Football Team Lauded With Conference Honors
November 29, 2012
Quarterback Matt Pawlowski ’16 was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year by the league’s head football coaches. Linebacker Robert Smith ’15 and safety Satiir Stevenson ’15 captured First Team All-ODAC recognition.
Teammates Hunter English ’15, Joseph Pearson ’13 and Adam Smith ’16 each received second-team commendation. Guilford’s Faris El-Ali ’14, Tyler Eller ’15, Tyler Hunt ’16, Alex Smith ’14 and Mike Williams ’13 were Third Team All-ODAC honorees.
Guilford’s 10 all-conference selections mark the program’s highest total since 1994.
Matt is the Quakers’ third ODAC Rookie of the Year and the first since Daniel Biggerstaff ’13 in 2009. He ranked third in the conference for both his 2,443 passing yards, the fifth-best total in school history, and for his 267 yards of total offensive per game.
His 129.7 pass efficiency rating ranked fourth in the league, and his .590 completion percentage stands third in school history. He also ran for 227 yards and six touchdowns.
Robert led Guilford with 108 tackles (50 solo) and ranked fourth in the ODAC with 10.8 tackles per game. He sits 26th among NCAA Division III tackles-per-game leaders through games of Nov. 17.
With a league-best 14 tackles for loss, Robert ranks 60th in the country with 1.4 stops behind the line of scrimmage per game. He shared the league lead with 6.5 sacks and also contributed an interception and fumble recovery. Smith made 10 or more tackles in each of Guilford’s first six games and had seven games of 10 or more stops.
Satiir started all 10 games for the Quakers and was third on the club with a career-high 79 tackles (47 solo), which stood 11th in the ODAC. He also had a league-best four interceptions, ranked fifth in the ODAC with nine passes defended, broke up five passes and recovered a fumble.
He also played on Guilford’s special teams and averaged 14.4 yards on five punt returns and 16.5 yards on 11 kickoff returns. Stevenson earned his second career ODAC Defensive Player of the Week Award after his two-interception, seven-tackle performance in the Quakers’ ODAC win over Catholic.
Read more about the ODAC honorees at the Guilford Athletics website.
Second-year head coach Chris Rusiewicz’s Quakers posted a 5-5 overall record (4-3 ODAC), which marked a three-win improvement over 2011 and was the program’s best record since 2007. Guilford expects as many as 68 letter winners back in 2012, including 21 starters.
