Five Saint Francis Red Flash football players were voted to the All-Northeast Conference Teams, including a pair of players named to the All-NEC First Team.
Senior defensive lineman Russel Fisher (Kailua, Hawaii/Mid Pac
Institute) and senior offensive lineman Cody Kekipi (Waimanalo,
Hawaii/Punahou) were named to the All-NEC First Team Defense and
Offense, respectively, while linebackers Matthew Parker (Darlington,
Pa./Blackhawk) and Scott Lewis (South Fork, Pa./Bishop McCort) were
named to the Second-Team Defense. Senior receiver Antoine Rivera
(Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) was also named to the Second-Team
Offense. In an odd coincidence, all five players were named team
captains at the beginning of the 2009 season.
Fisher earned his All-NEC honor with a dominant season along the
defensive line, leading all conference defensive linemen with 54
tackles. He ranked fourth on the Red Flash in tackles, as well as
second in sacks with five and tackles for loss with 10.5. Fisher
blocked a field goal against Morehead State on September 12 that was
returned for a touchdown by teammate Josh Bentley (Pittsburgh,
Pa./Schenley), and he returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown
against Central Connecticut State on November 21.
Kekipi finishes out his career at Saint Francis with his second
straight First-Team All-NEC honor. Kekipi entered the season as the
lone senior on the Red Flash offensive line, anchoring the position for
the third straight year. The 2009 Red Flash offense averaged four more
points per game than the 2008 edition, with Kekipis blocking being a
major factor in that improvement.
Lewis led the Northeast Conference in tackles for the third straight
year, recording 118 total stops and an average of 10.7 tackles per game.
Those marks were good for ninth and 11th nationally in FCS,
respectively. Lewis broke the Red Flash career tackles record against
Central Connecticut State, and is the active career leader in tackles
per game in all of FCS with an average of 12.1 stops per contest.
Lewiss 386 total tackles rank second among active FCS defensive
players. This is Lewiss third All-NEC honor, having been named to
the First-Team Defense in both 2007 and 2008.
Parker returns to the All-NEC Second-Team Defense for the second
straight season after finishing third in the conference in total tackles
(103) and tackles per game (10.3). The junior led the NEC in tackles
for loss with 16.0 and finished tied for second with seven total sacks.
Parker has 308 total tackles for his career, 69 behind Matt Farabaugh
for second-most in SFU history and 78 behind classmate Lewis for the top mark.
After losing the 2008 season to a knee injury, Rivera returns to the
All-NEC squad for the second time. The senior receiver totaled 53
catches for 689 yards and four touchdowns; those 53 catches ranked third in the NEC, while his 689 yards ranked fourth. He finishes his career fifth in conference history in receiving yards with 2,441, and his 156 career catches rank seventh for a career in the conference. Rivera
passed Luke Palko for second on the schools all-time receiving yards
list, and ranks third all-time in total touchdowns. He tied a school
record with three touchdown catches against Wagner on September 26.
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