Saxons’ LiCata earns top player honors from Metropolitan NY Football Writers
ALFRED, NY – The accolades continue to roll in for Alfred University junior linebacker
A.J. LiCata (Lake View, NY/Frontier).
LiCata, who earned All-America honors from three different organizations following a stellar 2016 campaign, has been named Jay Berwanger Division III Player of the Year by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association. The award is named for Jay Berwanger, the University of Chicago football player who in 1935 became the first recipient of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, which a year later would be renamed the Heisman Trophy.
LiCata will be recognized at the annual Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) awards banquet Feb. 23 in East Rutherford, NJ, where he will also receive his award as ECAC North Defensive Player of the Year.
The Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association is affiliated with the Eastern Football Network, which is a subsidiary of the American Football Network. Eastern Football Network (EFN) writers have covered every college football program within the District of Columbia and the States of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia since 1988.
LiCata has been named a First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and was a Third Team selection by both D3football.com and the Associated Press.
The Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team Empire 8 All-Star, LiCata 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 semifinalists for the 2016 Gagliardi Trophy, awarded annually to the top football player in Division III. In addition to being named ECAC North Defensive Player of the Year, he was also named a First Team ECAC North All-Star.
Alfred finished the 2016 season with a 12-1 record, with the 12 wins representing a school single-season record. The Saxons won the Empire 8 title with a perfect 8-0 league record and became the first team in the 15-year history of the conference to go through a regular season unbeaten (10-0). AU won its first two NCAA playoff games at home, against Bridgewater State and Western New England, before falling at home to Mount Union in the quarterfinals.
Alfred University head coach
Bob Rankl will be accompanying LiCata to the ECAC awards banquet, where Rankl is being recognized as ECAC North Coach of the Year. The Saxons will also be honored as recipients of the 2016 Lambert Division III Cup, given each year to the top Division III team in the East.