Along with the Coaching Staff and Offensive Player awards, Union's football team had five first team selections, six second team honorees, and two players named to the Honorable Mention team for the Liberty League.
Audino led Union to the Liberty League Championship with a perfect 10-0 record, including a 7-0 mark in league play. The undefeated regular season is the first for Union since 1993 and ninth in the program's illustrious history. Audino is assisted by Gary Reynolds, Peter Brown, Erv Chambliss, Larry Cottrell, Alan Fiore Dan Iozzia, John Knapp, Jon Kralovic, Bill Nowak, T.R. Perna, and Daryl Steverson. The Dutchmen are in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000, and host Ithaca November 19 at 12 p.m. Union enters the game ranked #14 in the Football Gazette poll, #17 in the AFCA (coaches) poll and #19 in the D3football.com poll.
The Liberty League leader in rushing, Arcidiacono ran for a school record 1,616 yards and 14 touchdowns in Union's perfect 10-0 regular season. He ranked fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game in the latest NCAA Division III statistics. Arcidicano was a two-time selection as Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week and was also twice named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week. He led the nation in rushing for two weeks in October, and has had four 200+ yard rushing games in 2005.
John Audino
Joining Arcidiacono on the First Team were three Union teammates on offense and three on defense. WR Steve Angiletta (Plantsville, CT/Southington) has 1,277 yards on 79 catches with eight touchdowns, and is the first receiver in Union history to post 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Jim Masso (Pontre Verde Beach, FL/Episcopal) and Elliot Silverstein (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/Peddie) were both named to the First Team on the offensive line. Union allowed only six sacks through 10 games and the team ranked 30th in total offense and 48th in passing offense. Both players were key contributors to Arcidiacono's record breaking season. The defense featured DL Dylan Walton-Yedlin (Seattle, WA/Lakeside), LB Vito Pellerito (Pompano Beach, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) and DB Chris Nappi (Scotia, NY/Niskayuna). Walton-Yedlin had 12 of the team's 61 tackles for losses, and has 42 tackles and six sacks. He was named to D3football.com National Team of the Week and won back-to-back Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week honors in October. Pellerito leads the team in tackles with 64 and solo tackles with 50. He is a two-time Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week and two-time D3football National Team of the Week. Nappi, who was also selected as the second team return specialist, has 50 tackles and 40 primary, and leads the Dutchmen with five interceptions (for 24 yards) and eight pass deflections.
Second team honors went to QB Anthony Marotti (River Edge, NJ/River Dell), TE Ryan Perry (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia), and OL Patrick Hatch (Meriden, CT/Maloney) on offense and DL Brendan Crumlish (East Amherst, NY/Clarence), LB Kevin Flike (Stillwater, NY/LaSalle) and return specialist Nappi. Honorable mention honors went to DB Pat Sheridan (Short Hill, NJ/Avon) and WR Ryan Twitchell (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius).
