Chapple Named New England Player of the Year; Six Named All-New England
BOSTON, Mass. – Harvard senior quarterback Colton Chapple has been awarded the Division I FCS Gold Helmet as the New England Player of the Year by the New England Football Writers' Association. Joining Chapple on the All-New England team are senior running back Treavor Scales, senior tight end Kyle Juszczyk, senior left guard John Collins, senior punter Jacob Dombrowski and junior linebacker Joshua Boyd.
Harvard's six selections led all schools in the region with the University of New Hampshire garnering five selections. The players will be honored at the annual captains and awards banquet, scheduled for December 6 at Montvale Plaza in Stoneham, Mass.
Separately, Chapple is also a finalist for the Asa Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year award. He will be in New York City on Monday for the selection show at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel, which will be streamed live on IvyLeagueSports.com.
Chapple, Harvard's Frederick Greeley Crocker Award as Harvard's most valuable player, finished the regular season as the second-rated passer in the country. He achieved single-season records for touchdown passes, totaling 24 touchdown passes to surpass the previous high-water mark of 18. He also set the single-season record for total offense, accounting for nearly 320 yards of offense per game, on 66 percent passing while rushing for 602 yards and nine touchdowns. For his career, he recorded five games with at least four touchdown passes – no other Harvard QB has more than two such performances (Ryan Fitzpatrick.)
Juszczyk, a 2011 All-American, led the Ivy League with eight touchdown receptions and led a potent Harvard team with 52 catches for 706 yards (13.6 ypc). For his career, he set the mark for all Harvard tight ends with 125 catches for 1,576 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Boyd led Harvard's defense while ranking eighth in the Ivy League with 67 tackles despite missing nearly two games with a shoulder injury. He forced two fumbles, had five tackles for a loss and had five pass breakups as arguably the league's hardest hitter.
Collins was a centerpiece to a Harvard offense that ranked fourth nationally in scoring offense with an Ivy-League record 39.4 points per game. Harvard ranked fourth nationally at over 487 yards of offense per game and was incredibly consistent with both the rushing and passing games ranking among the top 20 nationally. Collins, an All-America candidate, did not allow a sack this season while playing both left guard and right tackle, and graded out at or above 90 percent in all 10 games.
Scales capped an impressive career with a 63 yard touchdown on his final collegiate carry to solidify Harvard's 34-24 win over Yale in the 129th playing of The Game. The run pushed him over the 1,000-yard barrier for the first time in his career, making him the only Ivy Leaguer to reach the milestone this season. His 13 rushing touchdowns led the league by a wide margin. For his career, he gained over 2,800 hundred yards on the ground, 3,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 29 touchdowns – the second most rushing TDs in school history.
Dombrowski led the Ivy League and ranked eighth nationally in punting average at 44.0 yards per kick to set a single-season record for Harvard. He pinned 11 kicks inside the 20 yard line and forced 20 fair catches.
Harvard went 8-2 overall and defeated Yale, 34-24 to earn a program-record sixth straight win over the Bulldogs as well as the 11th victory over the Elis in the last 12 years. The season marked Harvard's Ivy League-record 12th-straight season with at least seven wins – with no other Ivy team even having seven such seasons.
2012 NEW ENGLAND FOOTBALL WRITERS DIVISION I FCS ALL-NEW ENGLAND
Defensive Line Jeff Covitz So. Bryant University
Tyler Foehr Sr. Sacred Heart University
Michael Yules Sr. Brown University
Jared Smith Sr. University of New Hampshire
Linebackers Joshua Boyd Jr. Harvard University
Donte Dennis Sr. University of Maine
Matt Evans Sr. University of New Hampshire
Michael Runger Jr. Dartmouth College
Stephen Zambetti Sr. Brown University
Defensive Backs A. J. Cruz Sr. Brown University
Darlos James Sr. University of Maine
Dontra Peters Sr. University of New Hampshire
Tom Mannix Sr. College of the Holy Cross
Quarterback Colton Chapple Sr. Harvard University
Running Backs Treavor Scales Sr. Harvard University
Tyler Varga So. Yale University
Wide Receivers Jordan Harris Jr. Bryant University
R.J. Harris So. University of New Hampshire
Brandon Johnson-Farrell Sr. University of Rhode Island
Tight End Kyle Juszczyk Sr. Harvard University
Offensive Line Rob Bathe Sr. Dartmouth College
Nathan Bernstein Sr. Brown University
John Collins Sr. Harvard University
Chris Howley Sr. University of Maine
Seamus O'Neill Jr. University of New Hampshire
Placekicker John Macomber Jr. College of the Holy Cross
Punter Jacob Dombrowski Sr. Harvard University
Return Specialist Kalif Raymond Fr. College of the Holy Cross
