Dukes, D'Ambrisi Headline ECAC Honors

CAPE COD, Mass. (1/5/09) - Senior Durell Dukes (Elizabeth, N.J.) and freshman Thomas D'Ambrisi (Eatontown, N.J.) were named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Southeast Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively, as announced by the ECAC on Monday afternoon.

Also a first-team pick at wide receiver, Dukes (pictured right) was joined on the ECAC Southeast First-Team by junior running back Jared Chunn (Tinton Falls, N.J.) and senior offensive lineman Chris Gould (Tuckerton, N.J.).

The Cougars posted their third straight non-losing season for just the second time in program history after finishing the season at 7-4 overall. Kean earned a berth in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Championship to advance to the postseason for just the fourth time in program history and second time in the last three seasons.

The New Jersey Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year, Dukes becomes the first player in program history to earn ECAC Player of the Year honors after closing out his illustrious career with his name at the top of 10 program marks. A three-year starter at wide receiver, he also earned NJAC first-team honors as both a wide receiver and return specialist, while also being named a D3football.com East Region first-team pick.

A two-time NJAC first-team all-star, Dukes broke the single season receptions mark for the third straight year, as he caught 68 passes for a school-record 985 receiving yards, while also tying the single-season receiving touchdown mark with 11. The team's most athletic player, he added three rushing scores to give him a school-record 14 total touchdowns in 2008.

In just three seasons in a Kean uniform, Dukes became the program's all-time leader in total receptions (170), career receiving yards (2.684) and total touchdowns scores (33).

This season, D'Ambrisi (pictured left) completed 166-of-275 passes for 2,054 yards and 17 touchdowns to rank third in program history in passing yards and tied for third in touchdown passes.

The NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, D'Ambrisi, who transferred from Monmouth University after redshirting in 2007, becomes the second player in program history to earn top rookie honors from the ECAC.

The team's highest graded lineman, Gould (pictured right) did not allow a sack all season and the offensive line together only allowed five sacks to lead the nation. A three-year starter and NJAC first-team all-star, Gould also became the first player to be named an all-american by D3football.com, where he was an honorable mention all-american and first-team all-east region pick.

Gould helped block for a rushing attack that set a new program record for team rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, topping 2,000 yards for the first time in program history as a team.

Leading the way in the record-setting rushing attack, Chunn (pictured left) had a breakout junior campaign as he broke the single-season record for rushing yards (1,405) and rushing touchdowns (13) to earn NJAC Player of the Year honors and first-team running back accolades. This season, Chunn became the first player in program history to rush for at least 200 yards in three different games, while he also rushed for at least 100 yards six times.

Chunn has already broken the career rushing touchdown mark (20) and heads into his senior year in second place in program history with 2,408 career rushing yards.