Nov. 23, 2010

2010 All-Patriot League Football Team

Center Valley, Pa. - Patriot League champion Lehigh led all schools with 18 selections to the All-Patriot League Football team on Tuesday, but it was Colgate that took home the two top individual awards as junior running back Nate Eachus was named Offensive Player of the Year and senior defensive end Zach Smith took Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Lehigh's Andy Coen received his first Patriot League Coach of the Year award for leading the Mountain Hawks to the 2010 League title, while Bucknell freshman quarterback Brandon Wesley became the first Bison student-athlete since 1993 to claim the Patriot League Rookie of the Year honor. The All-Patriot League Team and major awards were voted on by the Patriot League Football head coaches, who could not vote for their own student-athletes or themselves.

Lehigh's All-Patriot League selections were divided evenly with nine on the first and nine on the second team. Holy Cross was next with 12 All-Patriot League players, which were also distributed equally with six on the first team and six on the second team. All nine of Colgate's All-Patriot League selections were on the first team, matching the Mountain Hawks for the most selections to the top squad. Three of Lafayette's nine honorees came on the first team, while Georgetown had four overall and two first-team selections and Bucknell had three All-Patriot League players with one on the first team. Fordham's student-athletes were ineligible for All-Patriot League honors after the Rams began awarding athletic merit aid in the fall.

Eachus had one of the best seasons for a running back in Patriot League history, and was clearly the top player at the position in the Football Championship Subdivision. He carried 317 times for 1,871 yards and 21 touchdowns for the season, and also caught 17 passes for 160 yards and a score. The 1,871 rushing yards stand third in a single-season in Patriot League history, just four yards behind former teammate Jordan Scott (2007) for second place in League annals. Eachus averaged 170.1 rushing yards per game, which led the FCS by a wide margin of more than 22 yards per contest ahead of any other player. It is the second-best mark in Patriot League annals, just behind Scott's 170.5 average in 2007. Eachus' 21 rushing and 22 total touchdowns also led the nation as he topped the FCS with 12.0 points per game. The rushing-touchdown mark tied for the third-best single-season total in League history, while the 12.0 points per game are the second-highest in League annals. Eachus matched a Patriot League record with four 200-yard rushing performances, including a single-game League record 291-yard rushing day against Cornell on Oct. 16. He ran for 124 yards or more in 10 of Colgate's 11 games. Eachus was named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the most outstanding player in the FCS.

Eachus will enter his senior season holding lofty positions in the Patriot League career record book. He is already in seventh place in League history with 3,722 career rushing yards, while his 47 rushing touchdowns stand fifth in League history and are just 10 off Scott's career mark. Eachus has seven 200-yard and 20 100-yard rushing games in his career, in reach of Scott's Patriot League records of eight and 29, respectively. He is Colgate's fifth Offensive Player of the Year award winner, and first since running back Jamaal Branch claimed the honor along with the Walter Payton Award in 2003. Eachus won Rookie of the Year honors in 2008, and is the first recipient of that award to go on to win the Offensive Player of the Year honor since Lafayette's Joe McCourt, the 2001 Rookie of the Year, earned the Offensive Player of the Year award in 2004.

Smith posted the first double-digit sack total for a Patriot League player since 2004, finishing the season with 44 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. He finished eighth in the FCS with just under a sack per game, and his nine solo sacks tied for the sixth-best mark in the nation. Smith put together his biggest games in Colgate's three Patriot League victories. He had three sacks against Georgetown on Oct. 2, and was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for the performance. Smith also totaled 2.5 sacks versus Lafayette on Nov. 6 and two against Bucknell on Nov. 13. The 10.5 sacks matched the highest total for a Patriot League player since 2000. He helped the Raiders tie for the Patriot League lead and finish 13th nationally in sacks per game. Smith's 14.5 tackles for loss were second in the Patriot League and among the top 30 nationally. He is Colgate's fifth Defensive Player of the Year winner, and first since Jared Nepa in 2005. Smith is the first defensive lineman to win the award since Bucknell's Sean Conover in 2004.

