Jules Wins MAC Offensive Player of the Year As Ten Players Receive All-MAC Honors
ANNVILLE, PA – Junior running back Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) was named Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Offensive Player of the Year as the Wilkes University football team had 10 players recognized with All-MAC honors by the conference office Wednesday afternoon. Jules, along with senior offensive lineman Billy Anderson (Mount Carmel, PA/Mount Carmel Area), were named to the All-MAC First Team. Senior wide receiver Nate Whitaker (Upper Darby, PA/Haverford School), senior defensive lineman Adam Piston (Laurys Station, PA/Parkland), sophomore defensive back Leroy Marshall (Cambria Heights, NY/Christ the King), and sophomore punter Alex Orlando (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) were picked to the All-MAC Second Team. Sophomore Quarterback Isaiah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon), junior offensive lineman Aidan Palochik (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area), junior defensive lineman Angel Ramos (Allentown, PA/Parkland), and senior linebacker Brandon Holcomb (Boynton Beach, FL/Boca Raton) round out the Colonels players as they were recognized to the Honorable Mention Team.
The 10 all-conference selections were the most for the Wilkes football program since 14 selections following the 2006 season. The Colonels two First Team selections were the most since the team had three in 2011.
Jules was named MAC Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team after compiling 1,004 rushing yards on the year and 13 rushing touchdowns, where he led the MAC in both categories, with his rushing making him 32nd in the nation. Jules rushing also placed him tied for eighth with the most rushing yards in a season, as he joins Jason Smith who rushed for 1,004 yards in 1993. He also was first in the conference with a 6.3 yard-per-carry average and 100.4 yards-per-game average. Jules had five games with over 100 yards, including 139 yards and a touchdown against King's College. He also had 307 receiving yards and a touchdown on 17 receptions. He is the first Colonel to win MAC Offensive Player of the Year award since 2006, when Jim Jordan was given that distinction.
Anderson was named First-Team as an offensive lineman as he helped Wilkes finish second in the conference in total yards with 360.2 per game. Anderson helped the Wilkes offensive attack that was fifth in scoring on the year, especially in the Mayor's Cup against King's with the Colonels scoring 58 points, the most the team has scored this season. Anderson also joined his fellow offensive lineman in being named to the D3football.com Team of the Week following the against Widener in Week 3, where the Colonels threw for 341 of the 601 total yards gained that game.
Whitaker is recognized as an All-Conference player for the third time in his career after being named honorable mention the past two seasons as a returner. His Second-Team nomination at wide receiver is the first of his career. Whitaker led the team in catches (26), receiving yards (467), and receiving touchdowns (6). He had two games where he had over 100 receiving yards, 126 yards against Widener and 110 against Alvernia, where he also recorded two receiving touchdowns in both games. His 467 receiving yards had him finish sixth in the MAC, along with his 42.6 receiving yards-per-game. His 93-yard touchdown against Widener was the longest offensive play of the year in the MAC.
Piston earned Second-Team honors after finishing second on the team with six sacks on the season, also tying him for fifth in the MAC. He finished fifth on the team with 42 total tackles. Piston recorded 2.5 of his sacks against Alvernia, where he finished the game with eight tackles. He also recorded an interception against Lycoming.
Marshall was named Second-Team All-MAC for the first time in his career as he tied for first on the team and fourth in the MAC with three interceptions on the year. He also had four pass breakups and was tied for sixth on the team with 41 tackles. He earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season. The first was his two-interception performance against Alvernia while his second was against Lycoming, where he had a 56-yard pick six in the game. Marshall also helps a Wilkes defense that is 26th in the nation in passing yards allowed with 153.1 on the year.
Orlando earned his second career all-conference recognition after being an honorable mention last year. Orlando led the conference with a 38.6 punting average on the year and was fifth in the MAC with 1,672 punting yards. He had two punts on the year that went over 50 yards, including a season-long 55-yarder at Lebanon Valley, and six that went inside the 20 yard-line.
Rodriguez was recognized on the Honorable Mention Team after starting the first six games at quarterback for the Colonels. Rodriguez finished his year with 1,390 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns with zero interceptions. His biggest achievement is being the only quarterback in the nation to not have thrown a pick on the year with six or more starts. Rodriguez was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 1 against Keystone College, where he passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 19 yards and adding a rushing score as well.
Palochik was named to the Honorable Mention team after helping Wilkes finish within the top five in each category for offense within the MAC. Palochik helped protect the quarterbacks that made Wilkes second in the conference with 201.0 passing yards-per-game. He also made holes for the running back core that had 159.2 rushing yards-per-game, third in the MAC. Palochik was also on the offensive line against Widener that was recognized on the D3football.com Team of the Week for their performance on the ground with 260 yards, which was part of the 601 total yards Wilkes had that week.
Ramos was recognized as an Honorable Mention selection after finishing his junior season with a team leading and career-high 10 sacks, which ranked him third in the MAC. His 15 tackles-for-loss also was fifth in the conference. He was third on the team with 58 total tackles. Ramos earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors in the first and last week of football action. His first award was in Week 1 against Keystone, where he had eight tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, 1.5 sacks, and a force fumble. His second time being awarded Defensive Player of the Week was against King's, where he had a career-high four sacks as he had eight tackles, 4.5 tackles-for-loss, and a force fumble. His performance against King's also earned him on the D3football.com Team of the Week in Week 11.
