Bucknell University Athletics
Team Awards Handed Out at Annual Bucknell Football Banquet
12/6/2009 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 6, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's two First Team All-Patriot League selections Greg Jones (Springfield, Va./Lee) and A.J. Kizekai (Pawtucket, R.I./Blair Academy (N.J.)) garnered a combined seven honors at Sunday's 48th annual Bucknell Football Gridiron Club Awards Banquet, held inside Larison Hall. Jones earned four awards, including team most valuable player honors, while Kizekai pocketed three citations. A total of 58 players also were recognized as letterwinners for the 2009 campaign.
In addition to earning the Bison Gridiron Club Award as MVP, Jones was presented the Clarke Hinkle Award as the team's outstanding linebacker or defensive back, the C. Dale Wolfe Award as the most inspirational player and he shared the Captains Award with Kizekai and fellow senior James Phelan (Orlando, Fla./Bishop Moore). It is the second consecutive year Jones has been given the Clarke Hinkle and Captains Awards.
Bucknell's first linebacker to earn All-Patriot League honors since Dorian Petersen in 2006, Jones piled up a team-best 101 tackles this fall, placing him second in the Patriot League. The Springfield, Va., native completed his four-year career with 257 stops.
A three-year starter, Jones was exceptionally strong the last 17 games of his career, piling up 170 tackles over that span. During that time frame he recorded 10 double-figure tackle outings, including six this year.
Jones was among the best on the Bison with five tackles for loss in 2009, while his career-high three interceptions tied him for fourth in the Patriot League.
A four-time All-Patriot League selection, including a three-time first-team return specialist, Kizekai, on Sunday, added to the long list of hardware he already owns. In addition to earning the Captains Award as special teams captain, Kizekai was presented the George L. McGaughey Memorial Award, which is given to the outstanding player in the Lafayette game. Additionally, he was recognized as the special teams MVP.
Thanks to his three honors Sunday, Kizekai, who was the team MVP in 2007 as a sophomore, now has nine career team awards, including two straight McGaughey Awards.
Kizekai ended his career with nearly every kickoff return and all-purpose yard mark in the Bison record books. He owns the records for most returns in a career (109) and yards (2,725). Additionally, he holds Bucknell records for most yards in a season (1,113) and game (210) as well as the longest return (100), which he registered last year against Lafayette.
In 2009, Kizekai, who registered six plays of at least 70 yards in his career, including a 70-yard reception vs. Lafayette this year when he registered a career-high 140 receiving yards, had two returns of better than 50 yards and posted two 100-yard return games. He led the Patriot League in all-purpose yards per game (130.0) and stands sixth in Patriot League history and second at Bucknell in career all-purpose yards (5,536).
In addition to being a stellar return man, Kizekai is a versatile player out of the backfield. He finished third on the Bison with 281 yards rushing this year. He was also second in receiving with 20 catches for 257 yards. Kizekai added four touchdowns to his career total in 2009, giving him a four-year total of 20.
Phelan rounded out the list of Bison who won multiple awards Sunday. In addition to his Captains Award, Phelan grabbed the John Campana Award as the team's top offensive lineman. It is the second consecutive year Phelan earned the Campana Award.
A three-year starter who was not on the field for just two snaps the entire season, Phelan started the final 22 games of his career at center and appeared in 33 overall. He was Bucknell's lone senior offensive lineman in 2009.
While Kizekai garnered recognition as the top player in the Lafayette game, sophomore QB C.J. Hopson (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) was named the top player in the Colgate game and earned the Keating-Rieu Award. Against the Raiders, Hopson rushed for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Hopson registered four 100-yard outings in 2009, the first Bison to do that since Daris Wilson posted six 100-yard rushing performances in 2004. Overall, Hopson totaled a team-best 633 yards on the ground and a team-high five touchdowns. He finished the year with a 189-yard performance in Bucknell's upset of No. 13 Holy Cross in the season finale.
Senior LB Sam Nana-Sinkam (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township), who missed most of his senior campaign with injuries, was cited as the Bobby Pangburn Memorial Award winner. The award is presented for "commitment, dedication and unqualified friendship." Nana-Sinkam was perhaps Bucknell's top defensive player the last two years, but appeared in just eight games due to injuries. In his career, he piled up 159 tackles in 19 career games. Nana-Sinkam led the Bison to an 11-8 record when he was in the starting lineup. When he was out with an injury, the Bison were just 7-18.
Second Team All-Patriot League selection Robert De La Rosa (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) copped the George Rieu Award as the team's outstanding defensive lineman. One of just two sophomore defensive players on the All-Patriot League team, De La Rosa piled up a career-high 43 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss in his second year. He ranked second on the Bison and tied for fourth in the Patriot League in tackles for loss as he upped his two-year total to 14.5. De La Rosa registered at least 0.5 tackles for loss in nine of Bucknell's 11 games this year.
The 6-1, 271-pound De La Rosa was one of just six Bison defensive players to start all 11 games this year, along with fellow All-Patriot Leaguers Jones and Ahkiel White (Somerset, N.J./Franklin). He has now played in 20 contests over the last two years, starting all 20.
De La Rosa was the winner of the Stuart M. Smith Award as the team's outstanding newcomer last year, but this season rookie RB Tyler Smith (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) was the honoree. Smith appeared in 10 games and was fourth on the team with 234 rushing yards. He scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of Bucknell's win over No. 13 Holy Cross in late November.
The Big Blue Award, which is presented to the outstanding back or receiver, went to senior WR Cale Cadman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights). Cadman registered career highs in catches (26) in 2009. That figure led the team as well. A starter in 26 career games, Cadman will graduate with more than 700 career receiving yards and 63 catches. His 258 yards in 2009 edged out Kizekai for the team lead by one yard.
