Pictured Above: Head Coach
Jason Houghtaling Leads the Seahawks onto the field earlier this season at Western Michigan
(By Kimberly Moss)
NEC RELEASE
Somerset, NJ – The 2017 Wagner football team placed three players on the All-Northeast Conference (NEC) First Team and two more on the All-NEC Second Team, the league office announced today.
The three Seahawks who garnered First-Team All-NEC honors are junior running back
Ryan Fulse, fifth-year senior offensive lineman
Matt Diaz, and fifth-year senior kicker
James Cooper. Earning spots on the All-NEC Second Team were junior tight end
Chris Woodard and junior linebacker
Quintin Hampton.
Fulse, a first-year Seahawk who arrived on Grymes Hill in 2017 after starring for two seasons at Monroe College (NY), capped his brilliant, breakout campaign by eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark for the fifth straight game in last Saturday's season-ending 28-15 win at Sacred Heart. His 26-carry, 192-yard day against SHU, allowed him to finish the regular season as the NEC rushing champion (1,306 yards), a figure that ranks third nationally among all FCS rushers, and ninth on the Seahawk all-time single-season list. This marked his sixth 100-yard plus effort in the last seven games and fourth straight, and resulted in his third NEC Offensive Player of the Week honor. He also had three rushing touchdowns on the day, giving him 12 for the season. His top offensive output came vs. Bryant (10/28) when he rumbled for 228 yards on 25 carries in becoming the first Seahawk to hit for the double-century mark since Dominique Williams in 2011.
Cooper earns First-Team All-NEC honors for the second straight year. The strong-legged South Jersey product was 11-of-19 on field goal attempts and was particularly effective late in the season when he nailed seven of his last nine kicks, including a 50-yard boot vs. Bryant (10/28). In addition, Cooper averaged 59.3 yards on 47 kickoffs, including 12 touchbacks. In just two seasons, Cooper finishes his career ranked No. 5 all-time at Wagner in field goals made (27), and No. 7 in PATs (52).
The 6-6, 295-pound Diaz, like Cooper, earns his second consecutive First-Team All-NEC honor. A member of the 2017 All-NEC Preseason Team, the Edison, NJ native lived up to that advanced billing this season. Along with his obvious pass protection abilities, his explosion at the point of attack in the running game helped the Green & White rush for 1,727 yards, with eight games of 150 yards or more.
A dominant, ball-hawking inside linebacker, Hampton earns Second-Team All-NEC accolades for the second straight year. His team-leading 82 tackles compute to 7.8 per game, which ranked seventh in the NEC. Of those 82 tackles, 52 were solo efforts. He added 12 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. The second-year Seahawk, who transferred from UCF last season, had a career-high 13-tackle game vs. league champion Central Connecticut (10/14). He also delivered 11-tackle efforts at Saint Francis U (9/9) and vs. Lehigh (9/30) and recorded five or more tackles in eight different games.
Both a dangerous, pass-catching receiver, as well as an effective blocker in the Seahawk run game. the 6-4, 230-pound upstate New York native recorded 22 receptions for 210 yards (9.5-yard average) and one touchdown on the season. For the year, Woodard had at least one reception in nine of 11 games and three or more catches in five different games. A physics major with a 3.816 GPA, Woodard was recently named have been named to the
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District First Team, along with teammate
Brady Hudik.
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