Foothill Ranch, Calif., native honored for first time after strong return to action
EASTON, Mass. (September 17, 2012) – Stonehill College senior defensive back Mickey Miela (Foothill Ranch, Calif./Trabuco Hills) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference's Defensive Player of the Week by the league office this afternoon.
Miela, who missed the first two weeks of the season due to injury, earns the weekly honor for the first time in his career after he returned to the Stonehill lineup and intercepted two passes and broke up another while finishing with two tackles (one solo) in Friday night's 35-20 victory over Saint Anselm College in the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk." Both of Miela's interceptions came inside the Skyhawks five yard line, the second of which was with 1:27 remaining to seal the win. His first pickoff preserved the lead late in the first quarter and his breakup came two plays before his second interception.
Miela, who has played 27 games over his career, moved into a tie for seventh place on the program's career list with eight career interceptions after his two on Friday night. He is presently tied with Glenn Pafford, '92, just one shy of Jon Kilborn, '09 for sixth. Miela has totaled 59 tackles (32 solo) over his career with five pass breakups.
Miela, an NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll member, participated on the track and field team at Stonehill his first two years at the College and was part of a Skyhawks 4x400-meter relay team that captured the NE-10 Championship during the 2011 outdoor season. He is also active with the College's LifeSkills program and is the football team's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Last season he maintained a weekly blog on the Northeast-10 website during the football season.
Stonehill (2-1, 2-0 NE-10), winners of its first two NE-10 games for the first time since 2007, looks to keep its momentum going on Saturday when it hosts Assumption College as part of Family Weekend at W.B. Mason Stadium for a Conference matchup at 6 p.m.
