Eighteen SUNY Cortland football players earned a total of 19 Empire 8 all-conference awards, and head coach Curt Fitzpatrick and his assistant coaches were named the league's Coaching Staff of the Year, for the 2022 season. 
 
Junior kicker/punter Patrick Luby (Ridgewood, NJ) was chosen as the Empire 8 Special Teams Player of the Year and was the league's first team all-conference kicker – one of 11 Red Dragons to earn a spot on the all-league first team. Cortland also earned four second-team and four third-team awards. 
 
The Cortland coaching staff was recognized by the league for the second straight year. Fitzpatrick is assisted by Patrick Rotchford, Steve Cushing, Jake Spalik, Richard Curran, Paul Shaffner, Dylan Dubuque, Landon Finkel, Bill Spicer, Mike Conners, Kyle Gallagher, and strength and conditioning coach Phill Wiltshire. 
 
Cortland finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, including a 6-0 mark to repeat as Empire 8 champion and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs. Cortland will travel to Randolph-Macon College in the NCAA opening round Saturday at noon. 
 
Senior tight end Mike Eglintine (Saratoga Springs) is Cortland's representative on the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year Team. One member of each conference school is chosen for that honor. The Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission, and that the honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen. 

Cortland's All-Empire 8 selections are as follows: 
 
FIRST TEAM

Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position
Patrick Luby (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood), Jr., Kicker 
Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West), So., Quarterback 
Jaden Alfanostjohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach), So., Running Back 
Daquan Griffin (Ithaca/Ithaca), Sr., Offensive Line 
Connor Hill (Newfane/Newfane), Sr., Offensive Line 
Cole Burgess (Greenwich/Greenwich), Jr., Wide Receiver 
JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville), Jr., Wide Receiver 
Nick Lardaro (Smithtown/Smithtown East), So., Defensive Line 
Joshua Cordero (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury), Sr., Defensive Back 
Christian Legagneur (Brentwood/St. John the Baptist), Sr., Defensive Back 
Rashad Tucker (Freeport/Freeport), Jr., Return Specialist 
 
SECOND TEAM

Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position
Rashad Tucker (Freeport/Freeport), Jr., All Purpose 
Cody Aikey (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy), So., Offensive Line 
Ryan Bitka (Amherst/Amherst), So., Offensive Line 
Mark Noel (Staten Island/Port Richmond), Jr., Defensive Back 
  
THIRD TEAM 

Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position
CJ Messina (Sayville/Sayville), So., Wide Receiver 
Max Llewellyn (Sayville/Sayville), So., Defensive Line 
Samuel Maddi (Binghamton/Binghamton), Jr., Defensive Line 
Devin McArthur (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs), Jr., Linebacker 
 
Seven Red Dragons earned all-league honors for a second straight season. Luby, Alfanostjohn, Hill, Laap, Lardaro, Cordero and Legagneur were all first-team selections and Noel was a second-team honoree in 2021. In addition, Burgess earned a spot on the all-league first team as a wide receiver, all purpose player and return specialist in 2019 and was a first-team returner in 2018. 
 
Statistical highlights, to date, for each of Cortland's all-league selections follows: 
 
Patrick Luby 
72 kickoffs, 34 touchbacks; 20 punts, 36.2 yards/punt, 5 inside the 20 
 
Zac Boyes 
10 games played/started, 144-of-214 passing (67.3 percent), 2,508 yards, 25 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 196.8 passing efficiency rating 
 
Jaden Alfanostjohn 
9 games played/started, 178 rushes, 977 yards (108.6 per game), 16 touchdowns; 14 receptions, 190 yards, 1 touchdown 
 
Daquan Griffin, Connor Hill, Cody Aikey, Ryan Bitka 
Each played and started 10 games; team averaging 46.8 points and 511.1 total offensive yards per game (240.1 rushing, 271.0 passing) and has allowed 9 sacks 
 
Cole Burgess 
9 games played/started, 31 receptions, 711 yards (79.0 per game), 10 touchdowns 
 
JJ Laap 
10 games played/started, 35 receptions, 836 yards (83.6 per game), 6 touchdowns 
 
Nick Lardaro 
7 games played/started (missed last three games due to injury), 24 tackles (11 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss (5.5 sacks), 22 QB hurries, 2 pass breakups, 1 blocked kick 
 
Joshua Cordero 
10 games played/started, 36 tackles (20 solo), 6 interceptions for 146 yards with 3 touchdowns, 6 pass breakups 
 
Christian Legagneur 
10 games played/started, 30 tackles (21 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble 
 
Rashad Tucker 
10 games played, 14 kickoff returns, 365 yards (26.1 per return), 1 touchdown; 8 punt returns, 75 yards (9.4 per return); 28 receptions, 350 yards (35.0 per game), 5 touchdowns

Mark Noel 
10 games played/started, 20 tackles (16 solo), 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception (touchdown), 2 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery (touchdown) 
 
CJ Messina 
10 games played/started, 31 receptions, 392 yards (39.2 per game), 3 touchdowns 
 
Max Llewellyn 
10 games played/3 started, 21 tackles (9 solo), 6 tackles for loss (4.5 sacks), 1 pass breakup, 15 QB hurries, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble 
 
Samuel Maddi 
10 games played/started, 20 tackles (9 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss (2 sacks), 2 pass breakups, 12 QB hurries, 1 blocked kick 
 
Devin McArthur 
10 games played/started, 55 tackles (23 solo), 1 tackle for loss (0.5 sacks), 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, 3 QB hurries, 1 fumble recovery