Former New Canaan football star Zach Allen had an excellent year at defensive end as one of Boston College’s best players and former Trinity Catholic star Thomas Costigan was selected the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year after his superb junior season as a linebacker for Bryant University.
Those two highlighted the many achievements of former FCIAC football players for their respective college football teams this past fall.
The current college players and their achievements are listed underneath each of the FCIAC high schools which they attended.
Darien
Andrew Stueber was a 6-foot-7, 314-pound offensive lineman at Michigan, which ended its season with an 8-5 record.
Quinn Fay was a 6-foot-3, 215-pound defensive lineman at Tufts.
Brian Keating played in 10 games as a 6-foot, 231-pound freshman long snapper for the University of Connecticut.
Brian Peters was a 6-foot, 200-pound first-year quarterback for the University of New England.
Timmy Graham did not appear in a varsity game as a 6-foot-4, 185-pound redshirt freshman quarterback at Bryant.
Shelby Grant and Sam Bowtell were both members of the Trinity College football team. Grant was a 5-10, 175-pound sophomore running back who scored one touchdown and rushed for 96 yards on 27 carries in seven games. Bowtell was a 6-foot, 230-pound junior offensive lineman.
George Reed was a 5-foot-10, 220-pound junior linebacker for Union College. He had 34 total tackles in 10 games, including two sacks.
Jack Tyrell and Jack Griffiths were both junior offensive linemen for Amherst. Tyrell was a 6-foot-5, 265-pounder who played in eight games this past season and has played in 19 games during his career. Griffiths played in three games this past fall and has played seven career games.
Griffin Ross was a 5-foot-9, 177-pound junior wide receiver who saw action in two games for Bowdoin.
Daly Hebert was a 6-foot, 198-pound kicker for St. Lawrence. He attempted six fields and made three of them.
Henry Baldwin was a 6-foot-3, 201-pound backup senior quarterback at Yale who served his role as the sideline signal caller. He played in two games as a senior.
Fairfield-Warde
Brandon Bisack was a 6-foot-6, 227-pound redshirt sophomore quarterback at the University of Connecticut.
Greenwich
Zhaire House, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound freshman defensive back at Western New England, was named the Commonwealth Coast Football Defensive Rookie of the Year and to the All-CCC Second Team after an outstanding year in which he had two interceptions, a team-high seven pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and made 44 tackles in 11 games. House was named the conference’s Rookie of the Week three times.
Sam Colandro was House’s teammate at Western New England. The 6-foot, 230-pound freshman defensive lineman played in one game.
Vincent and Anthony Ferraro were both wide receivers at St. Lawrence. Vincent Ferraro put the wraps on a very good career as the senior 6-foot, 185 pounder racked up 188 career receptions for 2,499 yards and 19 touchdowns. This past final season he had 64 receptions for 721 yards and three touchdowns to follow up on a junior season in which he had 55 receptions for 831 yards with eight touchdowns. Anthony Ferraro was a 5-foot-10, 165-pound freshman backup who caught six passes for 79 yards, including his first career TD.
Austin Longi and Paul Williams both played for Fordham. Longi was a 5-foot-8, 150-pound junior wide receiver who caught three touchdown passes and had 38 receptions for 478 yards in seven games this year. During the first three years of his career he has accumulated 131 receptions, 1,715 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. Williams was a 6-foot-2, 200-pound freshman long snapper who played in 11 games.
Scooter Harrington was a 6-foot-5, 247-pound sophomore tight end for Stanford. He had three receptions for 10 yards – grabbing one reception in each of Stanford’s first three games of the year. Harrington was a Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention.
Bob Decker was a 5-foot-11, 253-pound senior who served as the long snapper on place kicks at the University of Arkansas. Prior to that he had enrolled at UConn.
Kevin Woodring played in nine games as a 6-foot-3, 285-pound offensive lineman at Middlebury College.
Blake Guerrieri and Christian Novakowski were both freshman offensive linemen at Salve Regina. Guerrieri, a 5-foot-8, 275-pounder, played in four games. Novakowski, a 6-foot-2, 230-pounder, played in two games.
