Udinski Tabbed Centennial Offensive Player of the Year; Five Eagles Named to All-Conference Team
LANCASTER, PA- The Centennial Conference announced its All-Conference team in football on Tuesday. Senior quarterback Ward Udinksi (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) was named the Offensive Player of the Year. In addition, he was also named to the First Team and joins four members of the Juniata football team that received All-Conference honors. Udinski is the first Juniata player to be named Offensive Player of the Year and just the second quarterback to win the award since Hewlitt Tomlin of Johns Hopkins did in 2011.
LANCASTER, PA- The Centennial Conference announced its All-Conference team in football on Tuesday. Senior quarterback Ward Udinski (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) was named the Offensive Player of the Year. In addition, he was also named to the First Team and joins four members of the Juniata football team that received All-Conference honors. Udinski is the first Juniata player to be named Offensive Player of the Year and just the second quarterback to win the award since Hewlitt Tomlin of Johns Hopkins did in 2011.
Senior wide receiver Isaiah Slutter (Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack), junior offensive lineman Frank Marin (Whitestone, NY/Holy Cross), and senior linebacker Ethan Wilt (Altoona, PA/Altoona Area) were named to the second team. Slutter also earned Honorable Mention as a specialist along with senior offensive lineman Josh Gongloff (Tyrone, PA/Bellwood-Antis).
Udinski had his best season as an Eagle in 2014 as he completed 221 out of 333 passes for 2,878 yards and 18 touchdowns. He led the conference with 287.8 passing yards per game. Udinski had touchdown passes in all but one game and threw a career-high five against Moravian. On the ground, he ran for 661 yards and his 17 touchdowns led the Centennial. Udinski ran for 100 yards twice and had three three-touchdown games.
He ends his four-year career as the school’s all-time leader in completions (734), passing yards (8,616), and total yards (rushing and passing-10,756). His 2,140 rushing yards are sixth best. He ranks sixth in NCAA Division III in total offense (353.9). Udinski is 14th in scoring (10.2 pts./game), 16th in completion percentage (66.4) and 25th in completions per game (22.1). Among NCAA Division III career active leaders, Udinski is fifth in rushing touchdowns, third in passing attempts, third in completions, ninth in passing yards, second in total plays, sixth in total offensive plays per game and in total offense, (one of eight players to have 10,000 total yards or more) and is sixth out of 18 quarterbacks to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards.
Slutter led Juniata in receptions with 53, yards with 832, and caught six touchdown passes. He had four 100-yard receiving games and had a career-best 163 yards against Franklin and Marshall. He ranks second in the Centennial in receiving yards and his 83.2 yards per game leads the conference. As a kick returner, he returned 16 kicks for 362 yards and a score. The 98-yard touchdown came on the opening kickoff against McDaniel and ranks tied for second-longest in Centennial Conference history. He totaled 1,237 all-purpose yards to rank third.
Marin is making his first appearance on the All-Conference team while Gongloff was a second-team selection in 2013.
An Honorable Mention last season, Wilt led the Eagles this year in total tackles with 95 and 74 of them were solo. He added two sacks and three pass breakups. He ranks ninth in NCAA Division III in solo tackles per game with 7.4. He had a career-high 18 stops against Gettysburg. Overall, his 285 total tackles rank fourth in Juniata history.