Junior center Brandon Fusco was named to first-team honors, while junior kicker C.J. Bahr and senior punter Kyle Witman each earned a third-team honor
CLARION, Pa. -- Slippery Rock University standouts
Brandon Fusco,
C.J. Bahr and
Kyle Witman were named Wednesday as All-Super Region One performers by Don Hansen's Football Gazette.
Fusco, a junior offensive center from Cranberry Township and Seneca Valley High School, was included on the first-team list, while Bahr and Witman each earned third-team status.
The all-region honor was the second earned by Fusco, who was named to first-team Daktronics Inc. status in voting by the region's sports information directors. He also finished third in the regional balloting for the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award.
Bahr, a junior from Boalsburg and State College High School, was one of 10 finalists for the initial Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award presented to the NCAA Division II or Division III kicker who excels on the football field and in the community.
Bahr, Fusco and Witman, a senior from Harrisburg and Trinity High School, each also earned first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division honors in voting by the division's head coaches.
Fusco, who was named last Sunday as The Rock's Offensive MVP, has been a starter at center for all three of his collegiate campaigns after being redshirted as a true freshman in 2006. He was the mainstay of a Rock offensive line that led the way to the Green and White ranking sixth in the PSAC in rushing offense (146.36 yards per game) and eighth in scoring offense (25.2 points per game).
The son of former Penn State and NFL kicker Chris Bahr and the nephew of former PSU/NFL kicker Matt Bahr, C.J. Bahr has carved out an impressive niche for himself as The Rock's kicking specialist. He ranks second in school history in extra points (112 of 116), third in career field goals (25 of 40) and seventh in career scoring (187 points). Bahr led The Rock in scoring last fall with 54 points on a 27-for-28 efficiency in PATs and a 9-for-14 showing on field goals. He kicked a career-best 48-yarder Oct. 3 vs. Mercyhurst and came up just short on a 49-yarder the following week vs. Indiana (Pa.). He averaged 56 yards per kickoff. As a freshman in 2007, Bahr set a school record with 50 PATs in 53 attempts. He had a school-record string of 65 consecutive PATs snapped by a block Oct. 17, 2009 at Gannon. That string stretched back to the 2007 season finale at Edinboro and included a perfect 35-of-35 efficiency during the 2008 season.
Witman, The Rock's 2009 Special Team MVP, led the PSAC and ranked third among NCAA Division II punters with a 41.8 yards per punt average this fall. He matched his career-best mark when he booted a 65-yarder Sept. 12 at Kutztown, had 13 punts that travelled 50 or more yards and had 18 of his 54 punts land inside the opponents' 20-yard line.