2018 FCS All-America Team
New York, NY – Senior running back
Ryan Fulse has been named to the 2018 Associated Press (AP) All-America Team while junior outside linebacker
Cam Gill was tabbed Third-Team All-American, the organization announced on Tuesday.
Fulse becomes the first Seahawk to earn a spot on the First-Team AP All-America team since Wagner Hall of Famer
Rick Sarille received First-Team honors as a running back and kick returner in 1999. Fulse and Gill are the first AP All-American overall for Wagner since 2014 when cornerback Jarrett Diedonne was named to the Second Team in 2014.
Fulse and Gill are the first Seahawk tandem to earn AP All-American recognition in the same year. While a host of Wagner players have earned All-American honors by other organizations since Wagner elevated from the NCAA Division III classification to 1-AA (now FCS) in 1993, Fulse and Gill become just the fifth and sixth Wagner players, respectively, named to an AP All-America Team.
Both First-Team All-NEC performers this past season, Gill had the added distinction of being named the league's 2018 Defensive Player of the year as well.
All told, the NEC was represented by five players on the 2018 All-America Team as Duquesne running A.J. Hines was named second team, while Robert Morris tight end Gonzalez joined Gill on the third team.
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 was 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.
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.
Cam Gill, who became 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 Douglasville, 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.
List of Wagner AP All-Americans In FCS Era (Since 1993)
| Year |
Player |
Position |
Team |
| 2018 |
Ryan Fulse |
RB |
First |
| 2018 |
Cam Gill |
LB |
Third |
| 2014 |
Jarrett Dieudonne |
CB |
Second |
| 2007 |
Robert Brown |
DE |
Third |
| 1999 |
Rick Sarille |
RB/KR |
First |
| 1997 |
Rick Sarille |
KR |
Third |
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