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Somerset, NJ - Sacred Heart now has two NEC Offensive Player of the Year award winners in its backfield.
When 2020 NEC Offensive Player of the Year Julius Chestnut (Bowie, MD) suffered a Week 1 injury, backup Malik Grant (Bronx, NY) stepped up and blossomed in a featured role on his way to capturing the conference’s top individual offensive honor.
After bulking up and moving from linebacker to defensive end, Wagner’s Titus Leo (Sheepshead Bay, NY) repeated as the NEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Coming off its first 7-win season since 2014, Bryant saw its freshman quarterback Zevi Eckhaus (Culver City, CA) capture the NEC Offensive Rookie of the Year award to go along with a spot on the All-NEC First Team.
Saint Francis redshirt freshman safety Gregory Reddick (Miami, FL) secured the NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year award, becoming the Red Flash’s third recipient of that honor in the last four seasons.
With his Pioneers riding a six-game win streak to a repeat conference title, Sacred Heart’s Mark Nofri retains the NEC Coach of the Year award.
The Northeast Conference recognized the five major award winners while also unveiling two 27-member All-NEC Teams via Twitter on Wednesday, four days after all eight teams played their regular season finales. All honorees were determined by a vote of the league’s eight head coaches.
Sacred Heart placed a league-high six representatives on the All-NEC First Team. Bryant and Merrimack each produced five first team selections apiece. Merrimack’s Jacari Carter occupied two spots on the All-NEC First Team, earning honors at receiver and return specialist.
Grant could not have been a better backup plan when Sacred Heart lost All-American Julius Chestnut for eight weeks to an injury. The Empire State product stepped right in and carried the load for the NEC’s top-ranked rushing attack. The 5-foot-7 running back rushed for 1,288 yards during the regular season, accounting for the third-highest total amongst Division I FCS leaders. Grant, who averaged 117.1 yards per game on the ground, broke the 100-yard rushing barrier in six of his 10 starts. He gained 5.7 yards per carry and found paydirt 11 times total (9 rush, 2 rec).
Grant rushed for more than 180 yards in three consecutive Northeast Conference contests during the Pioneers’ active six-game win streak. He piled up 228 yards on 28 carries in a 20-10 victory over Merrimack, breaking into the NEC’s All-time Single-Game Top 25 with the performance. The junior running back gained 211 yards from scrimmage in a Week 7 triumph over Nutmeg State rival Central Connecticut. In Week 8, he rushed for 186 yards and two scores against Duquesne in a re-match of the 2020-21 NEC Spring Championship Game.
Leo keeps the NEC DPOTY award on Grymes Hill for a record fourth consecutive season. In fact, no school has ever won any major NEC football award even three times in a row. The New York City product's development has been remarkable over the past four years at Wagner. After splitting time between receiver and linebacker as a rookie, the physically-gifted Leo emerged as one of the conference's fiercest defenders.
Leo made multiple tackles in all 11 games this fall. In five of those contests, Leo logged at least 2.0 tackles-for-loss. The 6-foot-4 edge rusher made a NEC single-game season-high 5.5 tackles-for-loss, including 2.0 sacks, during an overtime setback to MEAC member Delaware State. Leo had a three-tackle day at FBS member Temple, registering 1.0 sack, one quarterback hurry and one pass break-up while disrupting the Owls' aerial attack.
Eckhaus was forced into action when Bryant's Opening Day starting quarterback suffered a Week 1 injury and the true freshman would soon shine in the spotlight. He showed flashes in his first two collegiate starts, throwing for touchdowns against Sacred Heart and Akron. In a Week 4 road win over Marist, Eckhaus went 22-of-29 passing for 232 yards and two scores to go along with 57 yards on the ground. The California product connected on at least two touchdowns passes in eight straight starts from Week 4 through the regular season finale. Eckhaus proceeded to produce four 300-yard passing performances.
Eckhaus ranked second overall on the circuit with 238.4 yards per game of total offense. The 6-foot-1 rookie signal caller finished the season with a 7:1 TD:INT ratio. Eckhaus, who recorded 2,392 pass yards with a 62.8 completion percentage, threw 21 scoring strikes while being intercepted on only three occasions. He closed out the non-conference portion of Bryant's schedule by passing for 335 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-29 victory over Ivy League member Brown. Eckhaus ended his remarkable rookie campaign on an upward trend.
The wait proved worth it for Reddick, who redshirted as a freshman in 2019 before missing the 2020 season due to Saint Francis' opt out. The defensive back stepped up and earned significant reps at safety in 2021, logging a conference-high 10 pass break-ups. Reddick forced two fumbles during the season and made one interception, which denied Bryant at the SFU 5-yard line in an eventual 18-17 setback. The native Floridian totaled 45 tackles for a Red Flash defense that limited opponents to 19.1 points per game.
Nofri guided his Pioneers to a reversal of fortunes back in October. Sacred Heart hit its stride after a 2-3 start that included the loss of an All-American running back to the injury list. Beginning with the NEC home opener against Merrimack, SHU rattled off six consecutive conference victories to successfully defend its crown. Nofri and his staff presided over one of the nation’s most-productive defenses. The Pioneers ranked first overall in the FCS in pass defense as well as fifth in scoring defense and seventh in total defense. SHU has not allowed more than 17 points at any time during its active six-game win streak.
ALL-NEC FACT SHEET
> Sacred Heart left tackle JD DiRenzo and center/guard Josh Sokol have earned spots on the All-NEC First Team for the third straight season (2019, 2020, 2021). DiRenzo, Sokol and Duquesne LT Jake Dixon are the only three offensive players to retain the All-NEC First Team spots that they earned last spring.
> Sacred Heart defensive end Kevin Peprah, who paces the circuit in sacks (10.0) and forced fumbles (4), is one of five men to repeat on the All-NEC First Team Defense, joining DE Titus Leo (Wagner), DT Jack Daly (Bryant), LB Joe Andreessen (Bryant) and S Leandro DeBrito (Duquesne).
> Central Connecticut receiver Tyshaun James returns to the All-NEC First Team for the second time (2021, 2019).
> All-NEC First Team receiver Cyrus Holder (Duquesne) also earned all-conference honors (second team) in 2018 when he was competing for Saint Francis.
> Sacred Heart senior punter Noah Gettman is a repeat All-NEC First Team honoree. He earned Stats Perform All-America honors this past spring.
> Saint Francis redshirt freshman kicker Alex Schmoke made 15 of 17 field goal attempts with his lone misses coming from 40+. Schmoke went 6-of-8 on field goal attempts from the 40-49 yard range.
> Bryant PK Luke Samperi also earned an all-NEC second team honor in 2019.
> Duquesne RB Billy Lucas played his way onto the All-NEC Second Team this fall after earning NEC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors this past spring.
> Merrimack enjoyed its greatest All-NEC representation yet. The reclassifying FCS member garnered nine all-league selections, including five on the First Team – Jacari Carter x 2 (WR/RS), Tyler Roberts (H-BACK), Rodney Samson (LB), Caleb Holden (DB).
