Football

Four Cougars Earn Don Hansen Football Honors

WESTMONT, Ill. (1/27/07) - Senior defensive back Aharon Kiett (Atlantic City, N.J.) and junior quarterback AJ Roque (Matawan, N.J.) were tabbed Don Hansen's Football Gazette Honorable Mention All-American, as announced by the publication.

The pair also earned All-East second-team honors, while junior offensive tackle Malcolm Manning (Franklin, N.J.) and ssophomore wide receiver Durell Dukes (Elizabeth, N.J.) were nnamed to the All-East third team.

Kean captured just its second Eastern College Athletic Conference title with a 37-0 shutout over King's College in the ECAC Southeast Bowl Championship. In the 37-year history of the program, the Cougars finished with a winning record for just the eight time and first since the 1994 team finished 7-2-1 overall and won the school's first ECAC championship.

Kiett, who also earned D3football.com East Region third team and second-team New Jersey Athletic Conference honors, had a team-high three interceptions to go along with 45 total tackles. Kiett also had an impressive 20 pass breakups to lead the NJAC and rank second in the nation in passes defended per game. For his career, Kiett ranks tied for fourth all-time with 12 career interceptions.

The NJAC Offensive Player of the Year, Roque finished the season leading the conference in passing yardage per game (210.9), total offense per game (216.7) and passing efficiency (137.7). The three-year starter became the first player in program history to eclipse 5,000 passing yards in a career and 2,000 passing yards in a season. This season, he finished with 2,320 yards passing and 19 touchdowns to break his own school record in both categories. In 30 career games under center, Roque has 5,980 passing yards and 46 career passing touchdowns.

Manning was also named to the NJAC First Team and D3football.com East Region Second-Team, as he was a key member of an offensive line that helped lead the conference in passing offense, rushing offense, total offense, pass efficiency and first downs.

Dukes set the single-season record with 49 receptions, while his 846 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches rank third all-time on Kean's single-season charts. The sophomore was tabbed the ECAC Southeast Bowl MVP after he had 171 receiving yards, 84 rushing yards and two touchdown receptions in the Cougar victory.