Football Gazette All-Super Region One Team

CLARION, Pa. (Jan. 19, 2015) - Over the weekend, five members of the LIU Post football team were named to the Don Hansen Football Gazette All-Super Region One Team.

Red-shirt senior quarterback Steven Laurino (Boise, Idaho) and junior tight end Sean Binckes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed second-team offensive laurels, while red-shirt senior linebacker Anthony Brunetti (Bayville, N.Y.) was a second-team defensive honoree. Red-shirt sophomore wide receiver Shane Hubbard (St. Albans, N.Y.) and red-shirt senior offensive lineman Chris Rossi (Hillsborough, N.J.) received third-team offensive kudos. Each of the five honorees played integral parts in the Pioneers' run to the Northeast-10 title and the school's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade.

Laurino has compiled a stash of accolades in his final season in Brookville, as he was one of nine finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is presented to the top collegiate football player in Division II. Laurino was also the Northeast-10 Conference Most Valuable Player and an ECAC All-Star. He completed a school-record 317 passes on a program-high 530 attempts for 3,565 yards and 29 touchdowns. Additionally, the senior quarterback set school records for career passing yards (9,673) and touchdown passes (86), and is the only player in LIU Post history to amass over 10,000 yards of total offense over the course of a career (11,191). Laurino was a dual-threat option for the Pioneers on offense, as he carried the ball for a team-high 609 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns, as well.

One of Laurino's favorite targets in the passing game was Binckes, a first-team All-Northeast-10 Conference performer at the tight end position. The junior pulled down 59 passes over the season for 714 yards and five touchdowns. His best game came in the team's 28-25 win over Stonehill on Oct. 11, in which he caught a season-high 11 balls for 103 yards and a touchdown. Binckes would have multi-touchdown performances in the team's victories over Saint Anselm (Oct. 18) and Bentley (Nov. 8). He hauled in eight passes for 89 yards in the Pioneers' NCAA Tournament game against Virginia State on Nov. 22.

A season after playing just two games due to an injury, Brunetti became the core of a green and gold defense that put up continuous pressure on opposing offenses and made big plays when they were in dire need of a tide-turning moment. The linebacker was the team leader with 120 total tackles and four interceptions, and Brunetti also made 10 or more stops in six contests over the course of the season. He posted a career-high 13 tackles in three different conference showdowns, while he saved one of his best performances for the team's NE-10 Championship triumph over AIC on Nov. 15. Brunetti compiled 10 total tackles, nine of which were solo takedowns.

Hubbard emerged as a highlight performer and a dangerous threat for opposing secondaries in just his second season of competitive play for the Pioneers. The sophomore wideout had a team-high 83 catches and 1,058 receiving yards, and visited the end zone nine times on the season. Hubbard was the first LIU Post receiver to reach the 1,000-yard threshold since 2003, when Jeremiah Pope attained a program-record 1,118 receiving yards. He had four games of 100 or more receiving yards, including a career-high 172 in the NE-10 Championship victory on Nov. 15, while catching touchdowns in eight of the team's 12 contests.

Finally, Rossi was a senior leader for the Pioneers on an offensive line that bullied and bulldozed their way past the front four of opposing defenses. The green and gold averaged 33.4 points per game and compiled a total offense of 456.8 yards per game. The offensive line was anchored by Rossi, an ECAC All-Star and first-team All-NE-10 selection in his own right. In his 11 games for the Pioneers in the 2014 season, Rossi also showed versatility by playing as both a guard and center.

For more information on the LIU Post football team, please continue to visit www.LIUPostPioneers.com.