Emmett Odegard was a 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior who was the primary long snapper at Utah State for the last two years.
James Day recorded six tackles in two games as a 5-foot-10, 205-pound defensive back for Pace University.
Kevin Iobbi is a 5-foot-8, 168-pound freshman defensive back who played in nine games for Hamilton.
Chase Piro played in one game as a 5-foot-10, 255-pound freshman offensive lineman for Gettysburg.
Connor Langan was a 6-foot-2, 196-pound freshman quarterback for Dickinson.
Cole Hartley was a 6-foot, 185-pound freshman running back for Richmond.
Nic Smoller was a 6-foot-4, 222-pound redshirt freshman quarterback at Elon.
Tyler Farris saw action in eight games as a 5-foot-7, 150-pound freshman wide receiver at Colby.
Jose Melo was a 5-foot senior quarterback for the Franklin and Pierce sprint football program. Sprint football is a program at United States colleges in which standard American football rules are utilized and players must maintain a weight of 178 pounds or less and a minimum of five percent body fat to be eligible to play. Melo completed 53-of-150 passes for 752 yards with eight touchdown passes during his last two years.
Brien McMahon
Andrew Starr played in 11 games as a 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior offensive lineman for Sacred Heart University.
Joseph Magnoli was a 6-foot-4, 309-pound senior offensive lineman for Western Connecticut State University.
New Canaan
Zach Allen, the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year as a New Canaan senior in 2014, was so outstanding as as a 6-foot-5, 285-pound junior defensive end for Boston College that the alumni and fans were thrilled to her the recent announcement that Allen decided to return to BC for his senior year. Allen received feedback from the college advisory committee with a consensus second-round grade regarding the upcoming NFL Draft.
Allen started 13 games and was second on the team with 100 tackles. He led the Eagles with six sacks and tied for 10th in BC single-season history with his 15.5 tackles for a loss. Allen earned All-ACC Honorable Mention and was named the defensive recipient of the 79th annual George “Bulger” Lowe Award, commonly known as “New England’s Heisman Trophy” and one of the country’s oldest college football awards. Allen, a CoSIDA all-district academic selection, has a 3.6 GPA and will receive his finance degree this coming December.
Lucas Niang and Michael Collins were teammates at Texas Christian University. Niang was a 6-foot-7, 315-pound offensive tackle who started in eight of the 12 games he played in. Collins was a 6-foot-5, 210-pound sophomore quarterback who did not see any action this year after transferring from Penn University.
Nick Cascione, Teddy Hood and Cass Knox played for Union College. Cascione was a 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior starting quarterback. Cascione completed 61 percent of his passes (172-for-281), he threw 17 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, and he threw for 2,034 total yards for an average of 184.9 yards per game. Knox was a 5-foot-11, 190-pound sophomore safety who had 24 total tackles in eight games. Hood was a 6-foot-1, 255-pound freshman offensive lineman.
Mike Root started every game at MIKE linebacker for Lafayette College and finished second on the team with 77 tackles, including 1.5 sacks among his 4.5 tackles for loss. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior has started every game the last two years as he led the Leopards with 85 tackles last year.
Cole Harris had 47 tackles in nine games as a 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior defensive back for Wesleyan University. He finished his career with 99 tackles and two interceptions in 24 games.
Sterling O’Hara was a 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior safety for Ohio Wesleyan who had 31 total tackles and three interceptions, including a pair of interceptions against Oberlin on Oct. 28.
Ryan Becker played in seven games as a 6-foot-6, 315-pound offensive lineman for Sacred Heart University.
Beau Santero caught seven passes in nine games, including one touchdown reception, as a 6-foot-3, 225-pound senior tight end for Amherst College.
Matt Cognetta and Mike Cognetta both played for St. Lawrence. Matt played in seven games as a 5-foot-7, 170-pound running back and rushed for 124 yards on 46 rushes and two touchdowns. Mike was a 5-foot-7, 165-pound defensive back who had 40 total tackles in nine games.
