NJAC Post-Season Honors Released; Dzierski, Geter, and Crowley Receive Top Awards
The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) released its annual list of post-season honors on Friday, and the Christopher Newport football program was well represented following a 7-3 season. First-year Head Coach Paul Crowley was selected Coach of the Year, junior quarterback Matt Dzierski was chosen Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, and freshman defensive back Yasir Geter was tabbed as the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
A total of 11 student-athletes received recognition, including seven named first team All-Conference. One CNU standout was picked to the second team, and two received honorable mention. The Captains closed the 2022 campaign last Saturday with a 36-33 loss at Salisbury, snapping a six-game winning streak and giving the Captains a second-place finish with a 5-1 record in the NJAC.
Dzierski was joined on the first team by freshman wide receiver Colin Hart, fifth-year senior offensive lineman Drew Knott, senior offensive lineman Josh Hartley, senior cornerback Josh Uvodich, junior safety Kindrick Braxton, and senior kicker Ryan Castle. Freshman running back Gunner White was named to the second team, and fifth-year senior linebacker Jason Massengill and junior offensive lineman Amaan Miller received honorable mention accolades.
Click HERE (PDF) for the complete NJAC release.
Dzierski, from Lorton, Va., becomes the first CNU player in program history to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors. He threw for 11 touchdowns and ran for 11 more this year, and completed 68 percent of his passes while averaging 172 yards passing and 44 yards rushing per game. Dzierski has started all 20 games over the last two seasons for the Captains at quarterback, most ever by a CNU signal caller, and adds his name for a second time to the list of Offensive Players of the Year that also includes Roland Hilliard (2004), Tunde Ogun (2008), and Taylor Loudan (2016).
Geter, from Suffolk, Va., showed steady improvement throughout his freshman season this year and picked off two passes and also registered a sack for the Captains. He tallied a total of 28 tackles, including 20 solo stops, from his cornerback position. He becomes the third CNU conference Defensive Rookie of the Year, joining Olando Holmes (2001) and Adrin Diggs (2007).
The Coach of the Year honor for Paul Crowley is the first for a CNU Head Coach since Matt Kelchner was honored in 2014 by the USA South Athletic Conference. Crowley, a former CNU offensive lineman and longtime assistant, took over the program last December after a 5-5 season. The Captains far exceeded expectations after being picked to finish fifth this season in the pre-season poll of NJAC coaches.
Freshman wide receiver Colin Hart led the team with 42 receptions and 609 yards, an average of 68 yards receiving per game. The Ashburn, Va., native caught four touchdown passes from Dzierski.
Senior kicker Ryan Castle connected on nine-of-11 field goal attempts as well as 29-of-31 PAT attempts. Castle, from Dublin, Va., scored 56 points moved up to first team this year after being a second team All-Conference selection last year.
Christopher Newport's offensive line was anchored this fall by Drew Knott, Josh Hartley, and Amaan Miller. They helped lead the way for CNU to average 150 yards rushing per game and score 18 rushing touchdowns. Knott, from King George, Va., receives his third straight All-Conference honor, and second straight first team nod. Hartley and Miller, both from Newport News, earned their first conference post-season awards.
CNU's defensive backfield produced two first team members in Josh Uvodich and Kindrick Braxton, who created problems all season for opposing offenses. Uvodich, a senior from Williamsburg, picked off two passes and made 36 tackles, including 30 solo stops as he receives his second career honor from the NJAC. Braxton, a junior from Goochland, Va., led the Captains in tackles this season with 75, and 48 unassisted. Braxton set a new school mark for tackles in a game with 21 last week at Salisbury, and also recorded an interception as he earns his first conference post-season honor.
Freshman running back Gunner White, from Virginia Beach, topped the squad in rushing and all-purpose yards this year. He rushed 136 times for 726 yards (73 yards per game) and also caught 19 passes for 224 yards (22 yards per game). He scored six times, four touchdowns on the ground and two through the air.
Fifth-year linebacker Jason Massengill, from Columbia, Md., earns his first post-season conference accolade after posting 22 tackles this season for the Captains. He made 18 solo stops and also recorded 1.5 sacks
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