Aug. 22, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass senior cornerback Sean Smalls was named a Second-Team Preseason All-American by The Sports Network on Friday. Smalls, who was a First-Team Preseason All-American by Phil Steele returns for his final season at UMass. He led the CAA in passes defended last season with 12 as he earned All-American and All-CAA First-Team Honors.

Here is the release from the CAA

CAA FOOTBALL PLACES 13 ON SPORTS NETWORK'S PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA LIST

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Sports Network included a total of 13 CAA Football athletes on its 2008 Preseason All-America squads, released Aug. 22. Headlining the list for the league include Maine's Jovan Belcher, Rhode Island's Joe Casey, New Hampshire's Scott Sicko and Delaware's Kheon Hendricks all of whom were part of the First Team.

Belcher, a First Team defensive end among the honorees, will open the season as CAA Football's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league with 10 sacks in 2007. Casey, a First Team fullback honoree, is gunning to become the first-ever offensive player to earn All-Conference honors all four years of his career at Rhode Island. Sicko, whose New Hampshire squad will start the season ranked No. 16 in the country, was a Third Team All-Conference tight end in 2007 after hauling in 51 catches for a total of 619 yards as a sophomore. Hendricks, who will lead the Blue Hens into College Park, Md., next weekend to face the Maryland Terrapins, anchored the Blue Hens' offensive line in 2007 while helping to produce the league's highest scoring offense at 36.2 points per game.

James Madison offensive lineman Scott Lemn, Northeastern tight end Brian Mandeville, Delaware defensive lineman Matt Marcorelle, Richmond offensive lineman Matt McCracken and kick returner Justin Rogers, Massachusetts defensive back Sean Smalls and Delaware placekicker Jon Striefsky all earned Second Team Preseason All-America honors from the Sports Network.

Richmond also placed two more on the Preseason All-America third team, including defensive lineman Sherman Logan and offensive lineman Tim Silver.

CAA Football's 2008 regular season is set to kick off Aug. 28 when Northeastern travels to Ball State for a 7 p.m., kickoff and Hofstra takes on Connecticut at 7:30 p.m., on ESPN Regional Television and SNY. The first CAA Football league contests of 2008 will take place Sept. 13 when New Hampshire visits Rhode Island for a noon kickoff on CN8 and Comcast Sports Southeast, Towson travels to Richmond at 3 p.m., and Massachusetts heads south to take on James Madison at 3:30 p.m., also on CN8 and Comcast Sports Southeast. CAASports.com is your place to stay abreast of all the action leading up to another exciting season of CAA Football in 2008.

2008 Sports Network Preseason All-American Teams
First-Team Offense
Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State, QB
Rashad Jennings, Liberty, RB
Corey Lewis, Northern Iowa, RB
Joe Casey, Rhode Island, FB
Ramses Barden, Cal Poly, WR
Terrell Hudgins, Elon, WR
Scott Sicko, New Hampshire, TE
Kheon Hendricks, Delaware, C
Stephen Field, Cal Poly, G
Colin Dow, Montana, G
Joel Bell, Furman, T
Cornelius Lewis, Tennessee State, T
Taylor Rowan, Western Illinois, K
J.T. Rogan, San Diego, KR
Second-Team Offense
Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross, QB
Mike McLeod, Yale, RB
Tyler Roehl, North Dakota State, RB
Jon Hall, Cal Poly, FB
Andre Roberts, The Citadel, WR
Eddie Thompson, Idaho State, WR
Brian Mandeville, Northeastern, TE
Scott Lemn, James Madison, C
Matt McCracken, Richmond, G
Dennis Conley, Hampton, G
Nicholas Hennessey, Colgate, T
Brent Russum, Montana, T
Jon Striefsky, Delaware, K
Justin Rogers, Richmond, KR
Third-Team Offense
Nathan Brown, Central Arkansas, QB
Herb Donaldson, Western Illinois, RB
Jarvarris Williams, Tennessee State, RB
Alexis Alexander, Eastern Washington, FB
Aaron Boyce, Eastern Washington, WR
Johnny Gray, Northern Iowa, WR
Shaun Fitzpatrick, Northern Arizona, TE
Raymond Harrison, South Carolina State, C
Jeff Hansen, Montana State, G
Jon Compas, UC Davis, G
Tim Silver, Richmond, T
James Williams, Harvard, T
Jeff Turner, SE Louisiana, K
Dominic Bolden, Liberty, KR
First-Team Defense
Jovan Belcher, Maine, DE
Pierre Walters, Eastern Illinois, DE
Mychal Savage, Youngstown State, DT
John Faletoese, UC Davis, DT
Bobby Daly, Montana State, LB
Zach East, Prairie View, LB
Cyrus Mulitalo, Sacramento State, LB
Jason Williams, Western Illinois, LB
K.J. Gerard, Northern Arizona, CB
Domonique Johnson, Jackson State, CB
Colt Anderson, Montana, SS
Lardarius Webb, Nicholls State, FS
Robbie DeHaze, Northern Arizona, P
Jeremy Gilchrist, Hampton, PR
Second-Team Defense
Matt Marcorelle, Delaware, DE
Greg Peach, Eastern Washington, DE
Mark Huygens, Northern Iowa, DT
Brian Jackson, Lehigh, DT
Bobby Abare, Yale, LB
Pierre Banks, Appalachian State, LB
Andy Romans, Lafayette, LB
Andy Schantz, Portland State, LB
Sam Pope, Hampton, CB
Sean Smalls, Massachusetts, CB
Brandon Gathof, Eastern Kentucky, SS
Terrell Whitehead, Norfolk State, FS
Brandon Lane, Elon, P
Bryant Eteuati, Weber State, PR
Third-Team Defense
James Cloud, Southern Illinois, DE
Sherman Logan, Richmond, DE
Eric Schroeder, South Dakota State, DT
Lance Witherspoon, Eastern Washington, DT
Mike Brannon, Sacramento State, LB
Mario Brown, Gardner-Webb, LB
Tim Diamond, Lehigh, LB
Chauncey Mixon, Southern Illinois, LB
Andrew Berry, Harvard, CB
David Hyland, Morehead State, CB
Cyrus Igono, Northern Arizona, SS
Al Donaldson, Alabama A&M, FS
Kevin Cook, Eastern Illinois, P
Anthony Weeden, Prairie View, PR