Alex LaPolice was a 6-foot, 185-pound junior wide receiver at Harvard who played in three games.
Joao Rocha played in five games as a 6-foot-1, 235-pound offensive lineman at Middlebury College.
Jim Keneally was a 5-foot-11, 260-pound junior offensive lineman for Claremont McKenna College who played in two games this year and has played in 17 games in his career.
Malakai Holan was a 5-foot-9, 277-pound freshman defensive lineman at Nichols College who registered a sack among his four total tackles in seven games.
Max Wilson played in three games as a 5-foot-10, 166-pound senior defensive back at Bowdoin College.
Will Conley was a 6-foot-7, 260-pound freshman offensive lineman who saw action in four games for Fordham University.
Jack Kircher was a 6-foot-5, 265-pound freshman defensive lineman at Lehigh who had four tackles.
Thomas Root was a 5-foot-10, 180-pound freshman defensive back for Carnegie Mellon who played in one game.
Andrew DeFranco is a 5-foot-10, 175-pound sophomore at Colby College who played in nine games and had three tackles.
Ryan Rigione was a 6-foot, 220-pound sophomore offensive lineman for Bates College who was a NESCAC Fall All-Academic selection this fall.
Norwalk
Evan Adams was a 6-foot-6, 338-pound redshirt sophomore offensive lineman for Syracuse. He will begin next season with a streak of 21 starts in a row at right guard, which is the most consecutive starts of any Orange player on offense. He has played more than 1,700 combined snaps in that span.
Corey Barrett was a 6-foot-2, 285-pound junior defensive lineman for Savannah State who had five tackles.
Krishtjan Frrokaj was a 6-foot-1, 192-pound freshman wide receiver at Fordham.
Deandre Russell was a 5-foot-6, 169-pound wing player who played in one game for Western New England.
Eddie O’Hara had 17 tackles, including a sack, in 10 games as a 6-foot, 235-pound sophomore linebacker for Bentley University.
Darius Fogle was a 6-foot-3, 274-pound senior offensive lineman for Western Connecticut State University.
Colin Page was a 6-foot-2, 215-pound freshman offensive lineman at Worcester State.
St. Joseph
Steve Hashemi was a 6-foot-6, 293-pound offensive lineman who played in 33 games during his four years at the University of Connecticut, including seven during this past senior season and a dozen two years ago as a junior. As a freshman in 2014 he saw time in six games on special teams and was selected to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team.
Pete Mestre started at left tackle in all 11 games as a 6-foot-6, 316-pound redshirt junior for Bryant.
Chris Taylor was a 6-foot-2, 255-pound offensive lineman who played in eight games for Middlebury.
Nick DiCairano was a 5-foot-11, 156-pound sophomore kicker who appeared in six games for Pace University and was 1-for-2 in field goal attempts (a 30-yarder) and 8-for-10 in points after touchdown.
Cam Ryan and Lars Pederson were teammates at Cornell. Ryan was a 6-foot-4, 230-pound sophomore linebacker at Cornell. Pederson was a 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior wide receiver who had seven receptions for 70 yards in 10 games.
Joe Kucky was a 5-foot-9, 190-pound first-year linebacker for the University of New England.
Stamford
Jalen Brown was a 6-foot-1 redshirt freshman quarterback and Rich Benoit a 6-foot-4 sophomore tight end at Monroe College. Brown played in eight games, completed 42-of-84 passes for 543 yards, threw six touchdown passes and rushed for another four touchdowns.
Chris Desir was a 5-foot-9, 214-pound defensive end at Plymouth State.
Jarny Francois had an injury redshirt year in the fall and Ryan Holbrook is set to play with Southern Connecticut State University during the upcoming spring practices.
Trinity Catholic
Thomas Costigan was a 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker for Bryant who recorded a career-high 16 tackles against Duquesne in the season finale to put the wraps on a fantastic season in which he was selected the NEC Defensive Player of the Year, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-NEC First Team, the All-ECAC First Team and the All-New England First Team.
