Friday, December 18, 2009

Mante, Sheffield honored

Seniors Tom Mante and John Sheffield were named to the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star team.

Mante will graduate with nearly every Yale punting record. As a senior he averaged an Ivy League leading 41.2 yards per punt. He also became the first Ivy Leaguer with 50-yard field goals in consecutive games including an Ivy and Yale record tying 54-yarder against Cornell. Mante is a political science major with a 3.32 grade point average.

Sheffield was Yale's leading receiver with 61 catches as a senior, the most since Ashley Wright caught 61 passes in 2005. Named Yale's MVP, Sheffield finished as Yale's third all-time leading receiver. Sheffield, an economics major, has a 3.33 GPA.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

More honors for Sheffield

Senior h-back John Sheffield was named to the ECAC's All-Football Championship Subdivision team and was named to the Associated Press' All-FCS third team after leading Yale with 61 catches and 612 receiving yards in the recently completed season.

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Saturday, December 05, 2009

Bulldogs mining California talent pool

Considering the West Coast ties that Yale football coach Tom Williams and the seven coaches he brought in to join Rick Flanders and Duane Brooks on his staff, it figured that the Bulldogs would make a recruiting push out west.

That certainly seems to be the case as five Californians and one player from Utah and Oregon lead the list of the first 12 players to be accepted early at Yale.

Multi-faceted San Diego phenom Deon Randall leads the list as he is a threat passing and running and is also a standout on defense. It figures that Randall will find his way onto the field as an offensive player. Quarterback is a position that has been addressed with Indiana's John Whitelaw and Oregon's Henry Furman being accepted.

There's also a game-breaking receiver (Jackson Ligouri) and tight end (Kyle Wittenauer) and four defensive back prospects (Kyle Aberton, Chris Brady, Max Napolitano and Nick Okano).

I know the first question I will get on any recruiting item is how Yale is doing recruiting offensive linemen. Obinna Nwakeze, John Oppenheimer and Grant Stanley are players capable of playing on the line. Expecting its normal 30-play class, I would expect more offensive line names to emerge when the Yale football Class of 2014 is announced.

Speaking of the offensive line, don't be surprised if a couple of defensive linemen get moved over to the offensive line. Not only do the Bulldogs return all of its defensive linemen but freshmen Chris Dooley and Charles Holmes showed big-play with the JV squad.

Here's a breakdown of the 12 committed players who have been accepted.
Kyle Aberton, DB Cottonwood HS, Holladay, Utah: 63 tackles as a senior, had five interceptions as junior
Chris Brady, DB Don Bosco, Ramsey, N.J.: 5 interceptions including key pick in 28-20 win over Bergen Catholic
Henry Furman, QB Lincoln, Portland, Ore.: All-League QB threw for 41 TDs and more than 3,000 yards last two seasons.
Jackson Ligouri, WR Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, Calif.: 45 catches and 13 TDs as a senior
Max Napolitano, DB Oaks Christian, Westlake Village, Calif.: Key contributor on team which has won 32 straight games, had interception to clinch 28-25 win over previously undefeated Skyline of Sammamish, Wash.
Obinna Nwakeze, DL/OL Rye (N.Y.) Country Day: Two-way starter after six tackles per game, also an all-american wrestler at Rye
Nick Okano, DB Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood, Calif.: 79 tackles, three interceptions
John Oppenheimer, OL Sacred Heart, Atherton, Calif.: Two-way starting lineman had 50 tackles and four sacks as a senior.
Deon Randall, QB/RB/DB Parker High, San Diego: Passed for 13 tds, 1 pick, ran for 20 tds 11 yards per carry, had five interceptions and more than 90 tackles
Grant Stanley, DE San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno, Calif.: 6-5 230 pounder averaged four tackles with two sacks and an interception as a senior
John Whitelaw, QB Hinsdale (Ill.) Central: Threw for 1,840 yards and 18 touchdowns, ran for 1,299 yards and 17 TDs in nine game.
Kyle Wittenauer, TE/LB St. Christopher's, Richmond, Va.: Big-play threat at tight end had four catches for 118 yards in one game and drew interest from BCS teams as a long snapper

Speaking of Aberton, there's a nice story on him and a reminder of the quality of individual the program manages to bring in.

Friday, December 04, 2009

No way, (San) Jose

Yale coach Tom Williams' name has come up as a possible successor to the retiring Dick Tomey at San Jose State.

However, Williams is not a candidate for the San Jose job. There were some preliminary feelers set out in Williams' direction but nobody from San Jose State has requested permission to speak to Williams and will not be doing so.

It's so surprise that Williams' name came up. He fits the profile of what the search committee is looking for, a young, up and coming coach with a sense of how things are done at San Jose State. Williams was a coach on Tomey's staff at San Jose State in 2005 and 2006.

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Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Mante, Rice honored

Yale senior punter Tom Mante and senior linebacker Paul Rice were named to the New England Football Writers Football Championship Subdivision all-star team.

Mante averaged 41.2 yards per punt to become the first Yale player to lead the Ivy League in punting since Greg Bowman in 1989 his four field goals included a 50 and Ivy League record tying 54-yarder.

Rice led Yale with 74 tackles and 9.5 tackles for losses. He also scored the only touchdown in a win over Lehigh on a fake punt.

Here's the complete team
DEFENSE
DL James Develin Brown Sr.
DL Don Smith Bryant Sr.
DL Jordan Stevens Maine Sr.
DL Carl Ehrlich Harvard Sr.
LB Paul Rice Yale Sr.
LB Sean Ware New Hampshire Sr.
LB Jon Takamura Harvard Sr.
LB Marcus Rodriguez Holy Cross Sr.
DB Terrence Klein New Hampshire Sr.
DB Marcus Dorsey Central Conn. Sr.
DB Michael Wright Holy Cross Sr.
DB Derrick Barker Harvard Sr.
DB Jeromy Miles Massachusetts Sr.

OFFENSE
OL Paul Jasinowski Brown Sr.
OL James Williams Harvard Sr.
OL Chris Poole Holy Cross Sr.
OL Vladimir Ducasse Massachusetts Sr.
OL Kevin Newhall Northeastern Sr.
OL Tom Neill New Hampshire Sr.
QB Dominic Randolph Holy Cross Sr.
RB James Mallory Central Conn. Sr.
RB John Griffin Northeastern Jr.
FB Chris Zardas Massachusetts Sr.
WR Buddy Farnham Brown Sr.
WR Steve Tedesco Sacred Heart Sr.
WR Landis Williams Maine Sr.
WR Shawn Leonard Rhode Island Sr.
TE Scott Sicko New Hampshire Sr.

SPECIAL TEAMS
KS Tom Mante Yale Sr.
RS Shawn Abuhoff Dartmouth So.

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