Rockland, Mass., junior adds to postseason awards haul with first All-America citation
Beyond Sports Network Division II All-America Teams
EASTON, Mass. (December 16, 2013) – Stonehill College junior linebacker Brian Harrington (Rockland, Mass./Rockland) has been named an NCAA Division II honorable mention All-American by the Beyond Sports Network (BSN), as selected by media members, coaches and sports information directors. It marks the second-straight year a Stonehill football player has been honored through Beyond Sports Network as former teammate Jareed Gaines, '13, was a third team All-American a year ago.
Harrington, a Cliff Harris Award finalist for the Small College Defensive Player of the Year and winner of the Joseph P. Zabilski Defensive Award from the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, collects his first All-America recognition of the season and for his career with his honorable mention selection by BSN. Harrington has also earned Daktronics All-Super Region 1 first team, New England Football Writers College Division All-New England and first team All-Northeast-10 Conference honors this season and was also named D2Football.com's Defensive Player of the Year for the NE-10.
Harrington, a four-time NE-10 Defensive Player of the Week this season, led the Conference this fall with a league and program record 151 tackles, which leads the Conference, ranks fourth nationally and is currently the 11th-highest single-season total in Division II history. He posted double-figure tackles in ten of Stonehill's 11 games and had 16 or more stops in six games. Harrington registered a career-high 17 tackles in an overtime win at Assumption College on September 20 and matched in the NE-10 Championship at American International College on November 16. He posted a career-best 11 solo tackles in a win at Southern Connecticut State University on October 12 and matched at AIC in the NE-10 title game.
Harrington leads the NE-10 with his 73 solo tackles (6th nationally) and 78 tackle assists to go with 7.0 tackles for a loss of 30 yards, including 2.5 sacks for a loss of 16, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and pass breakup. He was a leading force for a Stonehill defense which finished the season ranked second in the NE-10 for scoring defense (24.3 ppg), third in passing defense (246.8 yds/gm) and forced a league-high 30 turnovers, including a Conference best 14 fumble recoveries, and finished fourth for sacks (21). His 13.7 tackles per game ranks third nationally.
Harrington earned a starting role on the defensive unit after gaining experience as a member of the Stonehill special teams units as a freshman and sophomore, being named the Skyhawks Special Teams Player of the Year by the coaching staff in 2012. He has played 31 games over his career, starting all 11 this season, and has posted 176 career tackles (87 solo). Of his record 151 tackles this season, 105 came against the run, more than double his next teammate. Harrington has earned NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll all four semesters completed at the College and Athletic Director's Honor Roll two semesters.
Stonehill posted its best season in nearly 20 years this fall as it finished with an 8-3 record overall, including an 8-1 mark in the Northeast-10 to earn a share of its first NE-10 regular season championship. The Skyhawks posted their first winning season since an 8-2 campaign in 1996 and fell a win shy of the single-season program record of nine in 1995. Stonehill finished above .500 in NE-10 play for the second-straight year and third time in head coach Robert Talley's seven seasons at the helm.
Stonehill appeared among teams receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II poll for the first time in program history six weeks this fall, including five straight leading up to Saturday's NE-10 Championship appearance, and was ranked in each of the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 rankings this fall. Stonehill is also ranked sixth in this week's ECAC Lambert Meadowlands poll, after being ranked as high as fifth this season.
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