Two weeks after he became Bryant’s second NEC Defensive Player of the Year, Costigan became the program’s first-ever ECAC Defensive Player of the Year. Costigan became just the fourth Associated Press All-American in program history when he was selected an AP Third-Team All-American.
While putting together one of the best seasons in the program’s history, Costigan was the first player in school history to earn STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week honors and the second player in school history to surpass 100 tackles (103). He tied the single-season school record of 11.5 sacks. Costigan had 17 tackles for a loss, four forced fumbles, an interception, three pass breakups and he registered at least 10 tackles in five games.
Frank Alfano was a 6-foot, 191-pound freshman wide receiver for Sacred Heart University.
Will Dorvilier was a 5-foot-10, 231-pound sophomore linebacker at Western Connecticut State University.
Izaiah Sanders was a 6-foot-2, 205-pound freshman wide receiver at Southern Connecticut State University.
Timothy Val was a 6-foot-2, 290-pound freshman offensive lineman for American International.
Justin Przypek was a 5-foot-9, 190-pound junior fullback for Springfield College who played in three games.
Pat Maloney played two games as a 5-foot-11, 227-pound junior outside linebacker at Castleton.
Trumbull
Danny Hoffman was a 5-foot-6, 160-pound wide receiver who played in five games at Salve Regina.
Ryan and Jack Kelly were both linebackers for Stonehill College. Jack was a 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior who had 31 tackles in five games. Ryan was a 6-foot-1, 215-pound freshman.
Justin Appleby and Robert Ryan were both freshmen on the Western Connecticut State University roster. Appleby was a 6-foot-3, 276-pound offensive lineman. Ryan was a 6-foot, 215-pound running back/linebacker.
Corey Haslam was a 6-foot-2, 247-pound sophomore defensive lineman at Cornell.
Jared Platt played in a game as a 6-foot-3, 260-pound freshman offensive lineman at Castleton.
Westhill
Dante Fargnoli had 11 receptions for 91 yards as a 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior wide receiver for Gettysburg College.
Malik Dawkins, Haywood Alexander, Jr., Chianta Holtzclaw and Tariq Crumbly were all members of the Western Connecticut State University team.
Dawkins was a 6-foot-2, 287-pound sophomore defensive lineman who had 10 total tackles in eight games. Alexander had 20 total tackles in 10 games as a 6-foot, 282-pound junior defensive tackle. Holtzclaw was a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior defensive end. Crumbly was a 6-foot-1, 176-pound sophomore cornerback.
Matt Alswanger was a 5-foot-10, 155-pound freshman kicker/punter at Tufts. Alswanger scored 39 points by going 4-for-5 on his field goals and 27-for-29 on points after touchdowns.
Matt Vilas played in four games as a 6-foot, 278-pound junior offensive lineman for Catholic University.
Mekhi Barnett was a 5-foot-11, 215-pound freshman inside linebacker for Southern Connecticut State University.
Brendan Holtzclaw was a 6-foot-2, 200-pound freshman linebacker for Louisburg College.
Wilton
Brett Phillips was a 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back who completed a solid career as a senior captain at Tufts. He had 50 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble in nine games.
TJ Savvaides and Tyler Mirable were both juniors at St. Lawrence. Mirabile was a 6-foot-1, 230-pound defensive lineman who had 27 solo tackles and 62 total tackles, including 8.5 sacks among his 16 tackles for loss of yardage in 10 games. Savvaides was a 6-foot-1, 235-pound linebacker.
Patrick Ryan was a 5-foot-8, 165-pound junior defensive back at Washington and Lee who played in six games and had 16 total tackles.
Joe Fraccaroli was a 6-foot-3, 328-pound redshirt junior offensive lineman for Marist. He played in eight games this past season and has played in 29 games through his three-year career.
Joey McFadden was a 5-foot-11, 235-pound freshman defensive lineman for Ithaca College.
Martynas Zoruba played in three games as a 5-foot-10, 245-pound freshman defensive lineman for SUNY Maritime College.
Jack Dexter picked off a pass and registered 26 tackles in 11 games as a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore linebacker for Saddleback College.
