HAMILTON-The league and nation’s most efficient quarterback Kyle Quinlan has been named the 2012 most valuable player and becomes the OUA nominee for the CIS Hec Crighton trophy.
Hailing from South Woodslee, Ontario, Quinlan spent the 2012 OUA season re-writing the McMaster record book as he led the Marauders to an undefeated league record. In his final year of eligibility, Quinlan set a new OUA record by completing 162 of 235 pass attempts for a completion percentage of 69%. He passed for 2,457 yards for a league leading 10.46 yards per completion average and also led the OUA with 19 touchdown tosses, compared to only two interceptions.
Quinlan also displayed impressive rushing ability, and was McMaster’s leading rusher with 550 yards on 55 carries for a 10-yard per carry average, while scoring seven touchdowns on the ground.
He now holds McMaster single season records for most completions, most yards passing and most touchdown passes, as well as the Marauder career record for touchdown passes and was named a first team all-star. He is only the third Marauder to take home the prestigious award.
For the second year in a row, a member of the McMaster Marauders takes home the OUA standup defensive player of the year award. Aram Eisho (Hamilton, Ont.) enjoyed a sensational year, leading the McMaster defence from his middle linebacker position. Eisho registered a total of 52.5 tackles in eight league games and led the OUA in solo tackles with 50. He also had three quarterback sacks.
Behind Eisho’s strong play, McMaster allowed the fewest yards rushing in the OUA in 2012, and had the top-ranked defence in overall yardage allowed and the fewest points scored against.
A second-year social science student, Eisho has been stellar this season after being named the Outstanding Defensive Player in the 2011 Vanier Cup game. Eisho is the fourth Marauder of all time to win to take home the President’s Award and he is also a first team all-star.
The J.P. Metras Award for OUA lineman of the year went to McMaster defensive end Ben D’Aguilar (Hamilton, Ont.). D’Aguilar has had a great year, terrorizing OUA quarterbacks as the top pass rusher on the league-leading McMaster defence.
From his dominating week one performance when he had three sacks against Guelph and was named the OUA Defensive Player of the Week, D’Aguilar seemed destined to have a special season.
A Hamilton native, D’Aguilar set a single season CIS record for sacks with 12.5 over eight league games. He also registered 28 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, one forced fumble, and one pass break-up.
In the first prospect list posted by the CFL scouting combine in September, D’Aguilar was ranked as the 10th best prospect for the 2013 CFL Draft. At the 2012 CIS East-West Bowl, he was the top defensive performer for the West team, with six solo tackles and one sack.
It wasn’t only Marauder players who took home awards on Thursday. Head coach Stefan Ptaszek was honoured with the Dave “Tuffy” Knight OUA coach of the year award, presented by Centaur Products. Ptaszek, in his seventh season with the team, guided the Marauders to a perfect 8 and 0 mark in OUA regular season play.
In 2011, Coach Ptaszek completed the rare Vanier Cup trifecta of winning the big prize as a player in 1991 while at Wilfrid Laurier, an assistant coach in 2005 when he served as offensive coordinator for the Golden Hawks, and last season as a head coach, guiding McMaster to its first national championship.
A three-time All-Canadian as a player at Laurier University, Ptaszek spent four years in the Canadian Football League, playing for the B.C. Lions, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Toronto Argonauts. After his CFL playing days, Ptaszek moved into the coaching ranks, serving as Special Team Coordinator at the University of British Columbia, before joining the staff at Laurier, and eventually taking over the McMaster program as Head Coach.
A native of Burlington and graduate of Nelson high school, he holds an Honours Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from U.B.C.
The Western Mustangs continued their outstanding recruiting a the running back position, as Yannick Harou, following in Tyler Varga’s footsteps, took home the Normal Marshall OUA rookie of the year award.
A native of Gatineau, Quebec, Harou had an impressive freshman season with Western, finishing in the top ten for rushing yards and scoring four touchdowns.
