ECAC Announces 2016 Division III North Football All-Stars
DANBURY, Conn. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced its 2016 Division III North Football All-Star teams and award recipients.
Hobart College junior quarterback Shane Sweeney garnered the Offensive Player of the Year honor, while Alfred University junior linebacker A.J. LiCata earned Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman quarterback Joe Germinerio from The College at Brockport was awarded Rookie of the Year, and Alfred University Head Coach Bob Rankl received Coach of the Year.
Sweeney earned the Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year honor, becoming the first quarterback in Hobart history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season. The junior set season records for passing yards (3,436), passing touchdowns (36), completions (266) and pass attempts (442), and ended the season ranked fifth in the nation for passing touchdowns and seventh in passing yards. Sweeney sits in first place on Hobart’s all-time list in career passing yards per game (276.8) and total offense per game (278.1). He is ranked second all-time in career passing touchdowns (53), pass efficiency (149.2) and pass completion percentage (60.9).
LiCata was named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-Empire 8 First Team Defense. LiCata led the Saxons and the Empire 8 in total tackles (153) and concluded his junior campaign ranked eighth in the nation for solo tackles (7.0). The junior was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 Team and earned Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week once this season. LiCata was also one of 10 semifinalists for the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded each year to the most outstanding player in Division III football.
Germinerio garnered the first Empire 8 Rookie of the Year honor by a Golden Eagle since Brockport joined the conference in 2014. He averaged 55.6 rushing yards per game and recorded two 100-yard games. The freshman threw for 11 touchdowns on the season and scored an additional nine rushing himself. Germinerio totaled 1,499 passing yards on 113 completions (73.4 percent), with his completion percentage good for second in the nation just 0.5 percent behind the national leader. He finished his freshman season ranked sixth in Division III for yards per pass attempt (9.73) and seventh for passing efficiency (172.2).
Rankl and his staff were named Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year after leading Alfred to a 10-0 regular season (8-0, Empire 8). Alfred was the first team in the 15-year history of the Empire 8 to finish the regular season undefeated, as Rankl and his team reached the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in program history.
2016 ECAC Division III North Football All-Star Team
Offensive Player of the Year
Shane Sweeney, Jr., Hobart College
Defensive Player of the Year
A.J. LiCata, Jr., Alfred University
Rookie of the Year
Joe Germinerio, Fr., The College at Brockport
Coach of the Year
Bob Rankl, Alfred University
Offense First Team
Shane Sweeney, Jr., Hobart College
Dan Andrews, Sr., The College at Brockport
Sam Pascale, Sr., Salve Regina University
James Ferrar, Jr., Maine Maritime Academy
Brandon Shed, Jr., Hobart College
Brendan Buisch, Sr., Alfred University
Jake Cawlina, Sr., Curry College
Stephen Beahn, Jr., Framingham State University
Nick Testani, Sr., Hobart College
Sean Murphy, Sr., Alfred University
David Sylvester, Sr., Alfred University
Kevin LaMarque, Sr., Alfred University
Thomas O’Grady, So., St. Lawrence University
Defense First Team
Tom Hagan, Sr., SUNY Cortland
James Hedger, Sr., Hobart College
Chyron Brown-Wallace, Sr., St. Lawrence University
Nick Giorgio, So., Springfield College
A.J. LiCata, Jr., Alfred University
Alexander Greenidge, Sr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Dan Loizos, Jr., Ithaca College
Juwan Wilson, Sr., Utica College
Carson Lassiter, Sr., SUNY Cortland
Ryan Buss, Sr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Jordan Schemm, Jr., Ithaca College
Steven Hubick, Sr., Alfred State College
Special Teams First Team
Marc Montana, Sr., Buffalo State College
Francis Cole, So., Anna Maria College
Jordan Schemm, Jr., Ithaca College
Offense Second Team
Tyler Johnson, Sr., Alfred University
Rodrick Payne, So., St. Lawrence
Connor Kinzelmann, Jr., Union College
Brendan Tierney, Sr., Alfred University
Napoleon Miller, So., Framingham State University
Jack Pfohl, Sr., Hobart College
Soren Pelz-Walsh, Sr., Castleton University
Mitch Gallagher, Sr., St. Lawrence University
Dan Feeley, Jr., Framingham State University
Mark Sanchez, Jr., The College at Brockport
Steve Mills, Sr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Robert Pontbriand, Sr., Utica College
Sean Carey, Sr., Union College
Defense Second Team
Campbell Marchant, Jr., Framingham State University
Charles Branwell, Sr., Alfred University
Malik Joseph, Sr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Austin Dean, So., The College at Brockport
Marcus Jemison, Sr., Hobart College
Cody Chapman, Sr., Maine Maritime Academy
Alec Dietsch, Sr., St. Lawrence University
Malcolm Brown-Simpson, Sr., Fitchburg State University
Sean Egan, Jr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Ish Height, Sr., Buffalo State College
James Holley-Grisham, Sr., St. Lawrence University
Jake O’Connell, So., The College at Brockport
Special Teams Second Team
Rio Schmidt, Jr., Hobart College
Maleke Fuentes, Jr., Alfred University
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