The Empire 8 announced the 2015 Football All-Conference teams with The College at Brockport
Dan Andrews and
Tarik Bennett earning Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively and Utica’s punter
Thomas Woodburn was selected the Special Teams Player of the Year.
SUNY Cortland earned a pair of individual honors as part of the All-Conference Awards. The Red Dragon’s
Donny Davis was selected the Rookie of the Year while the
Cortland coaching staff led by head coach Daniel MacNeill was voted the coaching staff of the year.
Andrews is the Empire 8’s top rated rusher with 139 yards per game. On the season he totaled 1390 yards on 256 carries and rushed for 24 touchdowns. He also had 325 receiving yards. Andrews had seven games with 100 or more rushing yards including his season best 256 yards against Utica. During the season he became the all-time leader in touchdowns and points scored. His 15.6 points per game ranks first in Division III on the season.
Bennett is the Golden Eagle’s first Defensive Player of the Year honoree. The defensive lineman finished with 66 tackles, including 18.5 tackles for a loss which ranks him 13th in Division III. His season best of 10 tackles was against St. John Fisher College. Bennett registered eight sacks for 56 yards, three of which came in the game against Hartwick.
Woodburn had a standout season for the Pioneers as their lead punter and field goal kicker. He averaged 35.22 yards per punt, placing 13 of 46 punts inside the 20-yard line. He booted five 50-yard plus punt this season including a season high of 65 against Fisher. He made 22 of 26 field goals on the year, two of which were 44 and 45 yards out. His 22 field goals this season are tied for second in the NCAA Division III single season record book. His 90 points on the season tied the Utica single season record and became the first player in UC history to record over 200 career points (232).
Davis put together a solid season in his first year for the Red Dragons. He appeared in ten games, making eight starts and averaged 55.9 rushing yards per game. His offensive output of 559 yards ranked second on the team.
In the first season as an E8 member, MacNeill and the Cortland coaching staff guided the Red Dragons to a share of the Empire 8 championship with a 6-2 record in league games and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker. Cortland averaged 416.5 yards of total offense per game, while the defensive unit registered 33 sacks for 199 yards and 84 tackles for a loss of 332 yards.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2015 Football Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
Empire 8 2015 Football All-Conference