In his fifth season as head coach, Coen won his second overall and first outright Patriot League title. He led the Mountain Hawks to the crown for the first time since 2006, and the outright title for the first time since 2001. Lehigh finished a perfect 5-0 in Patriot League action, becoming the 16th team overall and just the second in the past seven seasons to go undefeated in League action. No. 19 Lehigh will make its first postseason appearance since 2004 when it visits No. 16 Northern Iowa in the first round on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks go into the playoffs with a seven-game win streak which gave them a 9-2 record overall. Coen has a 29-26 overall and 21-9 Patriot League record in his five seasons, and has led Lehigh to a winning League mark in four of those campaigns. He is the fourth different Mountain Hawk head coach to win the Patriot League Coach of the Year award, and first since Pete Lembo in 2001.

Wesley took over as Bucknell's starting quarterback in the second game of the season, just a month removed from his 18th birthday. The signal-caller quickly emerged as the top freshman in the Patriot League, and tied for second in League history with five Rookie of the Week awards. He finished the season by completing 171-of-296 passes for 1,699 yards and six touchdowns and also rushing for 197 yards and two scores. He set a Bucknell single-season freshman record for passing yards, and was just 84 away from the school's overall top 10. He placed in the top 10 in school history in single-season completions and attempts. Wesley is the first Bucknell player to earn Rookie of the Year honors since running back Rich Lemon in 1993, and the first quarterback to claim the award since Lafayette's Marko Glavic in 2000.

Eachus headlines the first-team All-Patriot League offense as one of the two running backs. A tie in the voting put both Chris Lum (Lehigh) and Greg Sullivan (Colgate) at the quarterback position on the first team, while Jay Campbell (Lehigh) joined Eachus at running back and Gigi Cadet (Colgate) took the fullback/h-back position. The wide receiving corps consisted of Mark Layton (Lafayette), Doug Rosnick (Colgate) and Ryan Spadola (Lehigh), with Alex Schneider (Holy Cross) at tight end, Ricky Clerge (Lehigh), James Germano (Colgate), Mike McCabe (Holy Cross), Vittorio Ottanelli (Colgate) and Will Rackley (Lehigh) on the offensive line, John Kennedy (Lehigh) as the return specialist and Davis Rodriguez (Lafayette) at placekicker.

Smith was part of an outstanding first-team All-Patriot League defensive line, which also included Josh Eden (Bucknell), Andrew Schaetzke (Georgetown) and Lamont Sonds (Colgate). The rest of the first-team defense includes linebackers Chris DiMassa (Colgate), Mike Groome (Lehigh), Sean Lamkin (Holy Cross), Ricky Otis (Holy Cross) and Al Pierce (Lehigh), defensive backs Jarard Cribbs (Lehigh), Brandon Ellis (Lafayette), Chandler Fenner (Holy Cross) and Jayah Kaisamba (Georgetown), and punter Don Lemieux (Holy Cross).

The second-team All-Patriot League offense includes freshmen Pat Creahan (Lafayette) and Travis Friend (Bucknell) at fullback/h-back, wide receivers Jake Drwal (Lehigh), Bill Edger (Holy Cross) and Freddie Santana (Holy Cross), tight end Kevin Doty (Lafayette), offensive linemen Scott Biel (Lafayette), Anthony Buffolino (Lafayette) and James Liebler (Lehigh) and placekicker Rob Dornfried (Holy Cross), with Santana also earning a second nod as the squad's return specialist.

The second-team All-Patriot League defense consists of defensive linemen Robert De La Rosa (Bucknell), Ben Flizack (Lehigh), Andrew Knapp (Lehigh), Doug Gerowski (Lafayette) and Mude Ohimor (Holy Cross), linebackers Nick Parrish (Georgetown), Tanner Rivas (Lehigh) and Michael Schmidlein (Lafayette), defensive backs Anthony DiMichele (Holy Cross), Casey Eldemire (Lehigh), John Kennedy (Lehigh), Jeremy Moore (Georgetown) and John Veniero (Lehigh), and punter Alex Smith (Lehigh).

