2002 PSAC EAST CHAMPIONS |
Douds
Named PSAC East "Coach of the Year"
and Eight Warriors Gain First
Team Football Honors
Seven
Selected to PSAC East Second Team
November 21, 2002
East Stroudsburg, Pa. - After completing its best season and first league title in a decade, the East Stroudsburg Warrior football team saw 15 athletes receive All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division honors while Head Coach Denny Douds was awarded with the PSAC East "Coach of the Year" for the sixth time. Quarterback Jeremy Palm, the leading passer in the PSAC, defensive tackle Dustin Barno, a repeat first team pick, and secondary cornerback duo of Michael Glover and Nick Beisker highlight the eight first team honorees. The team added another seven Warriors to the second team for a total of 15 for the most players to receive All-Conference selection in recent years.
The Warriors were guided by Douds to an 8-2 overall mark, a share of the Eastern Division title with a 5-1 record and the program's first national ranking, 24th in the last AFCA Division II poll, to complete a season. The 8-2 ledger was the best at ESU since an identical record in the 1982 season and the Eastern Division crown is the first at the school since 1991.
Under the veteran head coach's direction, the Warriors have gone 21-10 over the last three seasons and have had over .500 marks in each of those years, winning at least six games. The 29th-year mentor entered the 2002 season with the fifth most wins among active Division II coaches, and now has an all-time record of 170-122-3. For Douds, it is his sixth PSAC Coach of the Year award. His other Eastern Division acknowledgements came in 1976 and 1982. For an award that no longer exists, Douds was named the Coach of the Year for the entire conference in 1975 and 1978.
Palm (West Lawn, Pa./Wilson) guided the ESU attack and was joined on the First team by guard Greg Munch (Flushing, NY/Francis Lewis), running back Greg Vaughn (Madison, NJ/Madison), place kicker Mark Brubaker (Stouchburg, Pa./Conrad Weiser) and return specialist Glover (Tabernacle, NJ/Shawnee).
The Warriors four-year signal caller wrapped up his stellar career ranking with the best all-time ESU quarterbacks. Palm makes his first appearance on the East First team after being a second team selection in 2001. He led the PSAC in passing yards (244.4 yds/gm) and total offense (264.6 yds/gm) in 2002 while finishing with 2,200 yards and 18 scoring strikes to go with a 128.44 passing efficiency rating. The senior finished second on the ESU career list with 62 scoring strikes and third in career passing yards with 6,391 yards in 34 games. The senior passed for 62 career touchdowns ranking only behind Harlon Hill finalist Damian Poalucci (1994-97) and his 69 touchdowns.
Munch provided the production and running room for
the top offensive unit of the Conference. ESU led the league at 388.3 yards per
contest behind the 6-3, 310-pound guard. The junior also made appearances at nose
guard for the Warrior defense on short yardage situations.
Some of the room produced by Munch allowed Vaughn to run to his best season as a Warrior at running back. Vaughn ran for 755 yards on 158 carries with four touchdowns. He was selected as PSAC East "Offensive Player of the Week" this week for his career best 170 yards on 31 attempts in the team's 34-7 victory over Kutztown last Saturday to clinch the share of the Divisional title. The junior recorded three 100-yard effort of 133 yards versus Cheyney, 119 yards over Millersville and the career-best 170 yards last week.
Freshman place kicker Brubaker was a big surprise in what could have been a big hole for ESU at the beginning of the year to make the first team. The kicker booted eight field goals in 14 attempts with two 38-yard makes including the game-winner as time expired for the 16-13 victory at Bloomsburg. Brubaker also served as the kickoff specialist for the team.
Glover became only the third ESU player in program history to be selected as All-Conference at two different positions. The junior cornerback was voted the top return specialist as well as defensive back for his first two times onto the All-Conference teams. Glover made only six kick returns and four punt returns but did not have the opportunity to return more directly as a result of how dangerous he is. He swung the game's momentum against Millersville with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the fifth longest in school history, to aid in the defeat, 37-26, of the Marauders. Glover was the team's cover corner and picked of a career-best five passes on defense. His two interceptions and a fumble recovery at Bloomsburg earned him PSAC East "Co-Defensive Player of the Week" while recording 34 tackles, 16 pass breakups, and three tackles for loss to round out his solid campaign. Glover also returned a key interception late in the fourth quarter 25 yards to spur a hard charging comeback that fell just short at Glenville State.
