Windsor, ON – Three Hec Crighton Trophy winners headline the Lancer Football All-Time Team, which was announced on Friday night at the 40th anniversary reception held at the Radisson Riverfront Club.
The all-time team was unveiled in front of Lancer Football alumni, friends and family as part of the Lancers 40th anniversary celebration weekend. In all, over 1,000 votes were registered by the fans and supporters of the Lancer Football program using both online ballots and paper ballots.
“We are really pleased to be able to honour the tradition of the Lancer Football program with the voting for our 40th anniversary team,” commented Head Coach Mike Morencie. “We have had some outstanding players come through the program over the past 40 years and it's great to be able to recognize some of them on our all-time team.”
Headlining the Lancer Football All-Time Team are Andy Parici, Scott Mallender and Daryl Stephenson, each of whom have captured the Hec Crighton Trophy as the Canadian University Football Player of the Year.
Among the 29 players voted to the team, 18 were named CIS All-Canadians during their career and 6 went on to play professionally in the Canadian Football League.
At quarterback, Hec Crighton winners Andy Parici and Scott Mallender were both named to the all-time team.
Parici quarterbacked the 1969 Lancer team to the CCIFC Canadian Championship and captured the Hec Crighton Trophy as Canada's Most Outstanding Player in 1972. A standout throughout his career, he threw for 4,606 yards and 34 touchdowns at the University of Windsor.
Mallender also enjoyed an outstanding career with the Lancers as he won the Hec Crighton Trophy in 1979 as the country's top player. As a Lancer, he threw for over 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns. He still holds the Lancer record for passing yards in a season with 1,821 yards.
At running back, the top two rushers in Lancer Football history were voted on to the team.
Daryl Stephenson is the only current Lancer player named to the all-time team and is the program's leading rusher. The native of London, Ontario, who won the Hec Crighton Trophy in 2006, is a two-time CIS All-Canadian, two-time CIS rushing champion, an OUA Football MVP and a finalist as the Canadian University Athlete of the Year in 2006.
He is also third All-Time in the CIS in career rushing and is poised to become the CIS All-Time leading rusher this Saturday night against Guelph. Stephenson, who has 4,615 career rushing yards, sits 51 yards behind mentor Eric Lapointe of Mount Allison University and only 113 yards behind CIS leader Dominic Zagari on Manitoba.
Mallender, a CIS All-Canadian in 1979, is second in Lancer Football history in career rushing with 1,743 career yards and 12 touchdowns.
On the offensive line, all five honourees were CIS All-Canadians during their Lancer careers. Earning spots on the all-time team are Chris Church, Dan Comiskey, Dan Gyetvai, Gerald Hlady and Jim Lynn. All five of these players enjoyed tremendous university careers as Church, Comiskey, Gyetvai and Hlady were all named All-Canadians in multiple years.
In addition to being a CIS All-Canadian, Hlady is also the University of Windsor's only three-time winner of the DeMarco Trophy as the university's top student-athlete.
At receiver, Arjei Franklin, the program's all-time leader in receiving yards headlines a talented group of receivers. Also voted to all-time team at that position are Bruce Walker, a CIS All-Canadian in 1978, Rob Cecile, who is second all-time in Lancer history in receiving yards with 1,805 and Mike Urban.
Franklin, who currently plays for the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and played in last year's Grey Cup Final finished his stellar university career with 2,913 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns.
On defense, an impressive group of players make up the Lancer Football all-time team. On the defensive line, John Celestino, Nick Lavalle, Moe Cousineau and Randy Essery were elected to the team. Celestino was named a CIS All-Canadian in 1981 while Nick Lavalle was a two-time CIS All-Canadian in both 1988 and 1989. Moe Cousineau was honoured as an OUA All-Star in 1975.
At linebacker, four CIS All-Canadians highlight the group of five named to the all-time team. CIS All-Canadians Damian Porter, Gary Howell, Gino Castellan and Mike O'Neil along with Rob McIntyre were honoured as all-time performers. Porter was an All-Canadian twice in his career, in both 2000 and 2001.
At defensive back, Jimmy Aspropotamitis, Don Hollerhead, Joe Brannagan and Greg Wood have been voted on to the all-time team. Jimmy A, as he is known to his teammates, was a CIS First Team All-Canadian in 1990, while Hollerhead and Brannagan were both named OUA All-Stars.
On special teams, Scott Essery was the top vote getter as punter, Dave Pegg as the kicker and Arjei Franklin as the return man. Essery punted for over 10,000 yards throughout his career and still holds the Lancer single game record for longest punt at 82 yards. Pegg holds the Lancer record for longest field goal at 53 yards and the most field goals made in a single game with five.
Franklin is the only member of the all-time team to be voted to two positions as he returned more career punts than any other Lancer in history with 190. He also holds the Lancer record for most kickoff return yards in a career with 1,039 yards.
The entire Lancer Football all-time team was honoured Friday night at the Radisson Riverfront Hotel as part of the Touchdown Club Reception and received a gift on behalf of the football program and the Department of Athletics.
