James Madison headlines CAA preseason honors

By AP
Published

(STATS) - Defending FCS national champion James Madison led the way in the CAA Football preseason honors announced Tuesday, tabbed in the preseason poll to repeat its conference title and gaining the most players on the preseason team with six.

The Dukes finished 14-1 last season, including 8-0 in the CAA. They received 21 of the 24 first-place votes and senior quarterback Bryan Schor was named the conference's preseason offensive player of the year.

"There's a lot of good football teams in the CAA and there's a lot of people who have a shot to win it," second-year coach Mike Houston said at CAA media day in Baltimore. "It's a very talented league. You could probably take half a dozen teams and realistically be able to argue why they will win the league championship this year. That certainly makes it a deal where you can't look too far ahead."

Richmond gained the other three first-place votes in the poll and was picked second with Villanova third, New Hampshire fourth and Delaware fifth in the 12-team conference.

Although picked ninth, Maine had the second-most preseason selections with four. Albany, Delaware, Richmond, Stony Brook and Villanova tied for the third-most selections with three each.

Villanova senior safety Rob Rolle was the preseason defensive player of the year.

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CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL=

Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors Poll

1. James Madison (21 first-place votes), 241 points

2. Richmond (3), 210

3. Villanova, 209

4. New Hampshire, 169

5. Delaware, 133

6. Albany, 129

7. William & Mary, 124

8. Stony Brook, 118

9. Maine, 100

10. Towson, 84

11. Elon, 36

12. Rhode Island, 31

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CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON TEAM=

Offensive Player of the Year - Bryan Schor, QB, James Madison

Defensive Player of the Year - Rob Rolle, S, Villanova

Offense

QB - Bryan Schor, James Madison, Sr.

RB - Stacey Bedell, Stony Brook, Sr.

RB - Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks, Albany, Jr.

RB - Deontez Thompson, Richmond, So.

FB - Anthony Manzo-Lewis, Albany, Sr.

WR - DeVonte Dedmon, William & Mary, Sr.

WR - Neil O'Connor, New Hampshire, Jr.

WR - Micah Wright, Maine, Jr.

TE - Jonathan Kloosterman, James Madison, Sr.

OL - Jamil Demby, Maine, Sr.

OL - Chris Durant, William & Mary, Sr.

OL - Brody Kern, Delaware, Sr.

OL - Timon Parris, Stony Brook, Sr.

OL - Aaron Stinnie, James Madison, Sr.

Defense

DL - Andrew Ankrah, James Madison, Sr.

DL - Malachi Hoskins, Albany, Sr.

DL - Bilal Nichols, Delaware, Sr.

DL - Brandon Waller, Richmond, Sr.

LB - Charles Bell, Delaware, Sr.

LB - Shayne Lawless, Stony Brook, Jr.

LB - Sterling Sheffield, Maine, Jr.

LB - Ed Shockley, Villanova, Sr.

S - Raven Greene, James Madison, Sr.

S - Rob Rolle, Villanova, Sr.

CB - Najee Goode, Maine, Sr.

CB - Prince Smith Jr., New Hampshire, So.

Special Teams

PK - Griffin Trau, Richmond, Jr.

P - John Hinchen, Villanova, Sr.

Return - Shane Simpson, Towson, So.

Specialist - Robert Carter, James Madison, Jr.