Five Tabbed To NEC Football Preseason Team

Five members of the Central Connecticut State football team were named to the All-Northeast Conference Football Preseason Team, announced Wednesday at the annual Media Day event at MetLife Stadium.

Graduate student Isaiah DeLoatch, senior Jayden Anderson and juniors Jack Barnum, Kimal Clark and Elijah Howard were recognized by the league's head coaches.

Clark, a defensive back, is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he was named All New-England and First-Team All-NEC. He finished the year with 89 tackles, and his 8.9 tackles per game ranked second in the league and 32^nd in FCS rankings. Clark averaged 5.3 solo stops per game, 17^th nationally and tops among NEC players. He had a season-high 15 tackles, 10 solo, in the season-finale and finished the campaign with four double-digit tackle games.

Barnum was selected as the league's top kicker a season-ago. He tied the school's single-season record by booting 13 field goals over the course of the campaign. He was good on 72.2 percent of his attempts, which led the league, and he ranked second at 1.18 field goals per game. Barnum accounted for 6.3 points per game, tops in the NEC this season.

Howard made an immediate impact for the Blue Devils offense, accounting for 119.5 all-purpose yards per game, which is the 19th best number in FCS football this season. He averaged 90 yards per game on the ground, with four games over 100 yards that was highlighted by a 257-yard rushing effort against Delaware State. Howard carried the ball 170 times for 990 yards this fall, caught 15 passes for 165 yards and had eight returns for 159 yards.

DeLoatch has played in 18 games over the past three years, with seven appearances in 2023. He returns to anchor an offensive line that was 10^th in the nation last season, first in the NEC, by allowing just 1.27 sacks per game. The Blue Devils averaged 186.8 yards per game on the ground in 2023, including a school-record 498 yards running versus Delaware State.

Anderson returns for another season as one of the top linebackers in the NEC. He finished last season with 43 total tackles, including 5.0 TFL's in playing in all 11 games. Over his 33 career games he has 77 stops, 37 solo and two sacks.

The NEC Football preseason poll was also announced, with the Blue Devils being tabbed seventh. Defending champion Duquesne earned five first place votes and sits as the team to beat this fall, according to the league's head coaches.

The Blue Devils open the 2024 season on August 29^th at Central Michigan, before hosting Fordham in the home opener, Saturday, September 7^th. Season tickets for the 2024 season are currently an sale by clicking here.