Dec. 29, 2009
College Sporting News 2009 FCS Fabulous Fifty All-American Team
NORFOLK, Va. -- More All-American honors continued to roll in for the first year Old Dominion football program on Tuesday afternoon. Long snapper Dustin Phillips (Woodland, Calif.) was among the 50 student-athletes named to the 2009 edition of the Fabulous Fifty Team for Division I Football Championship Subdivision All-American honors from The College Sporting News. Punter Jonathan Plisco (Newport News, Va.), who was already named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press and a Second Team All-American by The Sports Network earlier this month, earned Honorable Mention status.
Phillips becomes the second Monarch in its first season of FCS play to earn All-American status. A redshirt sophomore, he helped teammate Plisco become the nation's top punter in the FCS and also helped snapped the ball to kicker Drew Hareza (McDonald, Pa.), who in turn scored 71 points for the Monarchs this season going 7-of-13 on field goals and 50-of-51 on PATs.
Plisco, meanwhile, earns his third All-America distinction, after leading the FCS in punting. He finished the 2009 season averaging a nation-leading 44.84 yards per punt and consistantly ranked among the top punters nationally in the FCS throughout the year. He made 57 punts with 18 going 50 yards more, 26 inside the opponent 20, and seven for a touchback. The left footer averaged over 50 yards per punt in games with Chowan and Savannah State and posted a career-high 76-yard punt in victory over Campbell.
The Old Dominion football team, in its inaugural season of FCS football, concluded the 2009 slate at 9-2 overall as the winningest FCS start-up program in history. The Monarchs ended the year on a six-game win streak and will take on national semifinalist William & Mary and perennial top 25 member Cal-Poly in 2010, before entering the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), the toughest FCS conference in the nation, in 2011.