MEADVILLE, Pa. – Seven members of Allegheny’s football squad were named to the 2009 All-North Coast Athletic Conference team. Junior strong safety Sid Facaros was chosen to the first team, while Jake Vite, Nick Silva, and Andrew DeJong were all selected to the second team. T.J. Salopek, Ryan Zipf and Andy Schleihauf were named honorable mentions.
Facaros made 54 tackles this season, including 3.5 for a loss of 23 yards. He ranked third in the NCAC in interceptions with four, while forcing a fumble and recovering another. Facaros was named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week and selected as the NCAC Defensive Player of the Week for the game against Carnegie Mellon. He recovered the fumble he forced late in the fourth quarter to set up the Gators’ game-winning touchdown.
Vite, a senior wide receiver, chalked up a season-high 754 receiving yards on 58 catches. He averaged 13.0 yards per catch and 75.4 yards per game. Vite caught four touchdown passes, including a 48-yarder in the win over Wooster. That game, he recorded a career-high 168 yards in the air. Vite finishes his career tied for third in receptions (125), fifth in receiving yards (1,675) and tied for seventh in touchdowns (11).
Silva, a senior defensive lineman, is earning his second All-NCAC honors. He was named to the second team after being chosen as an honorable mention last year. Silva finished the season with 52 tackles, leading the squad with eight stops for a loss of 49 yards. He also had a team-high 5.5 sacks, including a season-best 3.5 in the season-finale victory against Ohio Wesleyan to be named the NCAC Defensive Player of the Week.
DeJong, a sophomore punter, led the NCAC in punting average with 39.7 yards per kick. He totaled 2,103 yards on 53 punts over 10 games. DeJong landed 13 punts inside the 20-yard line and had seven more over 50 yards. His season long was a 64-yarder in the win over Westminster.
Salopek, a junior quarterback, had his best season for the Gators this year. He threw for 2,374 yards for the second highest single-season total and completed 212 passes for the single-season record in pass completions. He tossed 14 touchdowns while rushing for five, including the game-winning score in the win over Wooster. Salopek finished second in the NCAC in yards per game (237.4). He threw for a career-high 364 yards and three scores, connecting with Terry Hartford for a 94-yard touchdown pass for the second longest TD pass in program history. Salopek was also named NCAC Offensive Player of the Week twice this season. He currently ranks first in career pass completions (513) and second in passing yards (5,606).
Zipf, a sophomore kicker, went 12-for-14 in field goals and 24-for-26 on PAT attempts this season. His longest field goal was a 40 yarder against Wabash on Oct. 3 and he made the difference in a 24-21 win over Wooster with a 39-yard field goal. Zipf led the team in scoring with 60 points and is tied for ninth in Division III statistics in field goals. This season, he was honored with the Fred Mitchell Award, an award that recognizes Division II and III place-kickers for their excellence on the football field and the community.
Schleihauf, a senior inside linebacker, picked up his second All-NCAC honor after being named to the second team in 2008. He led the NCAC in total tackles (116) and ranked second in tackles per game (11.6). Schleihauf finished tied for 14th in the nation in tackles per game. He recorded double-digit tackles in eight out of the 10 contests, including a season-high 17 in the win over Denison. Schleihauf also posted 7.5 tackles for a loss of 19 yards and 2.5 sacks.