Lum and Sullivan each put up outstanding years to share the first-team quarterback position. Lum threw for 2,252 yards and 15 touchdowns for the League champion Mountain Hawks, while Sullivan threw for 1,349 yards and eight TDs and also ran for 651 yards and another eight scores, and ends his career as the all-time Patriot League leader among quarterbacks with 2,337 rushing yards. Campbell ran for 582 yards and five touchdowns, while Cadet had nine receptions for 142 yards. Spadola (64 rec., 931 yards, 7 TD), Layton (64 rec., 748 yards, 6 TD) and Rosnick (49 rec., 646 yards, 7 TD) all had outstanding seasons at wide receiver, along with Schneider (30 rec., 217 yards, 1 TD) at tight end. Rackley was the unanimous choice as the best offensive lineman as the opposing five coaches all placed him as the top player at the position on their ballot. Kennedy averaged 31.4 yards on 13 kickoff returns, while Rodriguez made 14-of-20 field goals and 22-of-23 extra points.

Smith's numbers were nearly equaled by the rest of the stellar first-team defensive linemen. Eden had 54 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and an FCS record eight blocked kicks, Schaetzke totaled 59 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, nine sacks and two interceptions while Sonds had 39 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks. DiMassa (92 TT, 9 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 2 INT), Groome (108 TT, 6 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT), Lamkin (67 TT, 7 TFL, 4 sacks), Otis (108 TT, 2 TFL, 1 sack) and Pierce (86 TT, 9.5 TFL, 5 sacks) all had great seasons at linebacker, while Cribbs (48 TT, 7 INT, 4 PBU, 3 TFL), Ellis (65 TT, 1 INT, 8 PBU), Fenner (58 TT, 2 TFL, 1 sack) and Kaisamba (69 TT, 5 INT, 6 PBU, 3.5 TFL, 2 sacks) posted strong numbers at defensive back. Lemieux averaged 39.1 yards per punt for the season.

Creahan (10 rec., 74 yards) and Friend (138 all-purpose yards, 3 total TD) tied for the second-team spot at fullback/h-back, and formed the entirety of the squad's backfield as both of the All-League quarterbacks made the first team and no other running backs were nominated. Drwal (42 rec., 458 yards, 2 TD), Edger (44 rec., 540 yards, 7 TD) and Santana (39 rec., 482 yards, 6 TD) formed the wide receiver trio, with Doty (19 rec., 206 yards, 1 TD) at tight end. Dornfried made 10-of-13 field goals and 27-of-32 extra points, while Santana earned his second position as the return specialist by averaging 16.8 yards and scoring a touchdown on 16 punt returns.

De La Rosa (39 TT, 9 TFL, 4 sacks), Flizack (33 TT, 5.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks), Knapp (30 TT, 6.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks), Gerowski (40 TT, 2.5 TFL) and Ohimor (34 TT, 4 sacks) had strong seasons to make the second-team defensive line, and so did Parrish (92 TT, 2.5 TFL), Rivas (63 TT, 10 TFL, 5.5 sacks) and Schmidlein (108 TT, 3.5 TFL, 2 sacks) at linebacker and DiMichele (83 TT, 5 PBU), Eldemire (35 TT, 1 INT), Kennedy (30 TT, 1 INT), Moore (72 TT, 10 TFL, 1 INT) and Veniero (43 TT, 2 INT) at defensive back. Smith averaged 38.8 yards on 55 punts to earn the second-team spot.

