Rams Honored at Annual Fordham Football Awards Dinner

Tarrytown, N.Y. – Members of the 2018 Fordham University football squad were honored at the annual Fordham Football Awards Dinner held at the Westchester Marriott on Sunday, February 10. Special team awards presented to members of the team included the Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year (Zac Spencer), the Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year (Sean Holland), the Academic Achievement Awards (Bryce Petty), the Macken Award (Andrew Mevis), the Bill Tierney Award (Dylan Mabin), the Danowski Award (Dominic Lombard and Lawrence Menyah), the Lansing Trophy (Jeremy Imperati), the 2018 Defensive Player of the Year Award (Glenn Cunningham), the 2018 Offensive Player of the Year Award (Austin Longi) and the Rich Marrin, FCRH '65, LAW '68, Most Valuable Player Award (Isaiah Searight).
 
Spencer and Holland received the defensive and offensive scout team player of the year honor, respectively, for the hard work and dedication they put in during the week to get the Rams ready for their next opponent. This work often goes unnoticed by the fans on Saturday but is highly valued by the coaching staff.
 
The Academic Award honors the football student-athletes with the highest GPA. This year the academic advisors recognized Petty, an Applied Accounting and Finance major with a 3.61 GPA who was named CoSIDA Academic All-District last fall as well as to the Academic All-Patriot League team. He started all eleven games for the Rams at free safety in 2018, recording 49 tackles, 31 solo, including 1.5 for loss and he also broke up four passes.
 
The Macken Award was established in memory of Rams' special assistant coach Bob Macken, who passed away suddenly in June of 1992. Coach Macken was a key part of the Fordham staff for seven seasons, always handling the "little things" that are so vital to keeping a program going.  He took special pride in working with the special teams, and his "Macken Pizza Party" for the top special teams plays of the year were a source of great pride for the team.
 
Mevis, a sophomore kicker, who handled all of the placekicking chores for the Rams in 2018, connecting on five of his seven field goal attempts and 15 of his 18 PATs to earn second team, All-Patriot League honors. He hit a career-long 54-yard field goal at Holy Cross, one yard shy of the Patriot League and Fordham record. A three-time Patriot League Special Teams Player of the week, Mevis also kicked off 36 times for an average of 62.1 yards/kick with 22 touchbacks.
 
Mabin, a senior defensive back, was named the recipient of the Bill Tierney Spirit Award, presented annually to the Fordham varsity player who in the estimate of his teammates represents the spirit that Bill so unselfishly exemplified.  A special Ram award was commissioned by Ernest H. Hammer, FCO '55, and created by David Hacker (a New York artist and a former formidable football player at California).  The award is presented annually to the winner of the Bill Tierney Award.  Tierney suffered a cardiac arrest brought on by viral myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, on October 12, 1996 while warming up for the Homecoming football game.
 
In 2018 Mabin garnered his second straight first team All-Patriot League postseason honor after recording 42 total tackles, 36 solo, including 2.5 for loss, despite missing three games due to injury. He also had seven pass break ups and one interception.
 
Over his career, Mabin recorded 149 total tackles, 125 solo, including 6.5 for loss. He also had 43 pass break ups and one interception.
  Lombard, a senior offensive lineman, and Menyah, a senior linebacker, were co-recipients of the 2018 Danowski Award, given annually to the football player who through his leadership, sacrifice, and commitment to excellence upon the field of play and within the University community exemplifies the character of Danowski, a former Fordham player and head coach.
 
Lombard started all eleven games at center in 2018, helping the Fordham offense lead the Patriot League in passing offense, averaging 200.7 passing yards/game, while Menyah started all eleven games at linebacker, recording 56 total tackles, 33 solo, including 2.5 for loss and one sack.
 
Imperati, who appeared in every game last fall for the Rams, was named recipient of the Lansing Trophy, named for Jim Lansing, a former player and coach who was a consensus All-American, in 1941, for the second straight year.  That was the same season that Fordham downed Missouri 2-0 to capture the 1942 Sugar Bowl.  As a coach, Lansing won national club championships in 1965 and 1968, and became the school's first varsity coach since 1954 when the program was elevated to Division III in 1970.  In five club seasons and two varsity campaigns, Lansing posted a 29-20-3 record.
 
Imperati finished the season with 21 total tackles, 13 solo, including 5.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks. He also had three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles.
 
Cunningham, a 2018 HERO Sports First Team Sophomore All-American and second team All-Patriot League pick last year, was named the team's Defensive MVP after he led the 2018 Rams with 92 total tackles, 53 solo, including 21.5 for loss and three sacks. He also had one pass break up and one interception. Cunningham led the Patriot League and was fourth in the NCAA FCS in tackles for loss/game (2.0) and his 21.5 tackles for loss last fall is a Fordham record, surpassing the former mark of 20.0 set by Carl Barbera in 1995.
 
Over his two-year Fordham career, Cunningham has 174 total tackles, 110 solo, including 31.0 for loss and 8.5 sacks.
 
Longi, who earned the Fordham Offensive Player of the Year award, garnered his second consecutive first team All-Patriot League honor at wide out this fall after being named second team in 2016. He caught 59 passes for 697 yards and four touchdowns, all team bests, in 2018. He led the Patriot League in receptions/game (5.5) and was second in receiving yards/game (65.1). Longi had four 100-yard receiving days in 2018, including a ten-catch, 137-yard, two-touchdown game versus Bryant.
 
Over his career, Longi had 192 receptions for 2,431 yards and 19 touchdowns. He graduates third on the Fordham career list for receptions, fifth in receiving yards, and tied for fifth in career receiving touchdowns.
 

Searight, a first team All-Patriot League selection last fall, received the Rich Marrin FCRH '65, LAW '68, Most Valuable Player Award. A three-year starter, he recorded 38 receptions for 453 yards, both second best on the team, with four touchdowns. Searight's best game was an eight-catch, 110-yard, one touchdown performance at Holy Cross.
 
Over his career, Searight made 89 receptions for 1,119 yards with ten touchdowns. He tied the school record for career touchdowns by a tight end and is just the fourth Ram tight end in school history with more than 1,000 career receiving yards.
 
Senior linebacker Noah Fitzgerald spoke on behalf of the players, thanking the coaching staff and his teammates for their hard work and dedication and for helping to transform him from someone who cared about himself to someone who cared about his teammates, despite the difficult season. He also encouraged the returning players to build on hard work put in by the 2018 seniors.
 
"I traded me for we," said Fitzgerald. "I look back on these tough times and wish I could do it all over again. We learned how to deal with adversity and learned that with the help of others, you can do anything. I think the future of Fordham football is bright."
 
Head coach Joe Conlin then took to the dais and called up each senior member, with each receiving a framed jersey and then offered a final recap to the 2018 season.
 
"I think when you look back and see that we played some of our best football late in the season, when pride was the only thing we were playing for, says a lot," said Conlin. "I'm confident that this year's seniors sent the right message to the returning players, leaving behind a culture that the returning players can build on."
 
The Rams are scheduled to open their 120th season of varsity football on Saturday, August 31, as they host Central Connecticut State University on Jack Coffey Field. Fordham is entering its 30th season as a member of the NCAA FCS Patriot League.