Football has Pair Earn NE10 All-Rookie Honors
MANSFIELD, Mass. (November 22, 2019) - The Franklin Pierce University football team has capped its inaugural NCAA Division II season by having a pair of players selected to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie Team, as announced on Friday afternoon by the Conference office. Freshman defensive back Tyvarius Daniels (Springfield, Mass.) and freshman linebacker Najiere Hutchinson (Neptune, N.J.) were both honored in the league's year-end awards. The pair of All-Rookie Team plaudits mark the first NE10 awards in program history.
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Actually rostered as a wide receiver, Daniels wound up making his biggest contributions on the defensive side of the ball. He finished tied for fifth on the team in tackles while playing in all 11 games, as he chalked up 41 tackles, including 30 solo. Daniels averaged 3.7 tackles per game and mixed in a pair of tackles for loss along the way. In the defensive backfield, he was credited with three pass breakups and tallied three interceptions for 56 yards. Daniels had all three of his picks in Franklin Pierce's game against Saint Anselm on Oct. 19, when he also recorded the team's only defensive score of the year with a third-quarter touchdown on an interception return.
Daniels also finished as the team's leading kick returner with 615 yards on 34 returns, for an average of 18.1 yards per return. His longest return of the season was 55 yards, at Southern Connecticut State on Oct. 5.
Meanwhile, Hutchinson was far and away the team's leading tackler, as he piled up 20 more tackles than his closest teammate. He chalked up 72 tackles on the year, including 36 solo stops, for an average of 7.2 tackles per game, while playing in 10 of the team's 11 games. Hutchinson also led the team in tackles for loss, with 10 for 22 yards, and mixed in a trio of pass breakups along the way. His biggest day of the year came against Stonehill on Oct. 12, when he notched a season-high 11 tackles (five solo), including one tackle for loss, and added a pass breakup as well. In the season finale at Merrimack on Nov. 16, Hutchinson collected nine tackles (six solo), including a season-best four tackles for loss.
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