Aug. 24, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - A dozen Patriot League football players received honorable mention preseason All-America honors from College Sporting News recently, with five of those recipients adding to earlier plaudits heading into the 2009 season.

Holy Cross senior quarterback Dominic Randolph, Lehigh senior linebacker Matt Cohen and junior offensive lineman Will Rackley, Bucknell junior wide receiver Shaun Pasternak and Lafayette junior kicker Davis Rodriguez were all named to the team after receiving at least one preseason All-America honor earlier in the year.

Randolph, the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, is a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, given to the Most Outstanding Player in the Football Championship Subdivision. Randolph was also named a preseason second-team All-American by The Sports Network and Phil Steele's 2009 College Football Preview, and an honorable mention choice by Consensus Draft Services. Cohen was selected as a first-team pick by Phil Steele's and earned honorable mention from Consensus Draft Services. Rodriguez, Pasternak and Rackley were all named to The Sports Network team, with Rodriguez as a second-team pick and Pasternak and Rackley on the third team.

Earning their first preseason All-America nod of the year were Holy Cross senior offensive lineman Aaron Jones, Lafayette senior offensive lineman Brian Wycinowski and senior defensive lineman Andrew Poulson, Lehigh senior defensive lineman B.J. Benning and junior defensive back John Kennedy, Fordham senior defensive back James Crockett and Bucknell senior return specialist A.J. Kizekai. Lehigh led all Patriot League schools with four selections to the team, while Lafayette had three and Bucknell and Holy Cross each notched two. The four selections for the Mountain Hawks were tied for ninth-most in the nation.

Eighteen Patriot League players have now received at least one preseason All-America selection going into the 2009 campaign. Colgate senior wide receiver Pat Simonds was a second-team pick by The Sports Network and Phil Steele's, while Fordham senior quarterback John Skelton, Lafayette senior linebacker Mark Leggiero, Bucknell junior defensive back Ahkiel White, Lehigh junior defensive back Jarard Cribbs and Holy Cross senior defensive back Michael Wright were all honorable mention choices by Consensus Draft Services.

The Patriot League football season begins on Sept. 5, when six of the League's seven teams are in action. The League schedule also opens that day as Georgetown visits Holy Cross.