Seven Blue Devils Earn All-Conference Honors

Seven Central Connecticut football players earned All-Northeast Conference honors on Wednesday, a week after the league completed regular season play for the 2015 season.  

The Blue Devils finished the 2015 season in a tie for third place in the NEC with a 3-3 league record in the second season under head coach Pete Rossomando.  Central posted wins over the other two teams in the third place tie, and two of its losses came against the top two teams in the league as they moved up in the standings after posting just one league win a season ago in Rossomando's first year in New Britain.

Juniors Jevon Elmore and Asia Bolling were both named to the First Team Defense, while freshman teammate Chris Tinkham was named the league's Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Elmore finished third on the team in tackles in 2015 with 71, including 49 solo and three for a loss.  He played in all 11 games and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week after a stellar performance in a road win at Sacred Heart.  He was second on the team in interceptions with two, and posted an impressive 16 pass break-ups on the year.

Bolling was second on the team with 4.5 sacks on the year and finished fifth in tackles with 64, including 21 solo stops.  He also played in all 11 games posting a pair of forced fumbles and one fumble recovery on the season.  

Tinkham played in all 11 games in his first season with the Blue Devils and posted 39 tackles, 12 of which went for a loss, and one forced fumble from his defensive line position.

Four Blue Devils were named to the All-Conference Second Team.  Sophomore running back Cameron Nash, senior offensive lineman Tyler Hurd, sophomore linebacker Randall Laguerre and sophomore safety Najae Brown.

Hurd was one of the mainstays on an offensive line that saw its share of injuries in 2015.  He played in every game and was one of four captains for the Blue Devils in his final year.  He helped produce a ground attack that averaged 130.2 yards per game.  

One of the running backs that Hurd helped pave the way for was Nash.  The team's leading rusher, Nash, who was also chosen as the league's Rookie of the Week a pair of times, ran for 676 yards and three touchdowns in his first season with the Blue Devils.  He averaged 5.7 yards per carry and also caught 18 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown.

Laguerre led the Blue Devils in tackles as a sophomore, posting 92, including an impressive 55 solo (also a team-high), one sack, 11 tackles for a loss and a pair of forced fumbles.  He added an interception and played in all 11 games for CCSU.

Brown finished second on the team in tackles with 88, including 50 solo, and led the team in interceptions with three.  He ran one of those back for a touchdown in the home win over Robert Morris.  In the final two games of the season Brown also returned kicks, and ran back a kickoff for a touchdown vs. St. Francis U.   He had one fumble recovery on the season.