Dukes, D'Ambrisi Honored at Eastern College Football Awards Banquet

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (2/24/09) - Senior Durell Dukes (Elizabeth, N.J.) and freshman Thomas D'Ambrisi (Eatontown, N.J.) were honored as the Eastern College Athletic Conference Southeast Region Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively, at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet.

The banquet, presented by FieldTurf Tarkett, was held at the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex on Tuesday evening.

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 under third-year head coach Dan Garrett.

Also a first-team ECAC 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 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.