Paulish, Castillo, Daramy Also Named to Preseason Team; Raiders Picked Third
Colgate’s Pat Afriyie enters the 2017 season right where he left off in 2016: As the undisputed best defensive football player in the Patriot League.
Afriyie was tabbed the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in voting by the league coaches and sports information directors released Thursday. The senior defensive end finished last year as the Patriot League’s top defensive player on his way to multiple All-America status.
“Pat represents not only everything you want your football player to be, he represents what I want my sons to become,” Colgate head coach Dan Hunt said. “Pat exemplifies what you want in a human being. He works hard, he’s never satisfied, he does whatever you ask him to do and he sees beyond that.
“He’s not going to just be compliant and do what you ask him to do; he is committed and he always does more. He’s a great student a great representative of this team and of Colgate.”
Colgate as a team is picked for a third-place finish behind Lehigh and Fordham. The Raiders host those two teams in that order to begin Patriot League play Oct. 7 and 14.
“We are really excited for the start of the season,” Hunt said. “We have a lot of positive things going on in our program right now. Over the summer, we installed a new playing surface at our stadium and we are just finishing up the final touches on about a $1.4 million locker room, meeting room and academic center renovation in our facility. That’s been exciting.
“We’ve got the early start to the season out in California in August and we can’t wait to get started. It should be fun.”
Chasing Career Sacks Record
Afriyie last season posted 10 sacks for minus-83 yards and 21 tackles-for-loss for minus-108 yards, leading the Patriot League and finishing fourth nationally in both categories. He enters 2017 third on the Colgate career chart with 24 total sacks, just 4½ behind leader Kelly Robinson (1979-81).
It’s the second year in a row that a Colgate Raider is the preseason pick for Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, Kyle Diener was the choice. Diener went on to lead the Raiders in tackles for a third straight season, finishing with 74 in 2016 and 332 for his career. Colgate with Afriyie and Diener leading the charge led the nation and set a program record for rushing defense with a 69.4-yard average.
Joining Afriyie on the 2017 Patriot League Football Preseason All-League Team are offensive lineman Ryan Paulish and defensive backs Tyler Castillo and Abu Daramy. Paulish last year was an All-Patriot League First Team pick, while Castillo made the Second Team and Daramy was the league’s Rookie of the Year on his was to Hero Sports Freshman All-America status.
Colgate begins practice Monday as preparations get underway for the 2017 opener Aug. 26 at Cal Poly. Kickoff is 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern), with ESPNU carrying the telecast.
2017 Patriot League Football Preseason Poll
- Lehigh 70 points (11 first-place votes)
- Fordham, 61 (3)
- COLGATE, 54
- Holy Cross, 39
- Bucknell, 36
T6. Lafayette, 17
T6. Georgetown, 17
2017 Patriot League Football Preseason All-League Team
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Chase Edmonds, RB, Fordham (Sr.)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Pat Afriyie, DL, COLGATE (Sr.)
Offense#
QB: Kevin Anderson, Fordham (Gr.)
RB: Chase Edmonds, Fordham (Sr.)
RB: Dom Bragalone, Lehigh (Jr.)
WR: Austin Longi, Fordham (Jr.)
WR: Troy Pelletier, Lehigh (Sr.)
WR: Gatlin Casey, Lehigh (Sr.)
TE: Dylan Wadsworth, Lafayette (Sr.)
OL: Ryan Paulish, COLGATE (Sr.)
OL: Anthony Coyle, Fordham (Sr.)
OL: Ben Hartman, Fordham (Sr.)
OL: Zach Duffy, Lehigh (Sr.)
OL: Tim O’Hara, Lehigh (Sr.)
Defense
DL: Abdullah Anderson, Bucknell (Sr.)
DL: Pat Afriyie, COLGATE (Sr.)
DL: Manny Adeyeye, Fordham (Gr.)
DL: Tyler Cavenas, Lehigh (Sr.)
LB: Ben Richard, Bucknell (Sr.)
LB: J’V’on Butler, Georgetown (Jr.)
LB: Nick McBeath, Holy Cross (Sr.)
LB: Brandon Bryant, Lafayette (Sr.)
DB: Bryan Marine, Bucknell (Jr.)
DB: Tyler Castillo, COLGATE (Jr.)
DB: Abu Daramy, COLGATE (So.)
DB: Caleb Ham, Fordham (Sr.)
Special Teams
PK: Ed Mish, Lehigh (Jr.)
P: Ed Mish, Lehigh (Jr.)
RS: Gatlin Casey, Lehigh (Sr.)
Non-Specialist Player: Khristian Tate, Georgetown (So.)
#Offense has 12 players due to no FB/H-Back nomination.