Four members of the Stonehill College football team have earned spots on the 2005 all-Northeast-10 Conference team for their efforts in leading the Skyhawks to their highest win total in four years this fall.
Senior Mike Plichta (Milford, Mass./Milford), juniors Vincent Delaney (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) and Tony Pires (Taunton, Mass./Taunton) as well as sophomore Mike DeBye (Burlington, Mass./Austin Prep) earned second-team all-league accolades for their respective performances in 2005, as the quartet helped lead Head Coach Chris Woods's Skyhawks to their highest final conference finish in eight seasons.
Plichta ranked among the league leaders in receptions and receiving yardage from his wide receiver spot and set a Stonehill single-season record with 13 touchdown catches. Plichta hauled in 51 receptions for 735 yards to go with his 13 visits to the end zone, as he also set a Skyhawk single-game record for touchdown receptions with five scoring catches in Stonehill's 41-7 victory over Saint Anselm on October 1st, a feat that helped earn him the nod as the Northeast-10 Offensive Player of the Week on October 3rd.
Delaney led the Skyhawks with 70 tackles in nine contests and also paced Stonehill with four interceptions to rank among the conference leaders in picks, as he was named as the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Week on October 10th following a career-high 20 tackle performance that included two interceptions against Bryant on October 8th, as his tackles total was the fourth highest single-game mark in school history. Delaney added six pass break-ups and two fumble recoveries on the season.
Pires was the third leading tackler for the Skyhawks in 2005 with 56 total stops (39 solo), and he led Stonehill with 7 ½ sacks to rank among the conference leaders while adding 15 total tackles for losses of 55 yards. He also collected four quarterback hurries on the year and ranked among the top three team tackles leaders for the second straight season.
DeBye finished second in total tackles for Stonehill this fall with 64 stops (45 solo), as he also forced four fumbles and recovered three fumbles on the year. He also recorded a pair of interceptions that were returned for touchdowns totaling 135 yards, including a school and conference record-tying 100-yard return for a score in the Skyhawks' 28-21 season-opening victory at Assumption on September 4th, as he was named as the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Week on September 5th. Ironically, DeBye scored both the first and last touchdowns of the Stonehill season, as he added a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 48-28 victory at Merrimack on November 5th.
Stonehill finished the year at 4-6 in Woods's second campaign in Easton, the highest Skyhawk single-season win total since 2001. Stonehill's sixth place finish in the final Northeast-10 standings marks its highest conference placement in eight years, as the Skyhawks were picked to finish eighth in the pre-season coaches poll and posted wins over Assumption, Pace, Saint Anselm and Merrimack on the year.