Dec. 16, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Holy Cross senior quarterback Dominic Randolph added to his collection of postseason accolades by receiving the ECAC Football Championship Subdivision Player of the Year award on Wednesday, and becoming one of eight Patriot Leaguers named to the ECAC All-Star squad.

The Patriot League led all FCS conferences with eight players named to the ECAC All-Star team. Holy Cross tied for the lead among all institutions with three selections to the All-Star team, while Fordham and Lehigh each had two and Lafayette had the remaining Patriot League honoree.

Randolph was joined on the ECAC FCS All-Star Offense by Fordham senior wide receiver Jason Caldwell and three senior offensive linemen: Holy Cross' Chris Poole, Lafayette's Ryan Hart-Predmore and Fordham's Andrew Tyshovnytsky. The defensive selections include Lehigh senior defensive lineman B.J. Benning and linebacker Matt Cohen along with Holy Cross senior defensive back Michael Wright.

Randolph is the first Patriot Leaguer to earn ECAC Player of the Year honors since Colgate running back Jamaal Branch claimed the award in 2003, and the seventh to do it all time. Randolph and Branch are the only Patriot League players to win the award since 1991.

The ECAC honor adds to an impressive career and season resume for Randolph, who had already been named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year for the third straight season and the winner of the 2009 Harry Agganis Award, presented to the most outstanding senior football player in New England. Randolph also placed fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, given to the Most Outstanding Player in the FCS.

Randolph completed 310-of-485 passes this year for 3,776 yards and 34 touchdowns, and also ran for seven touchdowns. Randolph set a Patriot League single-season record with 4,256 yards of total offense, also running for 480 yards. He tied the Patriot League single-season record for touchdown passes, and set the mark for touchdowns responsible for with 41. Randolph led the nation in total offense, while standing second in points responsible for, third in completions, fourth in passing yards and 13th in pass efficiency.

Randolph departs Holy Cross as the most decorated quarterback in Patriot League history, and one of the top signal-callers statistically in FCS annals. He set FCS records with 1,131 career completions and 1,786 attempts, and moved into third all-time with 13,455 passing yards. Randolph also closes his career with 14,230 career yards of total offense and 117 passing touchdowns, both in the top five in FCS history. In addition to those marks, Randolph tied the FCS record of 41 career 200-yard passing games and finishes with subdivision records of 42 consecutive games with a touchdown pass and 41 straight 200-yard passing games. He holds nearly every major passing record in the Patriot League.

The eight ECAC All-Star selections are the most for the Patriot League since 11 players were chosen in 2003, when there were both first-team and honorable mention choices. Randolph is the first Patriot League quarterback selected to the All-Star team since Lehigh's Phil Stambaugh was a second-team selection in 1999.

Randolph, Poole and Wright are the first ECAC All-Stars from Holy Cross since the 2005 season. Poole blocked for a Holy Cross offense that was among the most prolific in the country, while Wright notched 53 tackles, three interceptions and 13 pass breakups to rank among the national leaders in passes defended. It is the first time since 2000 that Holy Cross has multiple selections to the ECAC All-Star team.

Caldwell and Tyshovnytsky are Fordham's first ECAC All-Star honorees since 2007, and the Rams have multiple selections to the squad for the first time since 2006. Caldwell concluded the 2009 season with 79 receptions for 1,252 yards and nine touchdowns. He ranked third nationally in receiving yards per game, and 10th in receptions per game. Tyshovnytsky blocked for a Fordham unit that leads the nation in total offense.

Cohen and Benning give Lehigh an ECAC All-Star for the first time since 2005, and multiple selections for the first time since 2004. Cohen, the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, led the Patriot League with nine sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss while recording 63 tackles overall. Benning finished the year with 47 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and 7.5 sacks.

With Hart-Predmore's selection, Lafayette has placed at least one player on the ECAC All-Star team for five consecutive seasons. Hart-Predmore helped Lafayette rank in the top 20 nationally in total and passing offense.

All eight players were First-Team All-Patriot League selections, and some have now received multiple additional accolades in the postseason. Cohen was selected to the Walter Camp FCS All-America team on Monday and the AP FCS All-America Team on Wednesday. Randolph, Caldwell and Lehigh's Will Rackley were also AP All-America selections.

The ECAC will honor the players and rookies of the year in each division and region in February at the annual Eastern College Football Awards Banquet presented by FieldTurf, an event held in the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, N.J.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is the nation's largest athletic conference and only multi-divisional conference, with approximately 300 member institutions and over 122,000 student-athletes ranging across 16 states from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938 with 58 charter members, the ECAC has since emerged as the nationwide leader in service. The ECAC honors more than 2,000 student-athletes during the academic year through its all-star and player of the week programs. Each week, the conference has recognized 1a football players of the week, including offensive and defensive, in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, and Division III (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest Regions).