SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The American International College football team has tremendous depth at nearly every position on the field and will once again be a threat to win the Northeast-10 title. The most interesting position battle heading into preseason camp will be at quarterback, where
Rob Parent is coming off a stellar freshman campaign and senior
Shane Murphy is healthy once again after being injured in the Yellow Jackets’ 2007 season-opener at Bryant. “We have a lot of skill and speed on both sides of the ball and a lot of depth at several key positions,” said head coach
Art Wilkins, who enters his 15 season at AIC.
2007 RECAP: AIC is coming off a 7-3 showing in 2007, its best record since posting an 8-2 record in 2001, and tied for second in the Northeast-10 standings with a 7-2 mark in league play. The Yellow Jackets finished the season on a six –game winning streak and was 7-1 after a tough 0-2 start to the season, saw Parent named the Northeast-10 Co-Freshman of the Year and placed five players on the all-conference team. The Yellow Jackets’ biggest win of the season was a 36-35 thriller against Southern Connecticut on September 22 at John Homer Miller Field. The game was decided by a 34-yard field goal off the foot of
Marek Prezbylek with 10 seconds left in the game.
KEY LOSSES: AIC lost a pair of second-team all-conference selections in running back
Calvin Hall, who rushed for 831 yards and five touchdowns on 181 carries, and center
Johnathan Kellogg, who started all 10 games in the middle of the offensive line. Also gone off the offensive line are
Jovani Valdes and
Lavon Ward, each of which started each of their nine games played. Defensive lineman
Michael Daley was second on the team in tackles last season with 55 and led the team with five sacks.
Ed Pierre was the team’s third-leading tackler with 47 and had a team-high four interceptions.
QUARTERBACK: In a season in which he was supposed to redshirt, Parent stepped in after Murphy was injured in game-one and led the Yellow Jackets to a record of 7-2 as a starter. He was named the NE-10 Freshman of the Week in four of the last five weeks of the season and received the Division II/III Gold Helmet Award October 10 after torching Merrimack for 420 yards and four touchdowns. Murphy entered the 2007 season as AIC’s starting QB after starting each of his eight games the year before, in which he completed 62 passes for 704 yards and five touchdowns while splitting time under center. “This is a very interesting conflict for us since both players performed well in the spring,” said Wilkins. “[Sophomore] Preston Trites also had a good spring so we really have a three-way battle. It’s good to have that kind of depth.”
RUNNING BACK: Senior
Marcus Cameron, a first-team all-conference selection last year, returns at fullback and will likely get more carries with the loss of Hall. The two-time NE-10 all-star had 40 carried for 183 yards and two TDs last season. Also returning in the backfield is senior
Adeboyega Akingba, who ran for 340 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns on 47 carries in 2007. He’s also a threat to roll out as a receiver and led the team in scoring with nine touchdowns and 54 points. “A couple guys that might step up at running back are juniors Amadeus Guerro-Pou and
Angelo Riccardi,” added Wilkins. “Both were strong in spring practice and we have a couple new guys that could be in the mix to get carries as well.”
WIDE RECEIVER: Each of the Yellow Jackets’ starting wide outs from last year, seniors
Travis Poole and
Tyler Scaccia and junior
Kertis Hussey return for 2008. Wilkins commented that “this is the best group of receivers we’ve ever had and is one of the best receiving corps in the conference.” Scaccia was AIC’s leading receiver with 50 catches for 846 yards and five touchdowns, while Hussey was second with 29 catches for 450 yards. Poole had 27 catches for 401 yards and three scores. Junior
Jake Macleay and sophomore Davon LaGrier add depth at the passing game.
TIGHT END: Senior
Mario Avocato is projected to start at tight end in 2008, while senior
Andy Fresia and sophomore
Aaron Lewis, a former defensive lineman, will also see time in the tight end slot.
OFFENSIVE LINE: The offensive line holds the most question marks for the Yellow Jackets entering the season after losing three starters from a year ago. Senior
Tony Dilello will move to center this season in place of Kellogg, with senior
Tyke Spaulding and sophomore
Collin James if you plan on cutting people and don't want them in there filling the guard spots and sophomores
Paul Skarka and
Harold Vandermark at the tackles. Depth will come in the form of juniors
Durrell Harris and
Rich Page, who was on the defensive line last year, and sophomore
John Galley.
DEFENSIVE LINE: AIC returns all four starters on the defensive line from last season – seniors
Brian DeStephano,
Jean Simeon and
Nathaniel Thompson and junior Jashawn Williams. Simeon and Thompson tied for fifth on the team in tackles with 34 each and Williams tied for seventh with 31 tackles. Seniors
James Bridges and
Kwataill Patterson and juniors
Isaiah Bridges,
Lee-Austin Johnson and
Terrance Mercer were also key contributors a year ago. “This is our deepest position on the field,” Wilkins said. “We have about 14 quality guys we can put in there.”
LINEBACKERS: Arguably the best linebacker in the conference, junior
Terrence Holley led the Yellow Jackets with 75 tackles and four forced fumbles and was named a first-team Northeast-10 all-star for the second straight season in 2007. Classmate
Nick Abraham started nine of his 10 games played, recording 27 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Junior
Rich Reichert tied for second on the team with 4.5 sacks and was sixth on the team with 32 tackles. Sophomores
Darius Evans,
George Hudson and
Matthew Johnson add to AIC’s depth at the linebacker positions. Wilkins added “we had a good season with this group of linebackers last year and are expecting to be even better this year.”
DEFENSIVE BACKS: Junior
Allen Bush was fourth on the team in tackles and led the team with two blocked kicks. Classmates
Deron Doles and
Lawrence Johnson started six games each and registered 31 and 27 tackles, respectively. Senior
Brian Kelly will return to the lineup after missing the 2007 season due to injury and classmate
Charles Revis and junior
Nathaniel Ricks add to AIC’s depth. “We have a lot of guys that can play either at cornerback or safety, which gives us a lot of flexibility,” said Wilkins.
KICKING: Senior
Marek Prezbylek returns as the Yellow Jackets place kicker after converting 11 of 18 field goals and 20 of 25 PATs. Classmate John Thorpe will once again handle the punting duties after averaging 34.8 yards per punt last season.
2008 SCHEDULE: AIC opens the season with a pair of tough road games at C.W. Post (August 30) and Southern Connecticut (September 12) before hosting the first of five home games September 20 against another perennial NE-10 contender in Bentley. The Yellow Jackets will also host Husson (September 27), Stonehill (October 11) and Pace (October 18) before hosting a non-conference rematch with the Owls in the season-finale November 8. AIC’s will play on the road at Saint Anselm (October 4), Assumption (October 25) and Merrimack (November 1).