Eachus, Rackley, Cribbs and Kennedy were all named to their third All-Patriot League team. Kennedy actually finishes with five overall spots as he was a second-team return specialist in 2007 and made the second-team at both return specialist and defensive back last season before earning the first-team return specialist and second-team defensive back awards this year. There have now been 65 players in Patriot League history to make the All-League team in three or more seasons, with Eachus and Rackley as the 18th and 19th to receive three or more first-team selections.

Patriot League champion No. 19 Lehigh will play in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on Saturday, with the Mountain Hawks traveling to No. 16 Northern Iowa, the champion of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, at 1 p.m. (EST).

The complete 2010 All-Patriot League Football team can be found below, or in PDF version here

2010 All-Patriot League Football Team

Offensive Player of the Year: Nate Eachus, Colgate, Jr., RB
Defensive Player of the Year: Zach Smith, Colgate, Sr., DE
Rookie of the Year: Brandon Wesley, Bucknell, Fr., QB
Coach of the Year: Andy Coen, Lehigh

First-Team All-Patriot League

Offense

QB Chris Lum, Lehigh, Jr.
QB Greg Sullivan, Colgate, Sr.
RB Nate Eachus, Colgate, Jr.
RB Jay Campbell, Lehigh, Sr.
FB/HB Gigi Cadet, Colgate, Sr.
WR Mark Layton, Lafayette, Sr.
WR Doug Rosnick, Colgate, Sr.
WR Ryan Spadola, Lehigh, So.
TE Alex Schneider, Holy Cross, Jr.
OL Ricky Clerge, Lehigh, Sr.
OL James Germano, Colgate, Sr.
OL Mike McCabe, Holy Cross, Sr.
OL Vittorio Ottanelli, Colgate, Jr.
OL Will Rackley, Lehigh, Sr.
RS John Kennedy, Lehigh, Sr.
PK Davis Rodriguez, Lafayette, Sr.

Defense

DL Josh Eden, Bucknell, Jr.
DL Andrew Schaetzke, Georgetown, Jr.
DL Zach Smith, Colgate, Sr.
DL Lamont Sonds, Colgate, Sr.
LB Chris DiMassa, Colgate, Sr.
LB Mike Groome, Lehigh, Jr.
LB Sean Lamkin, Holy Cross, Sr.
LB Ricky Otis, Holy Cross, Jr.
LB Al Pierce, Lehigh, Sr.
DB Jarard Cribbs, Lehigh, Sr.
DB Brandon Ellis, Lafayette, Jr.
DB Chandler Fenner, Holy Cross, Jr.
DB Jayah Kaisamba, Georgetown, Jr.
P Don Lemieux, Holy Cross, Sr.

Second-Team All-Patriot League

Offense

FB/HB Pat Creahan, Lafayette, Fr.
FB/HB Travis Friend, Bucknell, Fr.
WR Jake Drwal, Lehigh, Jr.
WR Bill Edger, Holy Cross, Sr.
WR Freddie Santana, Holy Cross, Sr.
TE Kevin Doty, Lafayette, Jr.
OL Scott Biel, Lafayette, Jr.
OL Anthony Buffolino, Lafayette, Jr.
OL James Liebler, Lehigh, Jr.
RS Freddie Santana, Holy Cross, Sr.
PK Rob Dornfried, Holy Cross, Sr.

Defense

DL Robert De La Rosa, Bucknell, Jr.
DL Ben Flizack, Lehigh, Sr.
DL Andrew Knapp, Lehigh, Jr.
DL Doug Gerowski, Lafayette, Sr.
DL Mude Ohimor, Holy Cross, Sr.
LB Nick Parrish, Georgetown, Sr.
LB Tanner Rivas, Lehigh, Jr.
LB Michael Schmidlein, Lafayette, Sr.
DB Anthony DiMichele, Holy Cross, Sr.
DB Casey Eldemire, Lehigh, Sr.
DB John Kennedy, Lehigh, Sr.
DB Jeremy Moore, Georgetown, So.
DB John Veniero, Lehigh, Sr.
P Alex Smith, Lehigh