BANGOR, Maine — Husson University football standouts Alex Young and Stephan Dance have been named to the 2014 USA College Football All-America First Team.
John Ashman of Maine Maritime Academy in Castine was an All-America third-teamer, while John Smith and Luke Washburn of Husson and MMA’s Jacob Doolan were named Division III Freshman All-Stars.
Young, a senior offensive lineman from Rockland, previously selected to the D3Football.com All-East Region Third Team, was named the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year and was a first-team All-ECFC pick.
The 6-foot, 275-pound Young anchored a line that helped produce the conference’s best offense as well as the league’s top running back and No. 2 passer for coach Gabby Price.
Dance, a senior safety from New London, Connecticut, caps off his season after being chosen as the ECFC Defensive Player of the Year. He also was named to the ECAC North All-Star Team, New England Football Writers All-Star Team and First Team All-ECFC.
The 5-10, 195-pounder notched 74 tackles to go with two interceptions and five pass breakups. Dance led a Husson defense that gave up a league-low 18.4 points per game and tied for the lead with 19 interceptions and 27 sacks. His 352 tackles set a Husson career record.
Ashman was a key member of the offensive line at MMA. The 5-9, 260-pounder from Levant, who played at John Bapst High School in Bangor, was instrumental in helping the Mariners amass 3,545 rushing yards in 2014.
Ashman, an All-New England Football Conference second-team selection, helped Chris McKenney’s Mariners lead the nation in rushing with 393.9 yards per game.
Smith, a freshman running back from Fayetteville, Georgia, was named the ECFC Rookie of the Year, First Team All-ECFC, to the NEFW All-New England Team and the ECAC North All-Star Team.
He led the conference with a school-record 1,408 rushing yards and led the league with 13 touchdowns. Smith finished the season with eight straight 100-yard rushing games.
Washburn, a freshman defensive lineman from Litchfield, was named to the All-ECFC Second Team after notching 31 tackles and helped to anchor a defense that gave up a league-low 17.4 points per game.
Doolan, a freshman from Fairfield, led the Mariners with 1,180 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 131.1 yards per game and 9.3 yards per carry.
He posted seven 100-yard rushing games en route to recognition as the New England Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a second-team all-league pick.
Edwards key contributor for K-State
Justin Edwards left the University of Maine men’s basketball team after the 2012-2013 season for the opportunity to play at a higher level.
He is accomplishing that goal this season at Kansas State.
Edwards, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Whitby, Ontario, has been a key contributor for the Wildcats, who took an 11-7 record into Tuesday night’s game at ninth-ranked Iowa State.
Edwards, who sat out last season in compliance with NCAA transfer rules, has appeared in all 18 of Kansas State’s games this season, including 10 starts. He ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 6.0 points per game and also is averaging 3.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals.
While playing 20.8 minutes per game, Edwards is shooting only 38 percent (40-for-106) from the field, including 22 percent from the 3-point arc, and 56 percent from the foul line. He is tied for the team lead with 27 offensive rebounds.
Kansas State (4-1 Big 12) has won four straight, including a 63-61 victory over No. 21 Baylor on Saturday.
At UMaine, Edwards was named to the 2012 America East All-Rookie Team and was an all-conference, second-team selection as a sophomore in 2013. In 58 games for the Black Bears, including 56 starts, he racked up 887 points, 312 rebounds, 196 assists and 96 steals.
He averaged 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals while playing 32 minutes per contest under former head coach Ted Woodward.
St. Joseph’s Cahill reaches milestone
Junior center Morgan Cahill of Yarmouth became the 22nd player in the 38-year history of the Saint Joseph’s College women’s basketball program to reach the 1,000-point milestone in a 78-53 victory over Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, on Monday.
Cahill is just the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark as a junior and first to do so since Stacey Gelinas accomplished the feat in her third year in 2001. Cahill joins Gelinas, Linda Johnson (1981), Carolyn Brooks (1988), Mary Lou Kimball (1989) and Kendra Coates (1991) in the exclusive club.
Entering the game versus conference-rival Mount Ida, Cahill was 14 points shy of the four-digit mark and surpassed the plateau with a left-handed layup at the 13:51 mark of the second half.
Cahill, who currently has 1,001 points over 68 career games, has shot 47 percent from the field and 65.7 percent from the free throw line with 541 rebounds, 136 blocked shots, 75 assists and 61 steals over the last two and a half seasons.