ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Empire 8 Conference released its football all-conference teams on Wednesday afternoon and six members of the Ithaca College squad were recognized, including junior
Jordan Schemm, who was named Special Teams Player of the Year.
Schemm, a first-team selection as a corner back and return specialist, led the Empire 8 in punt returns with an average of 17.1 yards per return. He recorded 257 total yards on 15 returns with a long of 60 yards for a touchdown. On kickoffs, Schemm averaged 27.7 yards per return for a total of 443 yards. Â Schemm is the third Bomber to be honored as Special Teams Player of the Year joining previous recipients Andrew Rogowski (2010 and Dan Ruffrage (2011).
Schemm led Ithaca in all-purpose yards with 700, and on the defensive side of the ball, he notched 13 pass breakups, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown) and a forced fumble, to go along with 46 total tackles.
Also finding a spot on the first-team was junior linebacker
Dan Loizos. Loizos paced the Bombers' defense with 104 total tackles in 10 games played, with eight for a loss and 2.5 sacks. He also forced and recovered a fumble this season. On October 1 in a 23-14 victory over Utica, Loizos recorded 20 tackles, which culminated with a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week.
On the second-team was junior linebacker
Kenny Bradley. Bradley, the 2014 Rookie of the Year, ranked second on the team with 90 tackles, to go along with three pass breakups, two interceptions, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. He also tallied 6.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Three Bombers earned honorable mention distinction – senior lineman
Joe Vandenbos, junior fullback
Brad Helmkamp and sophomore linebacker
Pat Minogue.
Vandenbos started all 10 games at tackle this season and paved the way for running backs
Tristan Brown and
Evan Skea to amass 823 yards and six touchdowns.
Helmkamp caught 13 passes out of the backfield this season for 120 yards, including a long of 30. His season-high of 44 yards came against Utica, and he also had three catches for 31 yards against Buffalo State.
Minogue was tops on the team with 18 tackles for loss and five sacks. He also finished the season with 70 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. Minogue was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week after his performance against Union to open the season. The Manorville, N.Y. native had nine tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, forced fumble and interception in the win.
Ithaca's Sportsman of the Year went to senior quarterback
Wolfgang Shafer. Shafer, a captain on the team, threw for 1,833 yards and 17 touchdowns. He completed 59.1-percent of his passes (137-for-232) and averaged 183.3 yards per game. Shafer posted three games this season in which he completed more than 70-percent of his passes.