2018 All-NEC Football List
Somerset, NJ – The 2018 Wagner football team placed three players on the All-Northeast Conference (NEC) First Team, headlined by junior outside linebacker
Cam Gill, who was named the league's Defensive Player of the year, and two more on the All-NEC Second Team, the league office announced today.
The three Seahawks who garnered First-Team All-NEC honors were Gill, senior running back
Ryan Fulse, and redshirt junior inside linebacker
Santoni Graham. Earning spots on the All-NEC Second Team were senior offensive lineman
Brady Hudik and junior defensive lineman
Chris Williams.
Cam Gill, who becomes the second Wagner player to ever cop NEC Defensive Player of the year honors, joining defensive lineman Bill Sommers who earned this distinction in 1996, is one of 25 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to FCS football's defensive player of the year.
The 6-1, 230-pound Douglasville, GA native was a virtually unblockable defensive force throughout the season. Last Saturday, in the Seahawks' 41-7 win at Robert Morris, Gill seemingly spent the entire afternoon in the Colonials' backfield, recording 5.5 tackles for loss, for 24 yards, including a forced fumble. Among those 5.5 TFL's were 2.5 sacks that went for a combined 18 yards of loss, which helped contribute to RMU finishing with a net nine yards of rushing.
In this game, Gill came within one half-tackle of matching the DI FCS single-game season high in tackles-for-loss. The Buck Buchanan Award hopeful earned his third NEC Defensive Player of the Week Award after totaling 11 tackles in the 41-7 road win over Robert Morris, on his way to moving into fifth place on the NEC's all-time list of single-season tackles-for-loss leaders (24.5).
It was a fitting end to a season that saw the Georgia native finish with 13.5 sacks for minus 76 yards as he finished the regular season ranked No. 4 nationally, and No. 1 in the NEC, with 1.23 sacks per game and No. 2 nationally, and No. 1 in the NEC, with 2.2 tackles for loss per game.
Ryan Fulse finished the season second in all of FCS football with 1,784 yards rushing, a scant 26 yards behind Joe Protheroe of Cal Poly, who edged Fulse for the FCS rushing title with 1,810 yards. Ranked No. 1 in all off FCS football in all-purpose yardage (184.09 yards per game), Fulse is a finalist for the prestigious Walter Payton Award, regarded as the Heisman Trophy of the FCS, emblematic of the nation's top offensive player.
One of Wagner's five team captains in 2018, Fulse's 1,784 rushing yards for the season were good for second place on the all-time Seahawk single-season rushing list, and tops in Wagner's Division I ear, behind Terry Underwood, who gained 1,809 yards in 1988.
On the season, Fulse, who was a four-time NEC Offensive Player of the Week, rushed for 100 yards or more eight times in 11 games this season, and 12 times in his last 15 games. In his 22-game Seahawk career, Fulse topped the century mark 15 times, had three 200-yard-plus efforts and one 300-yard performance.
The Fort Meade, FL native, who played his first two seasons at Monroe College, capped his collegiate career in style, becoming just the fifth player in NEC history to rush for more than 300 yards in a conference game.
Fulse, who eclipsed the 3,000-yard rushing mark in only two seasons, ran 34 times for 303 yards and three touchdowns in the 41-7 win at RMU. Inflicting the bulk of the damage in the first half, rushing for 252 yards and all three of his touchdowns as Wagner built a 38-7
His 303 yards on the ground vs. RMU are the most in the Wagner Division I era and just 60 yards shy of the all-time single-game rushing record held by Terry Underwood who gained 369 vs. Hofstra on October 15, 1988.
In capping his magical two-year, 22-game Seahawk career, the 5-11, 195-pound runner finished sixth on the Wagner all-time career rushing list with 3,090 yards.
Fulse Top-Five Career Rushing Games
1. 303 yards at Robert Morris (11/17/18)
2. 271 yards vs. Bowie State (8/30/18)
3. 228 yards vs. Bryant (10/28/17)
4. 218 yards at Bryant (11/10/18)
5. 196 yards at Campbell (10/6/18)
Santoni Graham was a ball-hawking, aggressive and productive player from his inside linebacker positon throughout the 2018 season. Far and ways the team leader with 99 tackles (No. 3 in the NEC), 57 of which were of the solo variety, the crunching 6-1, 230-pound Arlington, VA native added eight tackles for loss (minus 22 yards), two sacks (minus 10 yards), two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and one interception. In short, Graham was around the football season.
One of Wagner's five team captains in 2018, Graham registered a staggering four double-digit tackle games on the season, headlined by a career-high 11 stops (8 solo) at FBS member Syracuse on September 8. He also recorded 10-tackle performances vs. Bowie State (8/30) Sacred Heart (9/22), and Bryant (11/10) and had nine-tackle efforts vs. Montana State (9/15, Monmouth (9/29), and Duquesne (11/3).
A model of consistency all season, Graham also recorded a trio of eight-tackle games one seven-tackle effort, the latter being his "lowest" output of the season. All told, the 6-1, 230-pound Graham had seven or more tackles in all 11 games, eight or more in 10 of 11 games.
With one season eligibility remaining, Graham will enter the 2019 season with 237 tackles to his credit.
Brady Hudik, a hulking 6-5, 315-pound Bordentown, NJ native, was a model of consistency, proficiency and durability throughout the 2018 season. One of Wagner's five team captains, Hudik began the season at left guard before selflessly switching to right tackle. This move helped solidify the Seahawk offensive line and helped pave the way for RB
Ryan Fulse to become the nation's No. 2 rusher with 1,784 yards for an offense that scored 40 or more points in a game on four occasions.
An ironman along the Wagner offensive line throughout his career, Hudik has started all 33 games that he played in as a Seahawk.
A brilliant student in the classroom, who boasts a 3.778 GPA as a Business Administration Major, Hudik, along with classmate, tight end
Chris Woodard, was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team for District 1, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), in both 2017 and 2018.
Each year, CoSIDA recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Hudik, a mainstay on the NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll (3.75 GPA or better) throughout his time on Grymes Hill, along with Woodard, and the rest of the First-team Academic All-District honorees, are now nominated for possible inclusion on the 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-America Team.
Perhaps the most unsung among the Seahawk All-NEC honorees,
Chris Williams' important contributions within the trenches of the Wagner defensive line, were not lost among the league's coaches who recognized his vast talent by voting him to the all-league second team.
A a rock-solid 6-2, 295-pound run-stuffing force, responded to the tutoring of the Seahawks' first-year defensive line coach, and former seven-year NFL standout,
Terrance Knighton, throughout the 2018 season.
A starter in all 11 games, Williams was credited with 25 tackles on the season, including 14 solo hits, with a sack vs. Monmouth (9/29) in addition to 11 assisted stops. For the year, the Brooklyn, NY native, who starred at Lafayette High School before arriving on Grymes Hill, recorded three or more tackles in six different games, highlighted by a career-high five-tackle effort at Central Connecticut (10/27), a game where he also came up with one of his two blocked kicks on the year, with this one being returned 36 yards for a touchdown by teammate
Charbel Dabire.
Wagner finished the 2018 season in fourth place with an NEC record of 3-3 and an an overall mark of 4-7. After opening the season at 1-5, with four of those defeats coming against four demanding non-conference opponents, the Seahawks ended the season on an uptick, winning three of their final five games, including their last two,
one-sided wins at Bryant (52-36) and
at Robert Morris (41-7).
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