(Thursday, November 20; Sioux Center, Iowa) The Great Plains Athletic Conference football has been announced its post season honors, and Dordt's Joel Penner has been named the Coach of the Year. 

Penner is in his 10^th season coaching the Defenders and guided the program to a GPAC Championship for the first time.  This year's team finished 9-1 in the league and has tied the program's single season record for wins.

"This honor for Coach Penner is well-deserved.  While the football program has had a historic season, he has been a steady influence, remaining true to core principles while pursuing success on the field."

Penner began coaching the Defenders in 2016 and the team posted a program best five wins before its first non-losing record in 2017 with a 5-5 mark.  The 2018 team finished 7-3 and started a current run of eight straight seasons with seven wins or more. 

This year's team earned a NAIA playoff berth for the third time in program history and was no.11 in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Poll and is the no. 10 seed in the 20-team playoff field. 

Penner is 72-33 at Dordt and has a .685 winning percentage. The Defenders are one of 15 NAIA programs with nine straight seasons of .500 or better.