Six Football Rams Named Preseason All-America

The Sports Network Preseason All-America Team | Beyond Sports Network Preseason All-America Team
 
Bronx, N.Y. (July 1, 2014) – Six Fordham University football student-athletes were honored today by being placed on preseason All-America teams with Sam Ajala, Mason Halter, Stephen Hodge, Dan Light and Mike Nebrich being named to The Sports Network preseason All-America squad and the five were joined by Michael Marando on the Beyond Sports Network preseason All-America team.
 
Fordham tied Eastern Washington for the most preseason All-Americans on the Sports Network team and tied Eastern Illinois for most on the Beyond Sports Network squad.
 
Ajala and Hodge were named to The Sports Network first team while Nebrich and Halter were placed on the second team and Light on the third team. On the Beyond Sports Network team, Ajala, Halter, Nebrich and Hodge were placed on the first team with Light being named to the second team and Marando the third team.
 

After catching 26 passes for 312 yards over his first two years at Rose Hill, Ajala, who was a 2013 All-American and first team All-Patriot League selection, had a coming out party last fall, hauling in 93 passes for 1,646 yards, both team highs, with 14 touchdowns, tying for the team lead. He broke Javarus Dudley's 2003 school record of 1,439 receiving yards in a season and tied Dudley's school record for receiving touchdowns in a season, also set in 2003. Ajala was second the NCAA FCS in receiving yards and was second in the Patriot League and fourth in the NCAA FCS in receiving yards per game (117.4). He also ranked among the top 20 nationally in receiving touchdowns (tied for fourth) and receptions per game (12^th).
 
Over his career, Ajala has 119 receptions for 1,958 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is sixth on the school's all-time receiving yards list, seventh on the career receptions list and tied for sixth in receiving touchdowns.
 
Nebrich, a 2013 Beyond Sports Network and College Sports Madness All-American and the 2013 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, enjoyed one of the best regular seasons for a quarterback in school history.  He completed 353-of-480 passes (73.5%) for 4,380 yards with 35 touchdowns, and also rushed for 513 yards and nine scores. His completion percentage led the nation as did his total offense (376.4 yards/game) while he also ranked in the top five nationally in passing yards per game (336.9 - third), passing efficiency (171.3 - second), completions per game (27.15 - third), and points responsible for per contest (20.5 – third). He went 11-0 as the starting quarterback during the regular season in 2013, one of only two FCS signal-callers to put up an undefeated mark for the season. He set every school single season passing record this fall, eclipsing John Skelton's 2009 record of 284 completions for 3,708 yards and Mark Carney's 2001 mark of 27 passing touchdowns. Nebrich also set a Fordham record with 524 passing yards in a win against Holy Cross on Nov. 2.

 

Hodge, a 2013 Beyond Sports Network and College Sports Madness All-American the 2013 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, finished the season with 124 tackles, 94 solo, including 16 tackles for loss, five sacks, five forced fumbles, four quarterback hurries, three fumble recoveries and an interception. He led the nation in solo tackles/game (6.7) and led the Patriot League and was eighth the in country with the five forced fumbles. Hodge helped key Fordham's upset of Temple on Sept. 14 by making 11 tackles with a sack and a forced fumble, and also earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Georgetown (14 tackles, sack) and Holy Cross (15 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 FF). He was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week three times, tying Hodge for the most in League history.
 
Halter, who started every game at left tackle and was a first team All-Patriot League pick in 2013, anchored the Fordham offensive line, helping the offense put up record-setting numbers. The Rams led the NCAA FCS in pass completion percentage (70.6%), ranked third in passing offense (360.9 yards/game) and total first downs (364), and were seventh in total offense (515.3 yards/game). Fordham finished the season with a 4,000-yard passer, three 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher, believed to be the first time an NCAA team has accomplished the feat. The Rams scored 50 points or more five times, and accumulated 526 points for the season, breaking the school record of 418 set by the 2003 squad. Fordham also set school single season records with 7,214 total yards of offense, shattering the former school mark of 5,377 set by the 2009 team, and 5,052 passing yards, bettering the former record of 3,708 set in 2009.
 
Light, one of the top tight ends in Fordham history who earned first team all-Patriot League honors for the second straight year in 2013, caught 66 passes (a school record for tight ends) for 588 yards (the second most receiving yards for a Fordham tight end) and two touchdowns last fall. He led all NCAA FCS tight ends with 66 receptions (he was second in all of the NCAA Division 1) and ranked second in receptions per game (4.7) and third in receiving yards per game (42.0). He was eighth in the Patriot League in receptions per game (4.7) and tenth in receiving yards per game (33.2).
 
Marando, a first team All-Patriot League pick last fall, came into his own in 2013, connecting on 16 of 20 field goal attempts and 55 of 56 PATs. He booted three field goals in a game twice, including a career-long 47-yarder in the win at Temple, a game in which he provided Fordham's margin of victory with a PAT with under ten seconds left in the game. Marando's 55 PATs was a new school record, breaking the former mark of 47 set by Micah Clukey in 2003, and his 16 field goals made last year was the third highest total in Fordham history. He led the Patriot League and was 12^th in the NCAA FCS in field goals/game (1.3) and he was second in the league and 18^th in the NCAA in scoring (8.6 points/game).