at the annual Arena Football One (AF1) Awards Banquet, eight individual awards were handed out to league players and coaches.

Five of them went to the Nashville Kats (12-1), who host the Albany Firebirds (10-3) in the Arena Crown championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at F&M Bank Arena.

Kats quarterback Tyler Kulka was named the Under Armour AF1 Most Valuable Player, wide receiver Malik Honeycutt was tabbed the Big Game USA Breakout Player of the Year and Kats kicker Kyle Kaplan was named 97 Sports Jim Foster Special Teams Player of the Year.

Kats head coach Darren Arbet was named Royal Retros Coach of the Year, while Kats offensive coordinator Steve Papin garnered Nexxfield Assistant Coach of the Year honors.

Also, the Nashville Lady Kats dance team, led by directors Cissy Brown and Lavern Brown, was named the AF1 Best Dance Team.

Other players honored by the league were Michigan Arsenal quarterback Malik Henry, VICE Offensive Player of the Year; Washington Wolfpack defensive back Byron Edwards, Bet Rivers Defensive Player of the Year; and Oceanside wide receiver JoVohn Tucker, HTN Rookie of the Year.

Other league awards went to Minnesota Monsters owner Jake Lambert, Executive of the Year; Oceanside Stealth, Community Impact Award; Washington Wolfpack, Best Broadcast Production; Albany Firebirds, Best Game Day Operations; Minnesota Monsters, Excellence in Media; and Albany Firebirds, Best Mascot (Spike).

Kulka, a Lawrence Tech product, led the league in two categories -- total passing yards (2,835) and total offensive yards (2,817). The quarterback finished second in three categories – touchdown passes (56), passing yards per game (236.3) and offensive yards per game (234.8).

Honeycutt, a Murray State alum, led the league in two categories -- total receiving yards (1,047) and receiving yards per game (95.2). He was third in touchdowns (19) and fourth in points scored (114).

Kaplan, a Notre Dame College alum, was second in points scored (131) and fourth in points per game (10.9). He was the only kicker in the league to be ranked in the top five in either category.

The Kats swept the season series versus the Firebirds, winning at home 78-69 on June 20 and 57-54 on the road on July 11. The Nashville Kats closed the regular season by winning nine games in a row to claim the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Arena Football One (AF1) playoffs.

The No. 1 top-seeded Kats advanced to the title game with a 92-76 semifinal win Saturday over the visiting Michigan Arsenal.

For the regular season, the Kats finished 7-0 at home during the regular season with wins April 14 versus the Michigan Arsenal (78-40), April 27 over the Washington Wolfpack (45-3), May 9 against the Oregon Lightning (64-21), May 16 versus the Oceanside Bombers (63-49), June 13 versus the Minnesota

Monsters (48-32), June 20 against the Albany Firebirds (78-69) and June 27 versus the Beaumont Renegades (72-20).

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