Saturday, April 20, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
After a pair of winning seasons (15-5 record) and with 18 returning starters combined on offense and defense, the St. Lawrence University Football team has drawn the attention of the opponents in the …
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After a pair of winning seasons (15-5 record) and with 18 returning starters combined on offense and defense, the St. Lawrence University Football team has drawn the attention of the opponents in the Liberty League with the top ranking in the 2015 preseason poll released Monday.
St. Lawrence is led by not only one of the best defensive units in the country but also the reigning co-Offensive Player of the Year in senior QB Mike Lefflbine.
The Saints finished first in the preseason poll voting by head coaches with 46 points and four first-place votes. Defending champion Hobart was second with 45 points and four first-place votes. Rensselaer and Springfield finished tied for third with each picking up 30 points while Rochester and Union tied for fifth with 25 points each. WPI was seventh with 14 points and Merchant Marine was picked eighth with nine points.
The Saints defense was ranked No. 1 in the country in pass defense allowing just a 76.78 pass efficiency rating and just 114.5 yards per game through the air. Preseason All-Americans DB Leondre Simmon and DT Chyron Brown-Wallace are just two of the many talented players on the defense with nine returning starters and five All-Liberty League players. Joining Simmon and Brown-Wallace on the first-team All-League team were safety James Holley-Grisham and linebacker Alec Dietsch. Another safety, Evan Lapice was a Second-Team All-League selection.
Offensively, the Saints are just as experienced with another nine returning starters back from a team that committed just seven turnovers in 2014 which was also ranked tops in the nation. Lefflbine, who is back for a fifth season (third with St. Lawrence) was voted as the co-Offensive Player of the Year and is joined by the entire receiver corps including First-Team All-Liberty League and All-East Region TE Mitch Gallagher and the entire group of running back talent including seniors Maurice Irby and Jake Gnieser.
St. Lawrence opens the 2015 season at Morrisville at 7 pm Friday, September 4 and will play its home opener September 19 with a 1 pm game against Endicott.
