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Seven Football Players Named to All-Atlantic 10 Teams
Nov. 22, 2005 ORONO, Maine - Seven University of Maine football players were named All-Atlantic 10 Conference selections on Tuesday, as announced by the league. The voting for the all-conference teams was done by league's head coaches. Highlighting the seven were senior co-captains Jermaine Walker (Teaneck, N.J.) and Ben Lazarski (New Windsor, N.Y.), who were named to the first-team at linebacker and offensive line, respectively. The two selections marks the 11th-consecutive season at least one Black Bear has been named to a conference first-team. Joining Walker and Lazarski were second-team selections defensive tackle Mike DeVito (Wellfleet, Mass.) and Jarrod Gomes (Bolton, Mass.), and third-team honorees wide receiver Kevin McMahan (Rochester, N.Y.), wide receiver Arel Gordon (Rochester, N.Y.) and defensive back Daren Stone (Lockport, N.Y.). Walker, who was a second-team selection in 2004, was named to the first-team after he totaled a career-high 114 tackles this season, which was the fourth-highest mark in the conference. He also registered 9.5 tackles for loss for minus-33 yards, 3.5 sacks for minus-18 yards, three pass breakups, one forced and recovered fumble, one blocked kick and one interception. Walker, who had at least 83 tackles in each of his last three seasons, made a career-high 17 tackles in a 25-15 win over Delaware (Oct. 29) and followed with 13 a week later in a victory at Northeastern (Nov. 5) to earn him A-10 Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors. He also turned in a 14-tackle performance in the season-opener at Nebraska. Lazarski was named to the first-team for the second-consecutive season. He started every game at center for Maine in 2005 and ended his career with 39-consecutive starts on the offensive line. He was part of an offensive line that helped pave the way for running back Montell Owens (Wilmington, Del.) to finish eighth in the Atlantic 10 with 779 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. DeVito was honored by the conference for the first time in his career by being named to the second-team. At the defensive tackle position, DeVito recorded 12 tackles for loss for minus-60 yards (minus-5 yards average per tackle), including 6.5 sacks for minus-55 yards. He finished fourth and tied for third in the conference in tackles for loss and sacks, respectively. DeVito recorded at least one tackle for loss in 9-of-11 games this season, including the final eight. For his career, DeVito is averaging a tackle for loss for 4.6 tackles he makes. Gomes rebounded from two-injury filled seasons to finish tied for 36th in the league with 6.2 tackles per game (68 total). He recorded 46 solo stops, recovered a pair of fumbles and made two interceptions on the season. In the 27-24 overtime win over Rhode Island (Nov. 12), Gomes turned in his finest performance of the season as he totaled 11 tackles, one interception and a fumble recovery. McMahan was selected to the third-team after posting career-highs in several receiving categories this season. He recorded career-highs in receptions (59), yards (893) and touchdowns (13). His 13 touchdowns were second most for a receiver in school history, and he ranked 19th nationally in receiving yards per game at 81.2. In the conference, McMahan ranked fourth in yards and second in touchdowns. Gordon was Maine's second wideout named to the third-team. Gordon led the team in receptions (70) and finished second in rushing yards (243). In a 31-7 victory over Albany (Oct. 1), Gordon caught a touchdown pass and returned a punt 57 yards for a score to give him sole possession of first place in school history for career punt returns for touchdowns with three.
Stone was the other Black Bear to garner recognition as he was named to the third-team. He led the Atlantic 10 in interceptions with five this season and ranked 15th nationally. Stone finished sixth on the team with 41 tackles, including 30 solo stops. He also had 6.5 tackles for loss for minus-39 yards.
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