Seven Players Named to D3football.com All-America Team
Seven Empire 8 football student-athletes have been chosen as 2016 Division III All-Americans by
D3football.com.
Alfred University's Tyler Johnson (QB) and David Sylvester (G) and SUNY Cortland's Travis Alvarez (ST) were named to the second team, while Alfred's A.J. LiCata (LB) was selected to the third team. The College at Brockport's Dan Andrews (RB), Alfred's Sean Murphy (C) and Ithaca's Jordan Schemm (RET) earned honorable mention honors.
SECOND TEAM
Johnson, previously named the D3football.com East Region Offensive Player of the Year and Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, enjoyed a stellar campaign for the Saxons in 2016. He passed for 2,903 yards and 29 touchdowns and ran for 1,008 and a school-record 21 TDs. He became the first player in AU history to throw for 1,000 or more yards and run for 1,000 or more in a season. His 3,911 yards of total offense is a new school record, as are his 50 combined pass-rush touchdowns. In the Saxons' season finale on Saturday (Dec. 3), a loss to Mount Union in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs, he threw for a school-record 534 yards.
Sylvester helped the Saxons produce a school single-season record 5,745 yards of total offense, including 2,842 yards rushing, another school single-season mark. The Saxons also set school season records for rushing touchdowns (33) and points (484).
Alvarez blocked five kicks this season, the second-highest total by a Red Dragon in a single season. His total was one shy of the school single-game record of six, set by Josh Jablonski in 2005. As a team, Cortland tied a school record with nine blocked kicks this fall. During the regular season, Alvarez blocked both a PAT kick and a field goal in a home game versus Buffalo State, and he blocked a field goal at home against Morrisville State. Alvarez also blocked two kicks (a field goal and a PAT kick) in Cortland's ECAC Chapman Bowl game versus Kean.
THIRD TEAM
LiCata, the Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, finished the 2016 season with 153 tackles, just one off the school single-season record. He had 11 ½ tackles for loss, 4 ½ sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. He also earned First Team All-East recognition from D3football.com and was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2016 Gagliardi Trophy, awarded annually to the top player in Division III.
HONORABLE MENTION
Andrews capped his Golden Eagle career ranking in the top-five in the scoring category for the second straight season. His 13.3 points-per-game rank fifth nationally at the DIII level, while he also ranks in the top-30 in rushing yard-per-game (26th), and rushing yards (16th). Andrews reached 1,265-yards rushing, his fourth consecutive year with at least 1,000-yards, and finished his career atop many Brockport football records including career rushing yards (5,001) and career points scored (434). He is the first Golden Eagle to reach the milestone of 5,000-yards and 400 points. Andrews scored 20 touchdowns on the ground.
Murphy was part of the starting line with Sylvester that helped the Saxons produce a school single-season record 5,745 yards of total offense, including 2,842 yards rushing, another school single-season mark. The Saxons also set school season records for rushing touchdowns (33) and points (484).
Schemm, the Special Teams Player of the Year in the Empire 8 Conference, averaged 17.1 yards per punt return (15 returns for 257 yards) with a long of 60 yards for a touchdown. On kickoffs, Schemm averaged 27.7 yards per return for a total of 443 yards, and notched a long of 59 yards this season. A native of Coral Springs, Fla., Schemm ranked second in the NCAA in punt return average and 18th in kick return average.