Glover's fellow corner back, Nick Beisker (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) joins defensive tackle Dustin Barno (Souderton, Pa./Easton) on the defensive first team. Beisker had a career year to complete his collegiate career. The senior picked off seven passes to ranked third in the category in the PSAC and leading the league with four forced fumbles while having the third best stops on the Warrior defense with 55. He picked off two passes against both Shepherd and Bloomsburg including forcing a fumble versus the Huskies to garner PSAC East Division "Defensive Player of the Week" each time for his effort. Beisker also took care of business in the classroom making the Verizon Academic All-District II First Team. He rounded out his stats for 2002 with 13 breakups, two fumble recoveries and a tackle for loss.
Barno is the lone repeat first teamer for ESU. The senior anchored the defensive line and finished with 45 hits, 26 solo, in nine contests. He led the team with 4.5 sacks and tied for the Warrior best 11 tackles for loss. Barno completed his career at ESU with 143 tackles, 36 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks. He gained PSAC East "Defensive Player of the Week" honors after having three tackles for loss, two sacks, six tackles and forced two fumbles in the season opening win at Mansfield. The veteran tackle had at least five tackles in seven of the nine contests he played in his final season.
Seven other ESU athletes were selected for second team All-PSAC East status by the Division's coaches. Receivers John Jeffries (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) and Justin Kondikoff (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth), center Joe Burton (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) and fullback Anthony Carfagno (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) were picked on the offense while the trio of end Greg Thoman (York, Pa./Spring Grove) and linebackers Ryan Vermillion (Elverson, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) and Phil DeCecco (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent) came on the defense.
Jeffries was one of the top wide receivers in the PSAC all season. He finished rated sixth in receptions per game at 4.7 and eighth in receiving yards at 63.6 per affair. The junior pulled in a team-high 47 passes covering 636 yards and four scores. His best effort of the season came on his eight catch 140-yard day with two fourth quarter touchdowns in a win over Shepherd College. He had two 100-yard outings and five games with at least five receptions. Jeffries was also selected to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District II first team on offense. The receiver also was one of the best punt returners as he returned 19 punts for 161 yards for an 8.5-yard average.
Kondikoff recorded his second solid season and was awarded with a second team award. The senior grabbed 35 passes for 411 yards and four touchdowns. Kondikoff had four games with at least 50 yards receiving and finished his career with 893 yards receiving on 69 catches for a 12.9 yards per catch average.
Redshirt freshman Anthony Carfagno burst onto the scene in the team's second game all the way to a second team All-Conference selection. Carfagno put together a scoring binge as he scored at least one touchdown in every game after receiving major playing time in the team's second contest of the year. He finished with a team-high 11 touchdowns with six rushing and five receiving. The fullback was the first at his position to pull in 100-plus receiving yards in many years if not the first for a Warrior with back-to-back games of 114 yards on seven catches versus Shepherd and 138 yards on six receptions a week later against Edinboro.
Center Joe Burton was a repeat second team pick at his position. The middle of the line has been anchored for three seasons and aided the Warriors to the best offense of the PSAC in 2002.
ESU's top two stoppers gained second team status in Vermillion and DeCecco. The linebacking duo were by far the tackle leaders. Vermillion recorded more tackles in 2002 with 87 than his first two years (62) with the team. The junior had five efforts with 10 or more tackles with a career-high 14 at Glenville State and 11 solo stops of his 12 tackles at West Chester. He finished seventh in the PSAC with 8.6 hits per contest while amassing five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two breakups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
DeCecco, like Vermillion, almost doubled his first two seasons output of 39 with his 70 tackles this season. The junior had three outputs of double-digit tackles including a career-best 13 stops in the win at Shippensburg. DeCecco rounded out his effort with six tackles behind the line to go with a sack, three breakups, and one forced fumble and one recovered.
Greg Thoman completes the list of second team members after his outstanding first season of collegiate football season. The freshman defensive end led the team with 11 tackles for loss while third in sacks with three. He was sixth on the squad in stops while second on the line with 43 tackles and 25 by solo means. Thoman had his best game with a nine tackle, four tackle for loss and two sack effort in the home win over Edinboro. The end had two other efforts with at least two tackles for loss to go with two fumble recoveries, a pass breakup and a forced fumble on the season.
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