Senior LB Casey Williams (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) succeeded fellow Western Pennsylvania native Kevin Mullen as the Bucknell Football Leadership Award winner. Mullen, a 2009 Bucknell graduate, had won the award the past four seasons. Despite missing three games due to a knee injury, Williams was fourth on the Bison with a career-high 57 tackles in 2009. In his only year as a regular starter, Williams started eight games, recorded 5.5 tackles for loss and registered one sack and three pass breakups.
Sharing the Tom Gadd Coaches' Award were seniors Justin Pulgrano (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J./Northern Highlands) and Jason Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods). Pulgrano, who averaged 5.8 yards on 13 rushing attempts in 2009, was the offensive honoree. Davis, who finished seventh on the team with 50 tackles and a team-high seven pass breakups, was the defensive honoree. The Tom Gadd Coaches' Award is the lone honor given out that is not voted on by the Bison players.
Two veterans were picked as the Scout Team Player of the Year. Junior Alex Iwaskiw (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron), who serves as the Bison's long snapper on punts, won it on the offensive side of the ball, while senior LB Damian Chatman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) was the defensive recipient.
Senior WR Sandeep Prasad (Butler, Pa./Vincentian Academy) was presented the Moxie Award. Instituted in 1992 by equipment manager Ken Hare, the Moxie Award is named for his grandfather, Walter Jacob "Moxie" Mahlon, and is presented for special contribution to the Bucknell football program.
The banquet concluded with a highlight video of the season and Bison seventh-year head coach Tim Landis handing out jerseys to each of the seniors. Bucknell finished the campaign with a 4-7 overall record and a 2-4 mark in Patriot League play.
2009 Bucknell Football Letterwinners (total number of career letters in parentheses)
Senior LB Josh Andersen (2)
Junior LB Tyler Anderson (2)
Sophomore P Andrew Bell (1)
Sophomore RB Brandon Besant (1)
Junior DL Kyle Boline (2)
Sophomore LB Tim Bolte (2)
Senior DL Will Braaf (3)
Junior OL Paul Brazinski (2)
Junior DB Jamal Briggs (2)
Senior RB Rashod Bumpers (3)
Senior WR Cale Cadman (4)
Sophomore OL Anthony Carter (2)
Senior LB Damian Chatman (1)
Sophomore OL Ian Dal Bello (2)
Senior DB Jason Davis (3)
Sophomore DL Robert De La Rosa (2)
Sophomore DB Frank DeNick (1)
Senior WR Trevor Dombeck (1)
Senior LB Brigham Farrand (4)
Freshman DB Joseph Francis (1)
Junior DB Rob Gerlach (2)
Freshman DL Devin Gordon-Hamm (1)
Senior DB Josh Gornto (3)
Sophomore QB C.J. Hopson (2)
Junior RB Alex Iwaskiw (2)
Senior LB Greg Jones (3)
Senior RB A.J. Kizekai (4)
Senior RB Josh Lee (3)
Freshman QB Lenny Magill (1)
Junior LB Luke Massaro (1)
Junior OL Nick McLeod (2)
Senior LB Sam Nana-Sinkam (3)
Junior LB Travis Nissley (3)
Sophomore K Drew Orth (2)
Freshman RB Robert Owoyele (1)
Freshman DL Samuel Oyekoya (1)
Junior WR Shaun Pasternak (3)
Senior OL James Phelan (3)
Senior WR Sandeep Prasad (1)
Freshman K Bill Prendeville (1)
Senior RB Justin Pulgrano (3)
Freshman DB Donald Quarles (1)
Sophomore DB Sean Rafferty (2)
Sophomore DB Bryce Robertson (2)
Sophomore OL Carson Rohrbaugh (2)
Sophomore OL Andre Shields (2)
Senior WR Brandon Simmons (3)
Junior RB Ryan Smith (3)
Freshman RB Tyler Smith (1)
Sophomore DL Michael Tonge (2)
Freshman LB Beau Traber (1)
Senior QB Marcello Trigg (4)
Junior OL Jason Vollmar (1)
Junior DL John von Paris (2)
Freshman LB Colton Weaver (1)
Junior DB Ahkiel White (3)
Senior LB Casey Williams (4)
Junior WR Marlon Woods (3)
2009 Bucknell Football Award Winners
Scout Team Player of the Year (Offense): Alex Iwaskiw
Scout Team Player of the Year (Defense): Damian Chatman
Moxie Award: Sandeep Prasad
- Presented for special contribution to the Bucknell football program
Leadership Award: Casey Williams
Bobby Pangburn Memorial Award: Sam Nana-Sinkam
- presented for commitment, dedication and unqualified friendship
George L. McGaughey Memorial Award: A.J. Kizekai
- Outstanding player in the Lafayette game
Keating-Rieu Memorial Award: C.J. Hopson
- Outstanding player in the Colgate game
Stuart M. Smith Memorial Award: Tyler Smith
- Outstanding newcomer
John Campana Award: James Phelan
- Outstanding offensive lineman
George Rieu Award: Robert De La Rosa
- Outstanding defensive lineman
Clarke Hinkle Award: Greg Jones
- Outstanding defensive back or linebacker
Big Blue Award: Cale Cadman
- Outstanding back or receiver
Special Teams MVP: A.J. Kizekai
C. Dale Wolfe Recognition Award: Greg Jones
- Most inspirational player
Tom Gadd Coaches' Award (Offense): Justin Pulgrano
Tom Gadd Coaches' Award (Defense): Jason Davis
Captains Award: Greg Jones, A.J. Kizekai, James Phelan
Bison Gridiron Club Award: Greg Jones
- Team MVP
