D3football.com released its All-Region teams today (Dec. 6) and two members of the Alfred University football team earned top honors. Senior quarterback
Tyler Johnson was named East Region Offensive Player of the Year and head coach
Bob Rankl was named East Region Coach of the Year.
Sixteen Empire 8 players also earned All-Region recognition.
Regional All-Star Teams
All players who earn regional recognition are considered for All-American honors. D3football.com will announce its All-American teams on Dec. 16.
Johnson becomes the first Saxon to earn D3football.com regional Player of the Year honors. The Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a First Team E8 All-Star, Johnson 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.
Rankl, in his third season as head coach at AU, guided the Saxons to a 12-1 record and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III national championship tournament. The 12 wins represent a new school single-season record, eclipsing the 10 victories posted by the 1981 and 2010 teams.
The Saxons finished the regular season ranked 14
th and 15
th, respectively, in the D3football.com and AFCA national polls and held the top spot in the NCAA Division III East Region rankings. Rankl led a group of AU coaches who earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors from the Empire 8 this season.
FIRST TEAM
Dan Andrews (Brockport) reached 1,265-yards rushing, his fourth consecutive year with at least 1,000-yards. Andrews capped off his Brockport career atop numerous 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, with a season high of four against St. John Fisher College in Courage Bowl XII. The Rochester, N.Y. native finished the season ranked third in the nation in total touchdowns with 24, and third in total points scored with 144. Andrews also ranked fifth in rushing touchdowns with 20 and fifth in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per game.
Koree Reed (Hartwick), the Division III leader in both reception yards (1,606) and reception yards per game (160.6), led the Empire 8 Conference in five different statistical categories this season, also topping the league in yards per reception (27.69), receiving touchdowns (17), and all-purpose yards (167.10). Reed hit the century mark in receiving yards in nine of ten games for the Hawks. He made six catches for 253 yards in a game against Buffalo State, which ranks as the sixth-highest reception yard total by a player this season.
Kevin LaMarque, David Sylvester and Sean Murphy (Alfred) represent three-fifths of a starting line 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). All three were named Empire 8 First Team All-Stars.
Jordan Schemm (Ithaca) led the Empire 8 in punt returns with an average of 17.1 yards per return. He recorded 257 total yards on 15 returns with a long of 60 yards for a touchdown. On kickoffs, Schemm averaged 27.7 yards per return for a total of 443 yards.
A.J. LiCata (Alfred), the Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team E8 All-Star, 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 was one of 10 semifinalist for the 2016 Gagliardi Trophy, awarded annually to the top player in Division III.
Jake O'Connell (Brockport) reached 51 tackles on the season, including 35 solo. The sophomore led the team in interceptions with six, two of which were returned for touchdowns. O'Connell set a Brockport football record for longest interception returned for a touchdown with a 100-yard pick-six at Utica College.
Travis Alvarez (Cortland) started all 11 games and was a force on special teams as he blocked five kicks.
SECOND TEAM
Charles Branwell (Alfred) was a First Team Empire 8 Conference All-Star. He finished the 2016 campaign with 59 tackles (fifth on the team) and led the Saxons in tackles for loss (12) and sacks (seven).
Dan Loizos (Ithaca) paced the Bombers' defense with 104 total tackles in 10 games played, with eight for a loss and 2.5 sacks. He also forced and recovered a fumble this season. On October 1 in a 23-14 victory over Utica, Loizos recorded 20 tackles, which culminated with a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week.
Jordan Schemm (Ithaca) led Ithaca in all-purpose yards with 700, and on the defensive side of the ball, he notched 13 pass breakups, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown) and a forced fumble, to go along with 46 total tackles.
THIRD TEAM
Brendan Buisch (Alfred) led the team in catches (64), receiving yards (1,056) and touchdown catches (16) and earned First Team honors from the Empire 8. His 16 touchdown grabs are a new school single-season record, and his 1,056 yards receiving are just two yards off another school mark.
Nicodemus Gambill (Utica) haunted opposing special teams coordinators all season and earned an All-Conference second team selection. The 2016 Outdoor Track & Field All-American, capped his final season of football with a single-season school-record 711 kick return yards. He returned two kickoffs for a touchdown against Morrisville and Alfred. His average of 32.3 yards per kick return led the Empire 8 and ranked fifth nationally. He also set a new school-record with a 99 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Billy Carroll (Buffalo State) was a standout in the trenches for the Bengals in his first season after transferring from Cortland. The political science major finished with 40 tackles, including 9.5 for loss and a team-best 4.5 sacks. He also had an interception.
Shane Cronin (Cortland) averaged 37.5 yards per punt on 56 kicks in 10 games. Of those kicks, 18 pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line, compared to only one touchback. Cronin's long punt was 55 yards, and five of his kicks traveled at least 50 yards.