Honors keep coming for UNH football

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The honors keep rolling in for the University of New Hampshire football team.

Junior quarterback Ricky Santos, senior wide receiver David Ball and senior offensive lineman Tucker Peterson were all named to The Sports Network All-America offensive squad after leading University of New Hampshire to the NCAA Division I-AA football quarterfinals for a third consecutive time.

It was the second All-America selection for Santos, who received the Walter Payton Award as the nation's most outstanding Division I-AA player. He was also a Walter Camp All-America.

The Atlantic 10 co-offensive player of the year, Santos passed for 29 touchdowns this season and led the conference with 12 rushing touchdowns. He also topped the 3,000-yard passing mark for the third straight time in his career with 3,125 yards. Santos completed 293 of 432 pass attempts and threw only seven interceptions, giving him an impressive completion percentage of 67.8. He already has broken most of UNH's career passing records. In his 39 games at UNH, he has helped the Wildcats post a record of 30-9.

Ball broke the I-AA record for touchdown receptions in a career surpassing the mark of NFL legend Jerry Rice, who caught 50 touchdown passes while playing at Mississippi Valley State. Ball completed his career with 58 touchdown catches. He also finished second among the NCAA leaders with 4,655 receiving yards and tied Rice's mark for 100-yard receiving games with 23. Ball is second all-time among I-AA players catching at least one touchdown pass in 28 games.

This season Ball led the Atlantic 10 with 13 touchdown receptions and he set a UNH record with 93 receptions. It was his third straight season with more than 1,000 receiving yards. His other honors this season included the Harry Agganis Award as the most outstanding senior in New England, Walter Camp All-America for the third straight season, AFCA All-America and Associated Press All-America. He finished fifth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award and was first-team All-Atlantic 10.

Peterson, a third-team selection and a team tri-captain, was the leader of a UNH offensive line that produced 401.1 yards of total offense per game, including 155.7 yards per game on the ground and 245.4 through the air. They protected the quarterback well since Santos was sacked just 21 times. Peterson, who moved from defensive line to offensive line as a freshman, was started four seasons.

In other news from The Sports Network, UNH was ranked No. 6 in the final Top 25 poll. Leading the way was Appalachian State, followed by No. 2 Massachusetts. No. 3 Montana, No. 4, Youngstown State and No. 5 North Dakota State.