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Skyhawks three selections most in program history for football
Capital One Academic All-District Football Teams release
Stonehill All-Time Academic All-District Selections
EASTON, Mass. (November 6, 2014) – Three members of the Stonehill College football program have earned a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District first team for Super Region 1 as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in the region.
Senior All-American linebacker Brian Harrington (Rockland, Massachusetts/Rockland), junior defensive back Anthony Masucci (East Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) and sophomore tight end Colin Smith (Ipswich, Massachusetts/The Governor's Academy) all earn Academic All-District honors for the first time and are now eligible for Academic All-America honors, selected by CoSIDA's Academic All-America committee, to be announced on Wednesday, December 3. Stonehill's three selections are the most in program history, surpassing the previous high of two in 2007 and marks the first time the Skyhawks have had multiple first team selections. The trio is among eight Northeast-10 Conference representatives on the first team – the most of any NE-10 program.
Harrington, who has earned a 3.30 cumulative grade point average as a criminology major at Stonehill, was among 167 semifinalists for the National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete Awards and William V. Campbell Trophy earlier this fall. He was also nominated for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Allstate Good Works Team this summer, and has been named to the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll all six semesters and Athletic Director's Honor Roll five semesters.
Senior All-American Brian Harrington adds Academic All-District honors to his impressive list of accolades. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Harrington leads Stonehill with 91 tackles (31 solo) this season, including 6.5 for a loss of 29 yards, with 3.0 sacks for a loss of 20 yards, three quarterback hurries and two interceptions. He ranks second in the NE-10 for total tackles, having posted double-figure tackle totals in five of Stonehill's nine games, including a career-high 19 stops (three solo) against Southern Connecticut State University on October 25. Harrington has finished with ten or more tackles in 15 of the Skyhawks 20 games over the last two seasons.
Harrington, a Don Hansen Second Team All-American and finalist for the inaugural Cliff Harris Award, earned the Joseph P. Zabilski Defensive Player of the Year award from the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston following a breakout 2013 season in which he also collected honorable mention All-America honors from Beyond Sports Network and was named to both the Don Hansen and Daktronics All-Super Region 1 first teams. He earned New England Football Writers College Division All-New England and first team All-Northeast-10 Conference honors and was named D2Football.com's Defensive Player of the Year for the NE-10.
Harrington led the Northeast-10 with a league and program record 151 tackles in 2013, which ranked fourth nationally and is the 11th-highest single-season total in Division II history. He has played 40 games over his career, starting 20 straight, and ranks eighth in program history with 267 career tackles (118 solo), including 13.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, two interceptions and pass breakup.
Masucci, who has earned a 3.58 cumulative grade point average as a finance major, has earned NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll status all four semesters at Stonehill so far. He ranks fourth on the team this fall with 54 tackles (28 solo) on a defense which ranks tenth nationally in Division II for total defense, posting 2.0 tackles for a loss of 28 yards, an interception and pass breakup in nine games. Masucci posted a season-high 11 tackles (six solo) for his second double-figure tackle performance of the season against Southern Connecticut State in week eight.
Junior Anthony Masucci give two members of the Skyhawks top ten nationally-ranked defense on the Academic All-District team. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Masucci has appeared in 29 games, starting 19, over his three seasons at Stonehill, posting 128 tackles (64 solo), including 4.5 for a loss of 35 yards, two forced fumbles, four interceptions and six pass breakups at safety. His two forced fumbles in 2013 ranked second among NE-10 leaders. He posted a career-best 14 tackles (eight solo) against Bloomsburg (Pa.) University in the Skyhawks 2013 season-opener.
Smith, who has earned a 3.77 cumulative grade point average as an engineering major at Stonehill, has emerged as one of the top tight ends in the Northeast-10 this fall. He has been named to the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's Honor Roll both semesters completed at Stonehill to date. Smith has 11 receptions for 178 yards and two touchdowns this season, averaging 16.2 yards per reception – tops of the team among receivers with ten receptions or more. He is also part of a Skyhawks offensive line which has yielded just nine sacks (17th nationally) and is averaging 330.6 yards per game, including 123.0 yards per game on the ground.
Smith was named the Skyhawks' Offensive Player of the Week by the coaching staff following a 33-19 week four win over Merrimack College. He collected his first career touchdown reception and posted a career-high three receptions for 63 yards against 25th-ranked Bloomsburg (Pa.) University in week one. Smith also had a touchdown catch against Southern Connecticut State in week eight. He has appeared in 14 games over his two year career at Stonehill, seeing action in five games as a freshman on special teams.
Sophomore tight end Colin Smith earns Academic All-District honors in his first year of eligibility. (PHOTO BY Jay Mello/SportsPix) |
Stonehill (4-5, 4-4 NE-10) closes out the regular season on Saturday when it hosts Assumption College for a Northeast-10 contest on Senior Day at W.B. Mason Stadium at noon. NE-10 Championship Weekend is on tap for next Saturday, November 15, with the Skyhawks opponent still to be determined based on this weekend's results.
The 2014 Capital One Academic All-District® Football Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One has been the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA's Academic All-America teams programs since 2011.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $206.9 billion in deposits and $289.9 billion in total assets as of September 30, 2013. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has more than 900 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
About the Capital One Academic All-America® Program
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
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