Football | 1/8/2025 2:42:00 PM
SUNY Cortland senior defensive end Nick Lardaro (St. James/Smithtown East) has been chosen as a Division III All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation has chosen All-Americans at the Division III level for decades but is selecting a Division III All-America team for the first time this season. The organization chose just an All-America first team - Lardaro is one of four defensive linemen who was honored.
Lardaro registered 42 tackles, 20 solo, in 12 games. He had 11.5 tackles for loss, including 4.5 sacks, along with five pass breakups, 19 quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. He made six tackles each in road wins at Susquehanna and Brockport and five stops in a home victory versus St. John Fisher. In the win over Susquehanna, a current national semifinalist, Lardaro also forced a fumble with less than four minutes left and Cortland clinging to a 33-31 lead in the Red Dragons' eventual 40-38 victory.
In 46 career games, Lardaro registered 140 tackles, including 24 sacks and 48.5 total tackles for loss, in addition to 11 pass breakups, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, an interception and a blocked kick.
Lardaro earned Division III All-America honors this season from four different organizations - he was an Associated Press first team selection, a second team AFCA honoree and a third team D3football.com choice in addition to the Walter Camp honor. He was the 2024 Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-E8 first team honors for the fourth time.
Cortland finished the season 11-1 overall. The Red Dragons were 10-0 in the regular season for just the third time in school history (1988 and 2021 previously) and, after earning a bye in the 40-team NCAA Division III playoffs, defeated Endicott in the second round before losing to Springfield in the third round to tie for ninth place. The 2023 national champion, Cortland had a 23-game winning streak snapped in the loss to Springfield.
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