Nov. 18, 2002

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Johns Hopkins football team, which claimed a share of its first-ever Centennial Conference Championship with a 27-7 victory over 15th-ranked McDaniel last Saturday, had 12 players named to the 2002 Centennial Conference All-Star Team, which was announced Monday afternoon. The Blue Jays had five players earn first team honors, two payers earn second team honors and five players garner honorable mention status.

Senior offensive linemen Kevin Kostibos (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park) and Leif Glynn (Croton, NY/Croton-Harmon) both earned First Team All-Centennial status and Hopkins was the only school to have two first team honorees on the offensive line. Kostibos, who earned First Team All-CC status last season and second team honors as a sophomore, started all four years at center for the Blue Jays. Glynn moved up to the first team this season after earning honorable mention status last year. The pair fueled a JHU offense that averaged nearly 25 points and over 325 yards of total offense this season.

The Blue Jay defense had three First Team All-Centennial selections in senior defensive tackle Pat Doyle (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Bishop Hoban), senior linebacker Mike Little (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South) and sophomore safety Matt Campbell (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough).

Doyle, who earned Second Team All-Centennial honors last season, has a career-high 42 tackles, including 10 for losses and 3.0 sacks. His 42 tackles rank fifth on the team, while his 10 tackles for losses are third. In addition, he is tied for the team-lead with his 3.0 sacks.

Little enters this week's ECAC Southwest Championship Game at Frostburg State ranked second on the team in tackles with a career-high 79 to his credit. He counts 14 tackles for losses and 1.5 sacks among his 79 stops on the year and he also has five pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery to his credit.

Campbell was the only sophomore named to the First Team All-Centennial defense. He currently leads the team in tackles with 81. In addition, he has six pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery to his credit. He posted a career-high 19 tackles against Muhlenberg earlier this season and he is averaging 6.4 yards on 17 punt returns.

Sophomore linebacker Paul Longo (Kensington, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and junior place kicker Chris Smolyn (Randolph, NJ/Lenape Valley) both garnered Second Team All-Centennial status.

Longo, who recently earned Verizon District II Academic All-America honors, ranks third on the team in tackles (63), tied for fourth in tackles for losses (9 for 31 yards) and third in pass breakups (7). He also has two interceptions to his credit.

Smolyn, who also shared the punting duties this season, took over as Hopkins' place kicker and enjoyed a solid season. He converted 25-of-30 extra points and was good on 7-of-9 field goal attempts. After just one season as JHU's place kicker, he already ranks sixth in career kick scoring (46) and tied for fifth in career field goals (7).

The Blue Jays had three offensive players earn Honorable Mention All-Centennial honors in freshman running back T.J. Lyons (Paramus, NJ/Paramus), sophomore wide receiver Brian Wolcott (Harding, PA/Wyoming Area) and senior guard Brian Williams (Katy, TX/Strake Jesuit).

Lyons was the only freshman to earn All-Centennial honors as he finished second on the team in rushing with 456 yards and three touchdowns on 82 carries. In Centennial action he finished sixth in the league in rushing as he averaged 68.3 yards per game. In addition, his average of 5.5 yards per rush in league games was tied for the highest average among the top 10 running backs in the league.

Wolcott led the Blue Jays in receiving with 34 receptions for 657 yards and six touchdowns. He finished fifth in the league in receptions per game (3.40) and fourth in receiving yards per game (65.7). His 19.3 yards per reception was the highest among the top 10 receivers in the league.

Williams, who also recently earned Verizon District II Academic All-America honors, teamed with Kostibos and Glynn to give the Blue Jays one of the most talented offensive lines in the league. A three-year starter at guard, Williams helped lead an offense that averaged nearly 25 points and over 325 yards of total offense per game.

Rounding out Hopkins' Honorable Mention All-Centennial selections were senior defensive end Nick Loiacono (Tappan, NY/Tappan Zee) and senior cornerback Mark Robinson (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills).

Loiacono finished sixth on the team in tackles (41) despite missing two full games with an injury. He was tied for fourth on the team with nine tackles for losses and had five pass breakups from his defensive end position as well.

Robinson was the only senior on the depth chart in the Hopkins secondary and he enjoyed the finest season of his career. Despite not taking over as a starter until the fourth game of the season, Robinson ranks seventh on the team in tackles with 38 and has a team-high 11 pass breakups to his credit. His pass breakup in the end zone on the last play of the game in overtime preserved the Blue Jays' 21-14 season-opening victory over Washington & Lee that propelled JHU to a five-game season-opening winning streak.

Johns Hopkins will carry an 8-2 record into this week's ECAC Southwest Championship Game at Frostburg State. The eight wins for the Blue Jays this season are a school record, while this will be the first playoff game in school history.

TRANSACTIONS:

Johns Hopkins had the following players named to the All-Centennial Conference Football Team

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First Team: Kevin Kostibos, Leif Glynn, Mike Little, Pat Doyle, Matt Campbell

Second Team: Paul Longo, Chris Smolyn

Honorable Mention: Nick Loiacono, Mark Robinson, Brian Williams, T.J. Lyons, Brian Wolcott

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