Courtesy of Stonehill Office of Athletic Communications
North Easton, Mass -- Senior co-captain Mike DeBye (Burlington, Mass.) and junior defensive back Jared Zanello (Walpole, Mass.), two key members of a Stonehill defense that finished its season ranked second in the country in turnover margin, were both named to Northeast-10 All-Conference teams it was announced on Thursday.
DeBye was named to the first-team after leading the team with 67 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss in just eight games. His season started out with a bang as he made an interception on the goal line in the waning seconds to preserve a 20-14 season-opening win over Assumption. He was later named Northeast-10 player of the week after posting a career-high 15 tackles, including 12 solo stops, as the Skyhawks defeated C.W. Post for the first time in the program's history. In the following week, he had 14 tackles in a loss to Iona and then 12 more stops at Bryant.
Zanello, who was named to the second-team, appeared in all 10 games for the Skyhawks, finishing second behind DeBye with 56 stops and a team leading four interceptions. In addition, he registered two sacks a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Two of his interceptions came in the win over Assumption, while the other two came in wins over Pace and Merrimack. On three different occasions, he was credited with two pass breakups in a game and his 11 total were second in the conference.
Stonehill, which completed its first season under head coach Robert Talley, showed marked improvement, increasing its record from 1-9 in 2006, to 5-5 in 2007.
The Skyhawks return several key lettermen next season, including quarterback Cruz Parsons (Signal Hill, Calif.) and tailback Jeffery Payne (West Haven, Conn.) on offense, Zanello, lineman Andrew Lesko (Florence, Mass.) and defensive back Jeff Cuqua (Walpole, Mass.) on defense.
Congratulations Stonehill Football
Coach Talley and his Skyhawks, after being picked to finish ninth in the Northeast-10 in the preseason coaches poll, wrapped up the 2007 season at 5-5, in sole possession of fifth place. Stonehill had its first non-losing season of football since the 1996 season.
Coach Talley has helped revive the Skyhawks and given reason for great optimism for the future of Stonehill football. What's more, Talley is just the second African-American head coach in Stonehill's history and one of only two active black head coaches in New England (Mel Mills - Becker College). He is also just one of two active black coaches in all of Division II (Paul Winters - Wayne State).
VOTE COACH TALLEY FOR COACH OF THE YEAR
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