Harou was called upon late in the season to fill in for injured CIS-leading rusher Garret Sanvido. He proved to be a more than adequate replacement, rushing for 133 yards and scoring two touchdowns in Western’s quarter-final victory over the Windsor Lancers.
A product of the same St. Andrew’s College Saints program that produced Mustang legend Michael Faulds, Harou was one of the top offensive recruits in the nation after two record-breaking seasons where he earned team MVP honours in both 2010 and 2011.
The Russ Jackson Nominee is a name put forward by the OUA for the award presented annually by the CIS to the player who best exemplifies the attributes of academic achievement, football skill, and citizenship. This year the award goes to Guelph Gryphon captain Zach Androschuk. Androschuk, a fifth-year senior, has always excelled both on the football field as well as in the classroom.
On the field, the 6-foot-1, 195lb defensive back is a two-year captain of the special teams unit and a four-year starter who won the ‘Kyle Walters Trophy’ last year for being the ‘best-prepared’ player. This year during the Gryphons magical 2012 turn-around season, the veteran helped lead his team to a 7-1 regular season record. He was a crucial member of the special teams unit and finished the season with 30.5 total tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery.
During his five years with the team, the Sarnia, Ont. native has consistently been one of the Gryphons top performers in the classroom. He was named to the Dean’s Honour Roll every year and is a four-time Academic All-Canadian. In 2011 he held an 84.6% GPA while majoring in Biomedical Studies and was named the University of Guelph’s President’s Award winner for excellence in the classroom and on the field. He graduated with distinction from Biomedical Sciences in April of 2012 and was accepted to the University of Western Ontario Medical School for September 2012. After much consideration, the talented student-athlete decided to defer his Medical School acceptance for one year and return for his last season on the Gryphons football team. He is currently completing a Neuroscience Minor at Guelph that will be completed this December.
Androschuk also believes in being active in his community and has been instrumental in organizing the first “Guelph Wheels in Action”, a spinal cord injury fundraiser held at the University of Guelph. He’s also volunteered as a Brain Day Director, which is an outreach initiative where university students present to grades 4-6 on brain and spinal cord anatomy. This was a nationwide event that Androschuk helped bring to Guelph in 2011. Other volunteer work includes volunteering with St. Joseph’s Hospital spinal rehabilitation, acting as the Gryphon captain for the Big Brothers Bowl for Kids Sake fundraiser and working as a Believe to Achieve Motivational speaker traveling to local high schools to discuss the life and challenges of a varsity athlete.
This year’s volunteer coach of the year award winner is a long serving member of the Waterloo Warriors coaching staff. Dr. Tony Chris has been involved with the Warriors for 24 years. He began his foray into coaching under Tuffy Knight in 1988, when he started serving as team doctor. Over the next 15 years with the program, his role with the team expanded to include coaching, recruiting, fundraising and taking care of the medical needs of Waterloo’s varsity programs.
The Officials Award of Merit went to Jim Lindsay. The Referee in Chief for the Northern Football Conference, Lindsay dedicates his time to OUA football each season. He watches game tape in order to improve from game to game and for a number of years has stood out as one of the most elite officials in the league.
All the major award winners for 2012 were honoured on Thursday at a press conference in Hamilton in conjunction with the Yates Cup conference.
2012 OUA FOOTBALL MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Most Valuable Player – Kyle Quinlan (McMaster)
President’s Trophy (Stand-up Defensive Player) – Aram Eisho (McMaster)
J.P. Metras Trophy (Lineman of the Year) – Ben D’Aguilar (McMaster)
Norm Marshall Trophy (Rookie of the Year) – Yannick Harou (Western)
Russ Jackson Nominee – Zach Androschuk (Guelph)
Dave “Tuffy” Knight Award (Coach of the Year) – Stefan Ptaszek (McMaster)
Volunteer Coach of the Year – Dr. Tony Chris (Waterloo)
Officials Award of Merit – Jim Lindsay
McMaster Photo Credit: Michael P Hall
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
