Eight Football Players Land on ECAC Northeast All-Star Team; Middlebury's McKillop Named Player of the Year

Courtesy ECAC

CAPE COD, Mass. – Middlebury College junior quarterback Donald McKillop has been chosen as the 2009 ECAC Divsion III Northeast Football Player of the Year. McKillop, the 2009 NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year, led the Panthers to a 5-3 mark this season. The junior quarterback had a record-breaking fall, ending the year with Middlebury and NESCAC single-season records for completions (262), attempts (405), yards (2873), touchdown passes (22), and total offense (2967 yards).

McKillop is currently ranked first in the nation in completions/game with 32.75, while ranking second with 359.1 passing yards/contest. The junior was second on the team with 94 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns on the ground. He also holds Middlebury single-game records for completions (47), attempts (74) and yards (438). McKillop was the 2007 ECAC Division III Northeast Rookie of the Year.

Amherst and Westfield State both placed four players on the ECAC Northeast team, leading all schools in the region. From the 2009 NESCAC Football Champion Lord Jeffs were seniors Wyatt Moss, Edwin Urey, Mike Taylor, and Fred Argir.

Moss received All-NESCAC honors for the first time in his career this season, as he part of a front line that allowed a league-low eight sacks.

Urey helped the Lord Jeffs post the league’s best rushing defense, allowing only 50.9 yards on the ground per game and 1.5 yards per attempt. In addition, the Amherst defense had 38 sacks (1st NESCAC) and permitted only 13 of 25 incursions into the red zone to be successful (2nd). Urey led his squad and was second in the conference with 13 tackles for a combined loss of 79 yards and 8.0 sacks. He made 33 total stops this season (21 solo).

Argir intercepted a conference-best six passes in 2009, as the Jeffs led the league in turnovers with a plus-9 margin. Argir also had eight pass break-ups and 57 tackles (32 solo).

A big part of the conference’s top defense, Taylor and the Lord Jeffs allowed a league-low 10.4 points per game, 50.9 rushing yards per game, and surrendered only three rushing touchdowns. Taylor was second among his counterparts in the NESCAC in tackles with a career-best 89 (47 solo), averaging 11.1 per outing. He also contributed 11.0 tackles for a combined loss of 40 yards, four sacks for a total of 25 yards, five pass break-ups, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Taylor earned All-NESCAC First Team Defense for the first time during his tenure at Amherst as well.

Joining McKillop and the quartet from Amherst on the ECAC Northeast All-Star squad were Bowdoin sophomore WR Patrick Noone, Bates senior TE Sean Wirth, and Trinity sophomore kicker Tim Costello.

Noone had a breakout sophomore campaign for the Polar Bears, as he set or tied five different program records and broke the single-season conference record for receptions with 76 catches. Noone racked up 997 receiving yards, second all-time in the NESCAC, with a program-best seven touchdowns and a league-high 124.6 yards per outing.

Wirth posted a career-high average of 49.1 yards per game along with 9.8 yards per reception. An excellent blocker for the Bobcats, Wirth added in his sixth career touchdown reception this season.

Costello was 5-for-5 on extra point attempts and 10-for-11 in field goals this season. Costello nailed a career-long 42-yard field goal in double-overtime of the season finale against Wesleyan to give Trinity a 26-23 win.