Colgate's Nepa, New Hampshire's Ball and Brown's Hartigan Highlight 2005 Football Gazette Northeast All-Region Team

WESTMONT, Illinois ~~ Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, Jared Nepa from Colgate, 1-AA touchdown reception leader, David Ball from New Hampshire and, the recipient of a prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award, Brown's record-setting runningback, Nick Hartigan headline a talented 2005 Don Hansen's Football Gazette NCAA 1-AA Northeast All-Region team.

Nepa earned Linebacker of the Year while Ball claimed the Offensive Receiver the Year Award and Hartigan was named the Offensive back of the Year. Senior Jay McCareins from Princeton earned Defensive Back of the Year honors, while Antoine Bullock from Duquesne claimed Defensive Lineman of the Year honors. Cornell's Kevin Boothe is the Offensive Lineman of the year and Special Teams Player of the Year honors go to Steve Silva from Holy Cross.

Nepa, a senior, from Carbondale, Pennsylvania, served as a co-captain of Colgate's Patriot League championship team. He led the team with 105 tackles and led the Patriot League with five interceptions. Nepa returned two of those five interceptions for touchdowns, which tied the single-season Colgate record. He was also named a First-Team pick on the prestigious AFCA coaches All-American team. Sixty-six of Nepa's 105 totals for 2005 were solo hits. He also had 14 tackles for loss (-29 yards) with two sacks (-9 yards), three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, four pass breakups and the aforementioned five interceptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.

Ball, a junior, from Orange, Vermont, led the nation in touchdown receptions with 24 and is also ranked in the top 10 in receiving yards (1,551) and scoring (11.08 ppg). Ball is UNH's record holder in both single-season (24) and career touchdowns (45) as well as career receiving yards (3,541) and career receptions (211). With three touchdowns in the Wildcats' first-round victory against Colgate in the I-AA playoffs, Ball also broke the Atlantic 10 record for career receiving touchdowns. Ball, a First-Team all-Atlantic performer, totaled 1,551 receiving yards on 87 receptions averaging 17.8 yards per catch.

Hartigan, a senior, from Fairfax Station, Virginia, led Brown to the Ivy League championship by running for school and Ivy League records. Hartigan ran for 100 or more yards 23 times in his Brown career, and rushed for a Brown record 1,727 yards in 2005, second best in Ivy League football history. He set additional Brown records for touchdowns (21) and points (126) in a season. His 4,492 career rushing yards are third best in the Ivy record book and rank 20th in NCAA history. He also led the nation in rushing (172.7 yards per game) and scoring (12.6 points per game). His totals for the 2005 season also include 10 receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown.

See the full team at the Footbal Gazette website: http://www.donhansen.com/

This release was published on openPR.