Wednesday, December 1, 2004

FOUR GREYHOUNDS EARN DON HANSEN'S FOOTBALL GAZETTE ALL-EAST REGION HONORS

COLUMBUS, OH --- Four members of the Moravian College football team have been named the 2004 Don Hansen’s Football Gazette All-East Region Teams announced Wednesday. The Greyhounds had one First Team selection in junior center Salvatore DeWalt (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) while sophomore running back Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS), senior return specialist Jed Warsager (Andover, NJ/Newton HS) and senior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) were named to the Second Team.

A total of 21 players from the Middle Atlantic Conference were named to the three teams with Albright College’s Nick Cushman being named the East Region Offensive Player of the Year and Delaware Valley College coach GA Mangus being named the East Region Coach of the Year. All members of the first and second All-East Region Teams move onto the All-American ballot along with the first team selections from the other three regions.

Moravian posted a 7-4 record this season with a 7-2 record in the MAC, which was good enough for second place after the Greyhounds were selected seventh in the MAC preseason poll. Moravian began the year with a school record 7-0 start and played in the 2004 ECAC Southwest Championship game at Franklin & Marshall College, falling to the Diplomats, 37-20.

DeWalt, Moravian’s starting center, helped anchor the Greyhounds’ offensive line, which returned all of its starters this year. DeWalt has helped the Moravian offense average 407.2 yards per game, including 231.0 yards per contest on the ground, which currently ranks 29th in the nation. DeWalt and the rest of the offense line allowed just 15 sacks this season.

In just his second season, Jacoubs has rewritten the Moravian record books. He has set school records this season with 1,789 yards on 342 carries with 16 rushing touchdowns. Jacoubs is fifth in the nation at 162.6 yards per game, and he caught eight passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns. He also has set school marks with 19 total touchdowns and 114 points. Jacoubs, who became the eighth player in school history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a career and the only player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons against FDU-Florham, has a school record 2,840 yards in just 21 career games with 12 100-plus yard games in 18 starts, including four games over 200 yards with three this season. Jacoubs, who was the MAC Rookie of the Year last season, was also named to the MAC All-Conference First Team this season.

Warsager, who is also a wide receiver for the Greyhounds, leads the MAC and is seventh in the country in kickoff returns with an average of 29.7 yards per return this fall. Warsager, who has two kickoff returns for touchdowns this season, has set the school record with 684 kickoff return yards this season. Warsager, who was an All-MAC First Team return specialist, has school records of 1,240 career kickoff return yards and three touchdowns on 46 returns in just two seasons at Moravian. Warsager also caught 20 passes this season for 289 yards and three touchdowns this season.

McLain, who was on the All-MAC First Team this fall and the All-MAC Second Team as a punter in 2002, leads the Greyhounds and the conference with an average of 38.7 yards per punt. McLain was called on just 41 times this season and placed 13 punts inside the 20-yard line with one fair caught and just four touchbacks. McLain, who has had just one punt blocked this season, is third all-time at Moravian with 5,719 yards on 151 punts (fourth all-time) for a school record average of 37.9 yards per punt.

The complete Football Gazette All-East Region Teams can be found at http://www.capitalcrusaders.net/footballgazette/.