2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America Football Team
A Centennial Conference record six football players have been named to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America Football team, announced Wednesday. Johns Hopkins led the way with a national-best and school-record four honorees, while Susquehanna and Gettysburg each had one player receive the prestigious award.
To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA, be a sophomore or above and a starter or significant reserve. Academic All-District Teams are selected from eight districts with those individuals being placed on the Academic All-America ballot; Johns Hopkins had a program-record and national-best 13 Academic All-District selections this year.
The Blue Jays had two players named to the first team and two named to the second team with all four players earning a spot on the team for the first team in their careers. Senior wide receiver Ryan Hubley and senior cornerback Macauley Kilbane were both named to the first team, while junior safety Ross Andersson and junior offensive lineman Jacob Fetterolf nabbed second team honors for Hopkins.
Susquehanna senior Elijah Hoffman was named to the second team, becoming the first SU football player to receive Academic All-America accolades since 2009.
Gettysburg recent graduate Justin Lessel became the seventh Bullet in program history to earn the honor, landing on the third team.
The six honorees now increases the Centennial's all-time total to 60. To see the full historical list, click here.
Hubley is the first Blue Jay wide receiver to earn Academic All-America honors since Luke McFadden earned second team status in 2017 and the first to grab first team honors since Evan Earnest in 2006. Hubley is a two-time All-Centennial Conference selection and will enter his final season ranked 10th in school history in career receptions (153) and 15th in receiving yards (1,729); he also has 11 career touchdown receptions to his credit. Hubley double-majored in computer science and applied mathematics and statistics and graduated with a 3.74 cumulative GPA.
Kilbane is the second defensive back in school history to earn First Team Academic All-America honors as he joins Jack Toner (2016) on the distinguished list. Kilbane is a two-time First Team All-Centennial selection and also earned Second Team D3football.com All-South honors in 2019. He is only cornerback in school history to earn First Team All-Centennial honors in back-to-back years and has 142 career tackles, 22 pass breakups and five interceptions to his credit. Kilbane has a 3.47 cumulative GPA and is majoring in economics.
Andersson joins Kilbane from the Blue Jay secondary on the Academic All-America Team. He and Kilbane are just the third and fourth defensive backs in school history to earn Academic All-America honors as they join Toner (2015 & 2016) and Jim Sanders (2005). Andersson has played in all 25 games in his career at Johns Hopkins and started all 11 games at safety in 2019. He finished seventh on the team in tackles with 50 and added four pass breakups and three interceptions that year. Andersson is majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering and carries a 3.88 cumulative GPA.
Fetterolf is the latest in a long line of standout Blue Jay offensive linemen to earn Academic All-America honors. Including the first two Academic All-Americans in program history (Charles Hauck and James Schoettler in 1977), Fetterolf is the 13th Johns Hopkins offensive lineman to grab Academic All-America honors with 10 of those selections coming since 2009. Also majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering, Fetterolf has a 3.93 cumulative GPA and has been a mainstay on the line since arriving at Homewood. Fetterolf has played in 24 of 25 games during his career, including all 11 with five starts in 2019, when he helped lead the way for a Blue Jay offense that averaged 36.4 points and 459.3 yards per game.
This is Hoffman's first-ever Academic All-America award while he has garnered Academic All-District laurels in 2019 and 2021. He currently boasts a 3.93 cumulative grade point average (GPA) as a biomedical sciences major and Spanish studies minor. Every semester, Hoffman has made the Dean's List, which recognizes students who earn a GPA of 3.40 or better in a particular semester. On the gridiron, Hoffman has totaled 113 career points on 77 extra points and 12 field goals made in 22 games played over his first year and sophomore seasons. In 2019, he was named to the All-Centennial Second Team and ranked second in the Centennial with 59 extra points made while coming in third with seven field goals made and fifth in scoring with 80 points.
A first-team Academic All-District selection this past year, Lessel enjoyed a breakout campaign in Gettysburg's last full season on the turf in 2019, earning All-Centennial Conference Honorable Mention. He logged 62 tackles and eight pass break-ups that fall. Lessel was named CC Defensive Player of the Week and D3football.com Team of the Week after posting two interceptions in a win over Juniata College, including a 56-yard return for a touchdown. A history major, Lessel appeared in all 30 games in his career, including spending the entirety of 2019 in a starting role in the secondary. He finished his career with 108 tackles, 15 pass break-ups, four interceptions, and two blocked kicks. Lessel was a three-year member of the CC Academic Honor Roll and was named Academic All-Centennial in 2019. He was also named to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society this past year.
With the varied or non-existent playing seasons in 2020 for many teams across the country due to COVID-19, the CoSIDA Academic All-America/All-District process was shifted to late spring for all programs. Statistical information and honors/awards were based on career achievements instead of having a season-specific focus.