SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – Following its third-consecutive Northeast-10 Championship, the No. 3/4 University of New Haven football team earned four major awards and 16 All-Northeast-10 Conference honors, as voted upon by the conference’s nine head coaches. The Chargers enter the NCAA Football Championship as one of six remaining unbeaten teams in Division II at 10-0.
 
Raheem Stanley (Hartford, Conn./Weaver ), David Stedman (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights ) and Tom Herd (Sparta, N.J./Sparta ) were lauded as the Defensive Player, Offensive Lineman and Defensive Lineman of the Year, and Peter Rossomando was named the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year.

A senior defensive tackle and First Team All-NE-10 honoree, Stanley has accumulated 37 tackles – including two sacks and eight tackles-for-loss – to anchor a New Haven defense that ranks fourth in the nation in rushing defense, fifth in scoring defense and seventh in total defense. Stanley, who has also tallied a pass break-up, a quarterback hurry and a blocked kick, proved valuable beyond his statistics for the Chargers, often demanding the attention of multiple blockers on both rushing and passing downs. He was previously a 2011 Don Hansen Football Gazette All-Super Region Third Team and First Team All-Conference and 2009 Second Team All-Conference and NE-10 All-Rookie Team selection.
 
Stedman, a Second Team All-America selection and Gene Upshaw Division II Line of the Year Award Finalist in 2011, repeats as NE-10 Offensive Lineman of the Year and as a member of the All-NE-10 First Team. The 6-2, 275-pound left guard is a mainstay on an offensive line that cleared the way for the Northeast-10’s second-ranked offense in terms of scoring, total offense and rushing offense.
 
The Northeast-10 leader with 10 sacks, Herd also ranks 12th in the nation in that category. The senior defensive end, who also earned First Team All-Conference laurels for the second consecutive season, totaled 21 tackles with two forced fumbles, two quarterback hurries, a pass break-up, a fumble recovery and an interception returned for a 27-yard touchdown in the season-opening win over Merrimack. In his career, Herd stands two sacks shy of Dwayne Brown’s all-time record of 30.5 sacks for the Chargers. Last season, he was an Honorable Mention All-America pick by Don Hansen Football Gazette and was recognized by two organized as a Second Team All-Super Region One honoree.
 
Rossomando grabs his third-consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year laurels on the heels of three-straight NE-10 crowns. New Haven is currently ranked No. 3/4 in the two major national polls and earned a first round bye in the NCAA Football Championship as the second seed in Super Region One. The Chargers’ fourth-year head coach, who took the reins of the New Haven football program upon its return beginning in the 2009 season, was a Liberty Mutual NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year Finalist last fall after guiding his squad to an 11-2 record and a place in the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals.
 
Including Stedman, the Chargers landed a conference-best six student-athletes on the First Team All-Northeast-10 Offense. Mike DeCaro (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay ) was lauded twice on the First Team as both a running back and return specialist. As a tailback, he has accounted for 781 yard from scrimmage (562 rushing, 219 receiving) and 10 touchdowns.  DeCaro is the Chargers’ leading rusher and ranks fifth on the team with 21 receptions out of the backfield. His 562 rushing yards rate him fifth in the conference while his seven scores on the ground slot him in a tie for third place.
 
As a returner, DeCaro boasts an average of 27.4 yards on kick returns at 14.7 on punt run-backs. He returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown in the Chargers’ 37-12 victory in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Game against American International en route to All-Championship Team recognition.
 
Jason Thompson (Indiantown, Fla./South Fork ) is among the four wide receivers on the First Team. The Chargers’ leader with 42 receptions, 812 yards, 14 touchdowns and 19.3 yards per catch, Thompson was the fifth-most prolific receiver in the NE-10 in terms of yardage and ranked in a tie for second place in touchdown grabs on a New Haven offense that attempted the second-fewest passes among conference teams. He was also a First Team All-NE-10 pick last season.
 
Another weapon in the Chargers’ air attack, tight end Kameel Lashley (Boston, Mass./Boston Comm. Leadership Academy) earns his second-straight First Team All-Northeast-10 nod. A 2011 All-America selection by Don Hansen Football Gazette, Lashley hauled in 15 passes for 221 yards and five touchdowns, as well as a pair of two-point conversion grabs.
 
Rounding out the First Team honorees is placekicker Chris Scifo (Coral Springs, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas / Central Connecticut State University). Also a 2010 First Team All-Conference specialist, Scifo stuck the longest field-goal by an NE-10 kicker this season at 45 yards and, at 8-for-10, had the best field-goal percentage of all conference kickers that attempted more than three field goals. He was also 47-for-48 on extra points to lead all kickers and rank fourth among all NE-10 players in scoring with 71 points.
 
Stanley and Herd are joined on the All-Northeast-10 First Team Defense by linebacker Mike Gomes (Brockton, Mass./Brockton ). Now a two-time First Team pick, Gomes recorded 39 tackles – including three tackles-for-loss netting -11 yards – and three pass break-ups.
 
The Most Outstanding Player of the Northeast-10 Championship Game, quarterback Ryan Osiecki (Seymour, Conn./Seymour / Univ. of Louisville) lands on the Second Team. The 2011 All-America honoree and NE-10 Offensive Player of the Year tallied 1,356 yards through the air on 106-for-150 passing with 14 touchdowns compared to four interceptions.
 
One of Osiecki’s favorite targets, wide receiver Demetrius Washington-Ellison (Rahway, N.J./Rahway / Univ. of Maine) was lauded alongside his quarterback as a Second Team choice.  The senior ranked second on the team behind Thompson with 29 catches for 427 yards and seven touchdowns with 14.7 yards per reception. Washington-Ellison was also a Second Team choice in 2010.
 
Two offensive linemen, James Malloy (Englewood, N.J./Dwight Marrow ) and Zach Conklin (Otisville, N.Y./Minisink Valley ), also claimed Second Team honors. Malloy started all 10 games at left tackle en route to his third All-Conference nod as a Charger. Conklin, who has been a Second Team All-Conference pick in each of his four seasons at New Haven, helmed the other side of the line at right guard.
 
Three Chargers were selected to the Second Team Defense. Rich Long (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle / Iona College), New Haven’s leading tackler with 57 stops, was tabbed as a Second Team linebacker. Long had 6.5 tackles-for-loss – including a half-sack – with five pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.
 
Cornerback Kendrick Butler (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Dillard / ASA College) nabbed his first career All-Conference laurel after amassing 38 tackles – including three tackles-for-loss – with two pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
 
Fellow secondary member Bernard Risco (Philadelphia, Pa./James Hillhouse) joins Butler of the Second Team on the back of 42 tackles, two pass break-ups and four interceptions. Risco was a Third Team All-Super Region, All-New England and First Team All-NE-10 honoree last fall.
 
As the No. 2 seed in Super Region One, the Chargers earned a first round bye in the NCAA Championship. New Haven will host the winner of this weekend’s matchup between No. 11 Indiana (Pa.) and No. 25 Shepherd (W.V.) at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 24 at noon. Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.