Dec. 22, 2002

Four Patriot League players, led by Bucknell senior defensive lineman Adam Lord, Fordham junior running back Kirwin Watson and Lehigh senior offensive center Jeff Santacroce, were all named to Division I-AA football All-America teams this week.

Lord and Santacroce were named to the AFCA Division I-AA All-America team (which only picks one team). They were both also named second-team All-Americans by the Associated Press.

Watson earned a pair of third-team All-America awards from the Associated Press and The Sports Network.

The final honoree was Holy Cross junior wide receiver and return specialist Ari Confesor, who was chosen as a second-team return specialists by The Sports Network.

Lord earns AFCA All-America recognition for the second-straight year while Confesor, Santacroce and Watson are first-time honorees by either the AFCA, the AP or The Sports Network.

Lord had previously been named the Patriot League Co-Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Patriot League, All-ECAC and the Bucknell team MVP. Lord is Bucknell's first AP All-American since Kevin Eiben in 2000, and he is the 14th Bison to be picked by the AP since 1983.

Lord wrapped up a brilliant career in Orange and Blue in 2002. A terrific run-stopper who often drew the attention of multiple blockers, Lord was named to the All-Patriot League team for the third straight year. An American Football Coaches Association All-American in 2001, Lord made 40 tackles this season and 132 in his career. A total of 29 of his career hits, or nearly 22 percent, came in the opponents' backfield.

An electrical engineering major, Lord was a four-year starter on the Bison defensive line, and he helped the team lead the Patriot League in total defense in 2002. He became only fifth two-time winner of the team MVP award and the first since running back Rich Lemon in 1993-94.

Lord helped Bucknell lead the Patriot League in total defense in 2002, despite the team's 2-9 final record.

Santacroce is a two-time first-team Patriot League all-star who also earned ECAC post-season recognition this season.

"We are extremely proud of Jeff's contributions to our program over the last four years," said head coach Pete Lembo. "He has been a consistent and integral part of our team's success, and it's nice to see that I-AA coaches from around the country who vote for these postseason awards feel the same way."

Santacroce started every game as the Mountain Hawks' center in 2002, and anchored the offensive line that helped Lehigh amass over 4200 yards of total offense. On the ground, Lehigh rushed for 1,923 yards on the season - the most rushing yards by a Lehigh squad in the last five seasons. In addition to AFCA and ECAC honors, the co-captain has already been recognized as a First Team All-Patriot League selection, a feat he accomplished twice.

Santacroce wraps up his career at Lehigh with an all-time record of 41-8. He made three appearances in the NCAA playoffs, and was a part of three Patriot League championship teams. The environmental science major was named the team's Best Offensive Lineman in 2001.

Watson, who was named a First Team ECAC All-Star last week, is the first Ram to earn AP All-America honors since punter Barry Cantrell in 1997.

The 2002 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time first-team All-League selection, Watson won his second-straight Patriot League rushing title this year, averaging 112.8 yards per game, and he scored 19 touchdowns (18 rushing) to win the Patriot League scoring crown. He is already eighth on the League's career rushing list with 3,140 yards.

Among the I-AA national leaders, Watson is ranked ninth in the nation in both rushing and scoring (8.77 points/game).

Watson, who finished 10th in voting for the Walter Payton Award as the top I-AA Player in the country, rushed for 1,467 yards on the year, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the second year in a row. He becomes the first Fordham running back to compile two 1,000-yard seasons. Last year, Watson gained 1,076 yards to become the first Ram to surpass the 1,000-yard mark on the I-AA level. His 1,467 yards is also a Fordham single season record, surpassing Chip Kron's record of 1,263 set in 1984.

Over his career at Fordham, Watson has amassed 631 carries for 3,140 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns. He is second in each category on the Fordham career list.

Fordham finished the season with a 10-3 overall record, 6-1 in the Patriot League. The Rams advanced to the NCAA I-AA playoffs for the first time in school history, defeating Northeastern in the first round before falling to Villanova in the quarterfinals. The 10 wins are the most on the I-AA level for Fordham (the previous best was 7 last year) while the six Patriot League wins is the most wins in the league for the Rams (the previous best was 5 last year).

Fordham was ranked 21st in both the ESPN/Sportsticker and the Sports Network Top 25 final regular season polls.

Confesor becomes the first Crusader to earn All-America accolades since Tom Claro earned First Team AP All-America honors in 1995.

Confesor ranked fourth in the nation in all-purpose yards (166.4), ninth in punt return yardage (14.64) and 17th in kickoff return yardage (25.48). He set the Holy Cross single-season record for kickoff return yardage (841) and now also holds the career mark (1,567).

Confesor became the first Crusader since Johnny Turco (1950) to score a touchdown on a punt return (85 yards against Harvard), a kickoff return (95 yards against Army), rushing (20 yards against St. Mary's) and receiving (nine touchdowns). He recorded 57 catches for 721 yards this season while his 1,997 all-purpose yards are the third highest single-season total in school history.

Confesor, a return specialist on the Second Team, was the lone Patriot League representative on the First or Second Team.

Holy Cross finished the 2002 season with a record of 4-8, 2-5 in league play. The Crusaders will kick off the 2003 season at Lehigh on September 6th next year.