EC's Ringer, Rouse & SD's Ballart, Johnson Earn EIAC MVP Honors

The 2022 EIAC Football All-Conference Team was announced over the holiday weekend.

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(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – It was a phenomenal season of high school football in southeastern Indiana.

East Central claimed the IHSAA Class 4A State Championship, while the Lawrenceburg Tigers finished as the runner-up in Class 3A.

Dearborn County’s other top team, South Dearborn, finished the season 7-3 with their only losses coming to state championship game finalists.

In their first season in the EIAC 3A Division, South Dearborn went 3-0 against Batesville, Greensburg, and Rushville to capture a conference championship.

The Knights were led by EIAC Division 3A Offensive MVP Austin Ballart. He was among the top receivers in the state with 55 receptions for 853 yards and six touchdowns. Ballart, along with junior quarterback Adam Kunkel, were named IFCA All-State selections last month.

Kunkel is one of nine Knights to make the All-EIAC Team. He had a big junior campaign, throwing for 2,253 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Linebacker Brayden Johnson is the EIAC Division 3A Defensive MVP. Johnson was tied with freshman Brady Ballart with a team-high 98 tackles.

Nine East Central Trojans highlighted the Division 4A All-Conference Team, including Offensive MVP Josh Ringer and Defensive MVP Brayden Rouse.

Ringer had one of the best seasons a Trojan has ever had running for 2,368 yards (3rd most in EC history), and 39 rushing touchdowns (school record).

Defensively, Rouse led the Trojans with 83 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Other Trojans to make All-Conference include three All-State selections: Eli Aston, Ryan Brotherton and Noah Schneider.

Division 4A’s second place team, Lawrenceburg, had eight all-conference selections.

See the full 2022 EIAC Football All-Conference Team listed below. 

Division 4A

East Central (3-0): Josh Ringer (OFF. MVP), Brayden Rouse (DEF. MVP), Cole Burton, Noah Schneider, Ryan Brotherton, Pat Schneider, Louis Gray, Carson Koelling, Eli Aston

Lawrenceburg (2-1): Teagan Bennett, Jake Pierce, Noah Knigga, Colton Roth, Alex Witte, Niko Ferreira, Brennan Bushman, Ryan Hinthorne

Connersville (1-2): Brayden Pearson, Chance Bentley, Gavin Frank, Braxton Myers, Gavin Pearson

Franklin County (0-3): Ben Becker, Bryce Hodapp, Peyton McCreary, Brady Morehead

Coach of the Year: Jake Meiners

Division 3A

South Dearborn (3-0): Austin Ballart (OFF. MVP), Brayden Johnson (DEF. MVP), Adam Kunkel, CJ Evans, Blake Pruss, Ashton Kittle, Ryan Willoughby, Corbin Cassidy, Taytum Barker

Batesville (2-1): Cade Kaiser, Bryson Bonelli, Max Amberger, Gage Pohlman, Bobby Weiler, Trenton Roell, Will Jaisle

Greensburg (1-1): Eli Moore, Robert Eisetert, Tyler Bidinger, Daniel Kulpinski, Evan Graves, Owen Meadows, Sam West

Rushville (0-3): Harper Miller, Dylan Thompson, Brian Simmermon

Coach of the Year: Rand Ballart