Yale’s Pitsenberger named Ivy League Rookie of Year
Yale freshman running back Joshua Pitsenberger was selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year after helping the Bulldogs (8-2, 6-1 Ivy) to the league title this past season.
Pitsenberger’s 667 yards rushing were fourth in the league. He was named Ivy Rookie of the Week four times. His top performance came against previously undefeated Princeton when he rushed for 108 yards, one of six games where he ran for at least 80 yards. He led the team with seven rushing touchdowns.
Tony Reno was named Ivy League Coach of the Year, while six Bulldogs earned first-team All Ivy honors. In total, 19 Yale players were recognized by the Ivy League.
Offensive linemen Nick Gargiulo and Kiran Amegadjie, quarterback Nolan Grooms, defensive back Wande Owens, placekicker Jack Bosman and Pitsenberger were all named to the Ivy League first team. Gargiulo, Amegadjie and Owens were unanimous selections.
Tight end Jackson Hawes, defensive linemen Reid Nickerson and Clay Patterson and linebacker Hamilton Moore earned second team recognition.
Nine Bulldogs were honorable mention — offensive linemen Jonathan Mendoza and Cubby Schuller, running back Tre Peterson, wide receivers Mason Tipton and Ryan Lindley, defensive linemen Alvin Gulley, Jr. and Adam Raine, linebacker Joseph Vaughn and defensive back Kyle Ellis.
Osorachukwu Ifesinachukwu, who is a finalist for the 2022 National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame’s William V. Campbell Trophy, was selected Academic
All-Ivy.
Pitsenberger is the sixth Bulldog to be named Rookie of the Year since the award’s inception in 1981. The previous winners were Todd Tomich (1997), Ed McCarthy (2003), Mike McLeod (2005), Zane Dudek (2017) and Griffin O’Conner (2018).
Reno, who completed his 10th season, has guided the Bulldogs to Ivy titles in three of the last five seasons. Yale led the Ivy League in scoring offense (30.5 ppg.) and was second in scoring defense (19.5 ppg.). In addition, the Bulldogs led the league in rushing offense (232.8 yards per game) and total offense (412.8 yards per game).
The announcement of the Asa S. Bushnell Cup finalists (Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year) will be Tuesday.
SHU HONORS
Eight members of the Sacred Heart football team earned recognition from the Northeast Conference, led by First-Team selections for linebacker DeAndre Byrd and return specialist Rob DiNota.
Running back Malik Grant, linebacker Ernest Howard, cornerback Arsheen Jiles, offensive lineman Jonathan Mucciolo,
defensive end Kevin Peprah, and defensive tackle Carson Primrose were all named to the NEC secondteam.
Byrd led the team and was 14th in the NEC at 5.9 tackles per game. He had five tackles for a loss the last four games — including three versus Saint Francis to move him up to 11th in the NEC. Byrd had a season-high 10 stops at Morgan State.
DiNota was the top punt returner in the NEC, averaging 12.5 yards per return, which was four yards better than the next closest player. He was one return short of qualifying for the NCAA rankings where his return average would be ninth in the country. Against Dartmouth he had a career-long return of 47 yards that helped set up a SHU score. He ended his career eighth in SHU history with 1,347 receiving yards.
Grant was third in the NEC with 98.2 yards per game while his 1,070 yards placed 17th in the FCS. He had seven 100-yard rushing games and his 14 touchdowns led the NEC. Grant is fourth in school history with 2,598 rushing yards and seventh at 27 touchdowns.