Gulls Earn All NEFC Honors

Gulls Earn All NEFC Honors

Nov. 14, 2006

BEVERLY, MA - Orlando Johnson (Newport, RI/Rogers), Mike Eagan (West Hartford, CT/Northwest Catholic), Adam Maher (Athol, MA/Athol) were named first team All-NEFC selections for the 2006 season.

The Gulls finished the year with a 21-16 win over MIT giving them a 6-4 overall record and a 5-2 record in the NEFC Boyd division. Johnson was a cornerstone of the Endicott secondary as he had three interceptions for 85 yards and made 20 tackles, 2.5 for loss. Johnson also recovered a fumble and broke up a number of pass attempts for the Gulls.

The senior defensive back was also selected as the first team return specialist as he returned 12 kicks for 235 yards and 24 punts for 322 yards, running two punts back for touchdowns, including one 74 yard touchdown return.

Johnson was behind only wide receiver Ryan MacLean (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) in all purpose yards. Johnson racked up 647 all purpose yards while McLean had 711.

Sophomore standout Eagan was a defensive force on the Endicott defensive line. Eagan leads the team in solo tackles with 39 and total tackles with 45.

He showed off his ability to break into the backfield racking up 15 tackles behind the line of scrimmage backing opponents up 87 yards. Eagan also led the team, and was second in the conference, in sacks with 8.5 for a loss of 71 yards.

Maher converted on all 17 of his point after touchdown attempts for the Gulls making him a first team selection at place kicker.

Mike Baklik (Killingworth, CT/Haddam-Killingworth), Pego Jean-Paul (Deltona, FL/Stamford CT), Adam Labbe (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill), George Samaras (Manchester, NH/Manchester Central) and MacLean also received all conference honors as they were second team All-NEFC selections.

Baklik led the Gulls with seven interceptions; he returned two for touchdowns and racked up 181 yards. Baklik also made 14 solo tackles as he helped anchor the EC defense at defensive back.

Pego Jean-Paul was the third member of the Gulls secondary to earn all conference honors. Jean-Paul was second on the team with 38 solo tackles and 43.5 total tackles. He also had one interception that he returned for 46 yards and made 2.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of six yards.

Labbe was chosen as the second team all conference punter. Labbe punted 50 times for the Gulls for a total of 1899 yards, pining opponents inside their own 20-yard-line 15 times.

The fleet footed MacLean led the Gulls in most offensive categories including all purpose yards and touchdowns. MacLean caught 39 passes for 559 yards and five touchdowns, including a 77 yard strike in EC's final game against MIT.