12 Players Earn All-Region Accolades; MacNeill Coach of Year
The 11th annual D3football.com All-Region Teams have been announced and the Empire 8 Athletic Conference has 12 student-athletes named to the 2015 D3football.com All-East Region Team.
All-Region teams were selected in balloting by sports information directors in each region and D3football.com staff. All players nominated for All-Region are eligible to be considered for the D3football.com All-America Team. The 2015 D3football.com All-Region teams are presented by Stagg Bowl XLIII, to be played on Friday, Dec. 18, in Salem, Va.
Cortland's Daniel MacNeill was named the East Region Coach of the Year. MacNeill guided the Red Dragons to the Empire 8 title in their first year in the league with a 6-2 conference mark, and the program finished 9-3 overall.
Cortland clinched the league title with its sixth straight win over Ithaca College in the annual Cortaca Jug game. The Red Dragons won their NCAA playoff opener versus 21st-ranked Salisbury before falling in the second round at second-ranked Linfield.
FIRST TEAM
Brockport junior Dan Andrews had a standout year in route to a Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year selection, including breaking several school records in the process, and finishing the season as the national scoring leader with a 15.6 points per game average. The junior rushed for 1,390 yard in 2015, and picked up an impressive 24 rushing TDs (second in Division III) and two receiving. Andrews had seven games with 100 or more rushing yards including his season best 256 yards against Utica. The Rochester, N.Y native also shattered several records along the way, including career rushing touchdowns with 44, season touchdowns at 26, and moved to second on the career rushing list with 3,732 total yards.
Senior Cristian Pena led Morrisville State in the running game, compiling 1,048 total yards across 10 games for a 104.8 yard/game average. The senior ranked second overall in the Empire 8 in rushing, and was second in rushing touchdowns with 17. Pena added 116 yards in the passing game on 2-of-2 completions, throwing two touchdowns. He also collected 146 yards in the receiving game, scoring a touchdown.
Brockport senior defensive tackle Tarik Bennett was selected as the Player of the Year on the defensive side. Bennett was 13th in the nation in tackles for loss with a 1.9 average, and was ranked 33 in sacks. Bennett accounted for 66 tackles on the year, including 18.5 tackles for a loss of 80 yards. He also picked up eight sacks over the course of the season, for a loss of 56 yards and forced a fumble and had a broken up pass. The Mt. Vernon, N.Y. native also set a new Brockport record in career sacks, with 25.5 in 2015.
Utica senior Nick Woodman will graduate ranked first all-time at UC in career sacks (29.5), second in career forced fumbles (six), fifth all-time in career tackles for a loss (114), and he is tied for first in single season tackles for a loss (20.0). He also broke his own school-record with 13.0 sacks this past season. He ranks first in the conference and fifth in DIII in sacks per game (1.30) and first in the conference and eighth in DIII in tackles for a loss per game (2.0). He finished the season with 66 total tackles, two forced fumbles, two blocked kicks, and one touchdown.
SECOND TEAM
Hartwick sophomore wide receiver Brad Garcia currently leads the country in receiving yards per game with an average of 138.2. He is also 4th nationally in receiving yards (1,382), 11th in receptions per game (7.7), and 14th in receiving touchdowns (14), while leading the Empire 8 Conference in all four categories.
Morrisville's Fahraad Johnson wrapped up his collegiate career by earning All-Region accolades for a second straight season, as he was named to the Second All-Region Team Offense, following his critical role on the solid offensive line that led the Empire 8 in rushing and ranked fourth in passing with 2,003 yards and 2,436 yards, respectively. Morrisville State also led the Empire 8 in total offense, collecting on average 446.6 yards per game, 6.3 yards per play, while ranking fourth in scoring in the conference at 31.0 points per game.
Utica senior kicker Thomas Woodburn, who earned the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Year Award, led the team in scoring with 90 points from 22 of 26 field goals and 24 of 26 PAT's. He led Division III with 2.2 field goals per game this past season. His 22 field goals this year are 2nd in Division III history and his 41 career field goals ranks 18th all-time in Division III. His 90 points this past season tied for the school's season-high. Woodburn, a two-time all-conference pick, will graduate as the school's all-time leading scorer with 232 career points.
Cortland senior Jake Ceresna was a starter in all 12 games this fall and finished with 63 tackles, 38 solo. He led the Red Dragons with 9.5 sacks and 18.5 total tackles for loss, and also registered six pass breakups, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and 17 quarterback hurries. He made 11 tackles in a win at St. John Fisher and nine stops in Cortland's NCAA first-round win over Salisbury.
St. John Fisher senior Brandon Miller finished the season as just the 11th Cardinal all-time to total over 100 tackles in a season as the senior finished with a team-leading 103 total tackles. He also tied for the team lead in tackles for a loss (10.5) while finishing second on the team in sacks (6.5). The Clifton Park native also tallied two interceptions and six passes defended.
Fisher junior Alec Mortillaro played lockdown defense all season long for Fisher as his 23 passes defended ranked as second most in the nation. He also had the second most interceptions on the team (5) along with the fourth-most total tackles (51).
THIRD TEAM
Cortland junior Steven Ferreira completed 225-of-339 passes (66.4 percent) for 3,127 yards and 29 touchdowns with only five interceptions in 11 games. He also rushed for 200 net yards and seven touchdowns. Ferreira set school single-season records for passing yardage, completions, pass efficiency rating (169.1), and total offense (3,327 yards), and his 29 TD passes are second-best in school history. Ferreira threw at least one TD pass in all 11 games, with two or more 10 times, and he's the first Cortland player to register five 300-yard passing games in a season. Ferreira, in his first season at Cortland after transferring from Stony Brook, threw for 447 yards and three scores and ran for two TDs in the NCAA first round versus Salisbury.
Cortland senior Dylan Peebles averaged 26.8 yards per kickoff return on 25 returns this fall. He returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown at Framingham State and had three other returns of more than 45 yards. Peebles finished his three-year Cortland career with 31.2 yards per kickoff return on 62 attempts with a school-record five touchdowns. He narrowly missed setting the NCAA Division III record for kickoff return average (minimum 50 returns), which is 31.4 yards per return.