THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (Oct. 27, 2009) – After receiving plenty of notoriety nationally for their dominating wins the past few weeks on a number of radio stations, the Maritime football team received some more good news on Monday when a pair of sophomores, Jamie Spanopoulos-FB (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) and David Kittinger-K/P (Fort Myers, Fla./South Fort Myers), earned Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) honors for their efforts in the Privateers' 42-0 victory over Mount Ida in Week Eight.

 

Spanopoulos recorded a career-high four touchdowns on 131 yards in the Privateers' 42-0 home victory over Mount Ida. The 5-9, 228-pounder got 18 carries in the victory for an average of 7.3 yards per carry. The fullback scored on runs of 16, 11, 2 and 5 yards and has recorded a touchdown in every game thus far for Maritime.

 

Kittinger was a perfect 6-for-6 in PAT kicks in Maritime's 42-0 win over Mount Ida on Saturday after fully taking over the kicking duties for the Privateers. The sophomore also recorded one punt for 47 yards and on seven kickoffs, amassed 365 yards for an average of 52.1 yards per kick.

 

The Privateers have also seen their rankings improve amongst all NCAA Division III football programs. Maritime's 351.88 rushing yards per game currently ranks third in the country, while its 40.5 points per game is good for ninth. The great work that first-year assistant Eric Ludwig has done with the offensive line has led the Privateers to the top overall ranking in the country in sacks allowed per game, a miniscule 0.13.

 

Individually, Spanopoulos is the number one scorer among all D-III players with 14.25 points per game, 0.54 better than second place Ben Wartman from St. Thomas in Minnesota. Spanopoulos also ranks 27th in the nation with 109.12 rushing yards per game.

 

The Maritime football team returns to the field in a very important matchup against first-place Norwich (5-3, 4-0 ECFC) on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Privateers (6-2, 3-1 ECFC) will look to hand the Cadets their first conference loss in the season, while helping their own chances of playing in the ECFC Championships Game on Saturday, Nov. 14. Kickoff for the Week Nine matchup is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Norwich's Sabine Field.