MEDFORD, MA (November 22, 2022) – The 2022 Tufts University football team's 10 players honored on the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) All-Conference team announced today is the most in program history.
Senior wide receiver
Phil Lutz leads the honorees as he was named the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year. He is also on the All-Conference first team along with sophomore quarterback Mike Berluti, senior running back
Tyler Johnson, senior guard
Travis Cepalia, junior defensive tackle Ed Iuteri, junior linebacker
EJ Comerford and sophomore safety Lou Timmins.
Named to the All-Conference second team was senior center
Blair Horning, fifth-year linebacker Marty Drouillard and junior cornerback Vic Garza.
Lutz is the fourth Tufts player to win the Offensive Player of the Year Award since 2015. He was preceded by running back Chance Brady in 2015 and 2016, and quarterback Ryan McDonald in 2018. Lutz also repeats as an All-Conference first teamer, while Johnson, Horning and Drouillard were all second team last season. The honor is the first for the other players.
Lutz caught 78 passes for 1221 yards and 14 touchdowns, leading the conference in each category. The yards are a new conference record. He had an incredible connection with Berluti, the stand-out sophomore quarterback whose 2022 numbers were outstanding. He led NESCAC completing 69.1 percent of his passes (197-285) for 2749 yards (305.4 per game) and 26 touchdowns and just three interceptions. His conference-best 177.15 efficiency rating is 10th nationally.
The Jumbos also had the league's top rusher in Johnson. He totaled 800 yards on 172 carries for an average of 4.7 yards per rush. He scored eight touchdowns on the ground, and also caught 24 balls for 129 yards. Cepalia and Horning were leaders of the offensive line which helped the Jumbos top the conference with 34.7 points and 471.8 yards of total offense per game. Tufts' 16 sacks against were second-fewest in NESCAC.
The Jumbos had an equal amount of players honored on the defense, which finished fourth in points allowed (19.3 per game) and led the league with 11 interceptions.
Iuteri on the line was a problem for opposing offenses both in run-stopping and against pass protection. He finished with 17 tackles including three for losses (one sack) and two QB hurries. Comerford led Tufts with 50 tackles, including six sacks which tied for fifth in the league. He also broke up four passes, had five hurries and forced and recovered a fumble. Timmins led the league with four interceptions.. He added 21 tackles (18 solo) and four pass break-ups. Drouillard had six tackles for losses among his 45 total stops. He scored a defensive touchdown on a fumble recovery against Middlebury and recorded a pair of sacks. Garza made 24 tackles, including three TFL's, and had an interception, while also returning a blocked field goal 75 yards for a special teams touchdown in the Williams game.
Head coach Jay Civett's team finished 6-3 for third place in NESCAC. They were ranked eighth in the final New England Football Writers' DIII poll of the year.
Tufts' nine players who received honors in 2008 and 2016 were the program's previous best.
See the full 2022 NESCAC Football All-Conference Team
HERE.
