Ten Red Devils Earn All-Centennial Conference Football Honors

(Lancaster, Pa.) - Dickinson College had 10 players named to the 2009 All-Centennial Conference Football Team, announced on Monday afternoon. The Red Devils earned five spots on the First-team, four Second-team selections and one Honorable mention.

Senior quarterback Ian Mitchell (Newtown Square, Pa./Malvern Prep) was named the First-team signal caller, concluding a truly remarkable career. Mitchell broke five conference records and more than seven school records, leading Dickinson to an 8-2 finish in 2009.

Mitchell became the first conference quarterback to rush for over 2,000 yards and throw for over 5,000 during his career. He set conference records for rushing by a quarterback, both for the season with 927 yards and for his career with 2,486. He scored 15 rushing touchdowns this season, giving him 28 in his career as a quarterback, both conference and school records.

In addition, Mitchell set school marks for career total offense (7,668), passing (5,089), completions (403) and passing touchdowns with 37. He tied for third in the CC and was responsible for a school record 66 touchdowns in his career. He added records for single season passing yards (1,953) and total offense (2,689) in 2008. Remarkably, in a program that has always featured some outstanding running backs, Mitchell ranks third all-time in career rushing with 2,579 yards.

Mitchell earned his third All-Conference honor after being named to the Second-team in both 2007 and 2008.

Mitchell credits much of his success to the outstanding play of the offensive line. The Devils have had at least one First-team offensive lineman named each year except one since the 1987 season.

Senior Anthony Abbate (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield) has played a key role in the success of the offensive line and the Red Devil offense. Abbate earns his second straight selection to the All-CC First-team. Classmate Andrew Ciukurescu (Ambler, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) was named to the Second-team this season after earning Honorable mention in 2008.

The Red Devils averaged 243.8 yards per game to capture the Centennial Conference rushing title for the 14th time, ranking 18th in the nation in rushing offense. Dickinson ranked second in the conference in sacks allowed, averaging just one per game this season. They also ranked second in the CC in total offense and third in scoring offense.

Junior place-kicker Gordon Craig (Grove City, Pa./Grove City)was named to the First-team. He hit 9-of-10 field-goals and converted a school record 37-of-39 extra-points this season. He tied a school mark, hitting four field-goals against Johns Hopkins. Craig became the school's all-time leader in extra-points made with 94. He ranks second in career points by a kicker with 166, breaking the school single season mark with 64 points this fall.

The Red Devils earned two spots on the First-team defensive unit in senior safety Michael Maxwell (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville)and junior linebacker Pete Hammil (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West). Hammil led the Red Devils with five sacks this season and tied for third with 66 tackles. He recorded a season-best 10 stops in the opener at Grove City and tallied nine in the win at Moravian while adding 1.5 sacks in each game. He made eight stops, forced two fumbles and recovered another at Muhlenberg.

Maxwell has been a standout in the Devil secondary for the past four seasons. He ranks tied for sixth at Dickinson with 15 career interceptions, finishing second in the CC this fall with six. He was second on the team with 68 tackles, ranking 11th in the conference. Maxwell recorded 13 tackles in the season opener and closed out the year with a 14 tackle performance against Ursinus. He finished his career with over 200 tackles, primarily in just the past three seasons.

Earning Second-team honors on the defense were sophomoreCorwyn Gordon (Hanover, Pa./South Western) and junior Pat McNeal (Glen Mills, Pa./Archmere). McNeal tallied 66 tackles on the year, adding four interceptions, three tackles-for-loss and a sack. He opened the season with nine stops at Grove City and a key sack that helped secure the win. He intercepted a pair of passes in the win at Gettysburg.

Gordon moved from the offensive line to defense this fall. He proved to be a handful for opponents, recording 55 tackles, including 9.5 for losses. He had a big game in the Conestoga Wagon victory at Franklin & Marshall with five tackles, two-for-loss, a sack and a blocked extra-point.

Sophomore Gray Gish (Boerne, Texas/Culver Academy) also moved to defense from the offensive line. He made an immediate impact and earned Honorable mention this season. He recorded 6.5 tackles-for-loss and four sacks on the year, adding a pair of forced fumbles and a blocked kick. He tallied three sacks and the block in the win at F&M.

Looking back at the offensive side of the ball, senior fullback Tim Wells (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) earned Second-team honors this season. Wells proved to be one of the most consistent and versatile players on the offensive unit. A punishing rusher who could block and catch passes out of the backfield, Wells averaged just under five yards per carry for his career.

Wells rushed for over 500 yards in each of the past two seasons, and was one of four Red Devils to run for over 1,000 yards in his career. He finished with 1,341 rushing yards, scoring 23 touchdowns, including eight in 2009.

The Red Devils had a great season, finishing 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the Centennial Conference.