Great teams have great players, and the Pro Football News Coaches Select have honored three Knights — running back Benji Bauer, linebacker Caleb Penley and tight end Kris Bunk — with second-team Class 1A All-State recognition.

Bauer, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior running back, is the first player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in Warren County, finishing the season with 2,068 yards and 24 touchdowns. He caught 14 passes for 177 yards and a score and he returned an interception for a TD as well. Simply put, he was a workhorse for Eisenhower and rose to the occasion in the biggest games on the Knights’ journey to their region championship.

Eisenhower coach Jim Penley doesn’t shy away from tough competition and chooses to play bigger schools which meant Bauer had to play against “AA” schools.

How did he do?

Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger Kris Bunk

In four games played and four wins, he rushed for 933 yards, scored 11 touchdowns and had three two-point conversions.

Coach Penley has a team-first mentality and builds experience with his younger players or Bauer would have had even more yards, but never had more than 15 carries in a game that had already been decided.

The 6-1, 190-pound Caleb Penley earned all-region honors at guard and linebacker and was chosen by the coaches based on his ability to shut down an opponent from his outside linebacker position. On the season, Caleb Penley had 63 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, one sack, an interception and a fumble recovery.

In 12 games opponents rushed for minus-28 yards on his side.

“Against the two teams that had their own 2,000-yard runners this season, they did not fare well against his side,” Coach Penley said of his son. “One had one carry for minus-3 yards and the other had 10 carries for 11 yards. Caleb made all of our defensive calls for a team that only gave up an average of 88 yards a game on the ground.”

Times Observer photo by Steve Younger Caleb Penley

A solid tackler, Caleb Penley was just as potent as a pass defender. He only gave up eight completions on 23 attempts for 86 yards and no touchdowns.

A 6-3, 190-pound junior Bunk caught 17 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. His physical size not only served him well as a receiver, but he proved to be a crushing blocker with 6.5 pancake blocks.

“We play old-school, I-formation, power football and we need a tight end who can block, and behind him we carried the ball 236 times for 1,786 yards,” Coach Penley said.