Holcomb joined the Honorable Mention Team in his senior season as he led the Colonels with 87 total tackles on the year, finishing third in the MAC. He had five-plus tackles in every game he played in, with four of those games earning 10+ tackles on the day. He also had an interception, three quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, one force fumble and one fumble recovery.
2022 All-Middle Atlantic Conference Football Team
Offensive Player of the Year: E. Jules, Wilkes
Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Nobile, Delaware Valley
Rookie of the Year: Dom D'Alessio, Widener
Coach of the Year: Duke Greco, Delaware Valley
First Team
Offense
Quarterback: Louise Barrios IV, Delaware Valley
Running Back: E. Jules, Wilkes
Running Back: Jay White, Delaware Valley
Fullback: Walt Truxell, Delaware Valley
Tight End: Brandon Cohen, King's
Wide Receiver: Tahmir Barksdale, Delaware Valley
Wide Receiver: Connor Perez, FDU-Florham
Wide Receiver: Steven Smothers, Stevenson
Offensive Lineman: B. Anderson, Wilkes
Offensive Lineman: Bam Bannaviti, Delaware Valley
Offensive Lineman: Daniel Jennings, Lycoming
Offensive Lineman: Joseph Kornahrens, Alvernia
Offensive Lineman: Shane Newell, Delaware Valley
Kicker: Ian Plankenhorn, Lycoming
Returner: Tahmir Barksdale, Delaware Valley
Defense
Defensive Lineman: Yusuf Aladinov, Delaware Valley
Defensive Lineman: Kenny Hands, FDU-Florham
Defensive Lineman: Anthony Nobile, Delaware Valley
Defensive Lineman: Michael Nobile, Delaware Valley
Linebacker: Ahmad Jones, Delaware Valley
Linebacker: Anthony Puntolillo, Delaware Valley
Linebacker: Sean Sullivan, Stevenson
Linebacker: Sam Viera, Albright
Defensive Back: Cole Kitchen Delaware Valley
Defensive Back: Blaine Netterman, Delaware Valley
Defensive Back: Austin Rowley, Lycoming
Defensive Back: Teone Sherrod, King's
Punter: Ryon Thomas, FDU-Florham
Special Teams Player: Dom D'Alessio, Widener
Second Team
Offense
Quarterback: Tyler Morre, King's
Running Back: EJ Lee, Alvernia
Running Back: Shawn Thompson, Widener
Fullback: Ian Murhon, Lebanon Valley
Tight End: Tylor Blake, Stevenson
Wide Receiver: Tyler Carey, King's
Wide Receiver: Neeko Scurlock, Alvernia
Wide Receiver: N. Whitaker, Wilkes
Offensive Lineman: Walker Klinger, Lebanon Valley
Offensive Lineman: Joe Pena, Stevenson
Offensive Lineman: Jacob Phillips, Lebanon Valley
Offensive Lineman: Cody Reusing, Widener
Offensive Lineman: Justin Roman, Delaware Valley
Kicker: Zachary Rutsch, Stevenson
Returner: Tyler Carey, King's
Defense
Defensive Lineman: Marquez Haywood, FDU-Florham
Defensive Lineman: A. Piston, Wilkes
Defensive Lineman: Ryan Rapp, Albright
Defensive Lineman: Dallas Solomon, King's
Linebacker: Nick Chapman, Delaware Valley
Linebacker: Brendan Mozeleski, King's
Linebacker: Cole Senior, Lycoming
Linebacker: Tajon Whiten, Alvernia
Defensive Back: Joseph Carchio, King's
Defensive Back: Taron Gale, Alvernia
Defensive Back: Marvin Manassa, Stevenson
Defensive Back: L. Marshall, Wilkes
Defensive Back: Justice Pettus-Dixon, Stevenson
Punter: A. Orlando, Wilkes
Punter: Kevin Sheehan, Stevenson
Special Teams Player: Austin Rowley, Lycoming
Honorable Mention
Quarterback: I. Rodriguez, Wilkes
Quarterback: Ryan Sedgwick, Stevenson
Running Back: Tim Ervey, Lebanon Valley
Fullback: Matt Goetz, Stevenson
Tight End: Matt Desantis, FDU-Florham
Tight End: Owen Morton, Alvernia
Tight End: Aaron Wolcott, Lycoming
Wide Receiver: Brandon Booze, Stevenson
Wide Receiver: Nahsir Morgan, Delaware Valley
Offensive Lineman: Ben Blum, Stevenson
Offensive Lineman: Joe Crouchman, FDU-Florham
Offensive Lineman: A. Palochik, Wilkes
Offensive Lineman: Matthew Thomas, Widener
Offensive Lineman: Mark Welsh, Misericordia
Returner: Jakari Lewis, Stevenson
Returner: Austin Rowley, Lycoming
Defensive Lineman: Noah Caldani, Lebanon Valley
Defensive Lineman: Dom D'Alessio, Widener
Defensive Lineman: A. Ramos, Wilkes
Linebacker: Eric Glass, Misericordia
Linebacker: B. Holcomb, Wilkes
Linebacker: Colin Murt, Widener
Linebacker: Tyrell Pereira, FDU-Florham
Linebacker: Joseph Randazzo, FDU-Florham
Linebacker: Clarence Travis, Stevenson
Defensive Back: Christian Puntolillo, FDU-Florham
Defensive Back: Amir Gibson, King's
Defensive Back: Alex Hafner, Misericordia
Defensive Back: Erik Williams, Lebanon Valley
Special Teams Player: Logan Grauer, Lebanon Valley
Special Teams Player: Chuck Uwalor, Misericordia
