Football Lands Seven On Empire 8 All-Conference Teams
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Nov. 17, 2004 – Springfield College senior fullback
Tim Lutgens is one of seven members of the Springfield College football team to earn Empire 8 Football Conference All-Conference honors.
Lutgens, senior
Brian Dewey and senior
Brian McLellan were first-team all-conference selections. Senior
Justin Fletcher was a second-team all-conference pick, and seniors
Ryan Sylvia,
Mike Clark and
Mike Kimmel were honorable mention all-league choices.
Lutgens, who hails from
Greenwich, N.Y., was a D3Football.com Pre-season Second-Team All-American and a Football Gazette Pre-Season Third-Team All-American in 2004. He is the only back in school history to break the 1,000-yard barrier in consecutive seasons. Lutgens rushed for a team-high 1,013 yards in ’04, and had 1,307 yards last season. He also had 14 rushing touchdowns this season. In ’03, Lutgens was a Football Gazette First-Team All-Region honoree, an ECAC Division III Northeast Second-Team All-Star and an All-Freedom Football Conference (FFC) First-Team selection.
Dewey, a right tackle from
Victory Mills, N.Y., was a consensus pre-season first-team All-American in 2004. In ’03, he earned D3Football.com First-Team All-America and Football Gazette Third-Team All-America accolades. He also picked up Football Gazette First-Team All-East Region, ECAC Division III Northeast First-Team All-Star, New England Football Writers’ Div. II-III All-Star and all-FFC first-team honors last season. A two-year starter, Dewey is a major reason why SC led college football in rushing (398.5 yards-per-game) in ’03, and is ranked second in Division III (384.9 ypg) this season.
McLellan, a defensive tackle from
Mansfield, Mass., is one of the league’s best interior lineman. He was second on the Pride with 6.5 tackles-for-loss, and third with 50 tackles. A three-year starter at SC, he has 23.5 tackles-for-loss and 8.5 sacks in his college career.
A 2004 Football Gazette Pre-Season Third-Team All-American and an Academic All-America candidate,
Fletcher, an inside linebacker from
Orwell, Vt., led the Pride with 60 tackles. This is third time he has earned all-conference honors. In 2002 and ’03, Fletcher made the FFC all-conference first team. Last season, he was also recognized as an ECAC Division III Northeast Second-Team All-Star and a Football Gazette Second-Team All-East choice. Fletcher has 180 tackles and 18 tackles-for-loss in his career.
Sylvia, a quarterback from
Marion, Mass., is SC’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (48) and points (288). This season, he has 771 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, and ranks 24th in Division III in scoring (9.3 points-per-game). In ’03, Sylvia was the ECAC Division III Northeast Player of the Year and the FFC Offensive Player of the Year. He was also honored as a Football Gazette Second-Team All-East Region selection and New England Football Writers’ Association Div. II-III All-Star.
Kimmel, a cornerback from
Peabody, Mass., is a three-year starter at SC. He registered 29 tackles, two interceptions three pass break-ups in nine starts in 2004.
Clark, a linebacker from
Paramus, N.J., enjoyed an excellent senior campaign. He was fourth on the Pride with 40 tackles, including 4.0 tackles-for-loss. Clark also registered an interception, one pass break-up and forced a fumble.
The Pride (7-2 overall, 4-2 Empire 8) plays host to Fitchburg State (8-3) in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III North Atlantic Football Championship on Sat., Nov. 20. This is SC’s third-straight post-season bid, a first in the 111-year history of the program.
Michael C. “Mike” DeLong ’74 enters his 31st season as a head football coach in the fall of 2012. He enters his 29th year at Springfield College alone. For the past 28 years, he has been the head coach at Springfield, his alma mater. Mike had also been the head coach at Maine Maritime in Castine, Maine in 1979 and 1980. Read more.
