Juszczyk Named AP First-Team All-American

UPDATED 12/13/12

The awards keep coming in for the Harvard football team, which has placed four players on All-America teams thus far this offseason.

Senior tight end Kyle Juszczyk leads the way with five total honors, including being named to the Associated Press All-America First Team.

Juszczyk also earned a spot on the Beyond Sports Network, American Football Coaches Association, and CollegeSportsMadness.com first-team All-American squads and on Monday was named to The Sports Network second team.

Joining Juszczyk on the Beyond Sports Network squad are senior quarterback Colton Chapple and junior tight end Cameron Brate, both of whom were named to the Beyond Sports Network second team.

Sophomore Zach Hodges also earned All-American honors, as he was named to the CollegeSportsMadness.com second team.

2012 marks Juszczyk’s first time earning first-team All-American honors after being named to the Beyond Sports Network and The Sports Network second teams a season ago.

The senior tied for the Ivy League lead with eight touchdowns while tallying 706 receiving yards, good for fifth in the conference. Juszczyk ended his career as the Crimson’s all-time leader in yards, catches, and touchdowns from the tight end position.

Chapple was named a first-team All-American for the first time after ending second in the nation in passing efficiency and finishing the year with 24 touchdown passes and 3,169 yards of total offense, both single-season program records. Last week, the quarterback was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, and he earlier won the FCS Gold Helmet as the New England Player of the Year award.

Brate formed a dynamic duo with Juszczyk at tight end this season with 592 yards and six touchdowns on 41 receptions. The junior was also named to the Capital One Academic All-America Division I football team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. He was the only Ancient Eight player to earn that honor.

Hodges, a defensive end, ranked seventh in the FCS in sacks (9.0) and tackles for loss (16.0) despite not starting a single game.

For 14 straight years, the Crimson has now had at least one All-American.