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Eight Gators Earn Post-Season Honors
November 22, 2005
All-Conferenc Teams (PDF)
CLEVELAND – Eight different Allegheny College Gators have earned All-NCAC honors, announced on Tuesday afternoon. Steve Nemeth (Kendall, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit), an offensive tackle, was the lone Gator represented on the first team.
A quintet of Gators, Mario Tarquinio (Charleroi), Matt Gelles (Pittsburgh/Plum), Elliott George (Bradford), Brad Stotsky (Evans City/Seneca Valley) and Jason Black (Warren, Ohio/Champion) all earned second team honors, while Kyle Geiser (Orrville, Ohio), Jim Lieb (Carrolltown/Northern Cambria) and Justin Victor (Pittsburgh/Perry Traditional Academy) were named honorable mention.
Nemeth, a senior tackle, was a key contributor to an offensive line that plowed their way to 1,657 total rushing yards and 16 rushing scores. He also was the leader on the offensive line that gave up just 14 quarterback sacks in the team’s 10 games, as the quarterbacks threw for a combined 1,932 yards.
Tarquinio, a junior tailback, rushed for 843 yards in a little over seven games, while scoring nine touchdowns. In the season opener, Tarquinio scored a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, but injured knee injury on the same play, missing the remainder of the opening game, and the next two games. He returned to rush for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his first game back, and never looked back, gaining an average of 112.1 yards per game following his injury.
Gelles, a senior offensive guard, was also a key component on the offensive line that led the way for Tarquinio’s strong season.
George, a linebacker, missed the first three games of the season, but came on strong during the NCAC season, picking up 46 stops and three tackles for loss, helping the defense to hold their opponents to an average of 336 yards per game.
Stotsky, a safety, led the Gators in tackles with 58 and in interceptions with five, returning those for 129 yards. 84 of those 129 yards came on a clutch interception after Wabash took the second-half kickoff and drove to the five yardline. Stotsky ended the hope, returning the pick to the Wabash 14 yard line, before the Gators cut the 13-point deficit in half after Tarquinio scored two plays later.
Black, a punter, spent the majority of the season ranked among the top 20 in the NCAA Division III in punting. He averaged 40.2 yards per kick, 0.1 yards away from the school record of 40.3, a total of six yards. He stopped 10 of his 42 punts inside of the opponents 20 yard line.
Geiser and Lieb, both wide receivers, teamed up to finish 1-2 on the team in both receptions and yards. Geiser, a senior, who doubled as a kick returner, hauled in 47 passes for 436 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Lieb, a sophomore, had 35 catches for 423 yards and two touchdowns.
Victor, a junior offensive tackle, was the third member of the Gator offensive line to earn All-NCAC honors.
The Gators ended the year with a 3-7 record, despite out-scoring (247-218) and out-gaining (358.9 to 336.0) their opponents on the year. The discrepancy came because of six last-second losses for the Gators, two on field goals and three times when the Blue and Gold had the ball inside of their opponent’s five yard line as time expired, driving for the winning or tying score.
The team opens the 2006 season with back-to-back road games, trips to Westminster on September 2 and to Washington & Jefferson on September 9 before hosting Hiram on September 16.