Twenty SUNY Cortland football players earned 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 2023 season. 
 
Junior quarterback Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West) was named the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year. Senior kicker/punter Patrick Luby (Ridgewood, NJ) was the repeat selection as the Empire 8 Special Teams Player of the Year and freshman defensive back Sam Cotton (Fulton/G. Ray Bodley) was chosen as the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. In all, Cortland had 11 players named to the all-league first team, four to the second team and five to the third team. 
 
The Cortland coaching staff was recognized by the league for the third straight year. Fitzpatrick is assisted by Patrick Rotchford, Steve Cushing, Nolan Foley, Paul Shaffner, Kyle Gallagher, Taj-Amir Torres, Joe Mack, Bill Spicer, Mike Conners and strength and conditioning coach Phill Wiltshire. 
 
Cortland finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, including a 6-0 mark to win its third straight Empire 8 title and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs. Cortland will travel to Endicott College in the NCAA opening round Saturday at noon. 
 
Senior tight end Zack Thuesen (New Fairfield, CT) 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 
Zac Boyes (Buffalo/Kenmore West), Jr., Quarterback 
Jaden AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach), Jr., Running Back 
Cody Aikey (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy), Jr., Offensive Line 
Ryan Bitka (Amherst/Amherst), Jr., Offensive Line 
Cole Burgess (Greenwich/Greenwich), Sr., Wide Receiver 
JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville), Sr., Wide Receiver 
Nick Lardaro (Smithtown/Smithtown East), Jr., Defensive Line 
Max Llewellyn (Sayville/Sayville), Jr., Defensive Line 
Jack Winey (Lindenhurst/Lindenhurst), Jr., Linebacker 
Sam Cotton (Fulton/G. Ray Bodley), Fr., Defensive Back 
Mark Noel (Staten Island/Port Richmond), Sr., Defensive Back 
 
SECOND TEAM

Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position 
Ashton Capone (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs), Sr., Running Back 
Kevin Whalen (Montrose/Hendrick Hudson), So., Offensive Line 
Sam Maddi (Binghamton/Binghamton), Jr., Defensive Line 
Mike Baloga (New Windsor/Cornwall), Jr., Kicker 
 
THIRD TEAM

Name (Hometown/High School), Year , Position 
Jack McGrath (Orangeburg/Tappan Zee), Sr., Offensive Line 
Omari Kendrick (Greenburgh/Woodlands), Jr., Tight End 
Jaden Martinez (Comsewogue/Comsewogue), Jr., Linebacker 
Luke Winslow (Lansing/Lansing), Sr., Defensive Back 
Patrick Luby (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood), Sr., Punter 
 

Burgess has earned All-Empire 8 honors in four seasons (first team WR in 2022 and 2019, first team all-purpose in 2019 and first team kick returner in 2018). Five Red Dragons were named to the all-league team for the third straight year - AlfanoStJohn, Laap and Lardaro were each on the first team in 2021 and 2022, Noel was second team in 2021 and 2022, and Luby was a first-team kicker in 2021 and 2022. In addition, Boyes is a repeat selection on the first team, Aikey and Bitka were both second-teamers last fall, and Llewelly and Maddi were third-team honorees last season. 
 

Statistical highlights, to date, for each of Cortland's all-league selections follows: 
 
Zac Boyes 
10 games played/started, 165-of-226 passing (73.0 percent), 2,567 yards, 30 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 209.6 passing efficiency rating; 85 rushes, 505 yards, 6 touchdowns 
 
Patrick Luby 
81 kickoffs, 59.0 yards/kick average, 45 touchbacks; 12 punts, 37.6 yards/punt, 6 inside the 20 (no touchbacks) 
 
Sam Cotton 
9 games played/started, 40 tackles (28 solo), 2 interceptions, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble 
 
Jaden AlfanoStJohn 
10 games played/started, 167 rushes, 890 yards, 11 touchdowns; 10 receptions, 103 yards, 1 touchdown 
 
Cody Aikey, Ryan Bitka, Kevin Whalen, Jack McGrath 
Aikey, Bitka and McGrath each 10 games played/started; Whalen 9 games played/started; team is averaging 50.0 points and 527.5 total offensive yards per game (246.9 rushing, 280.6 passing; 5.5 yards per rush) 
 
Cole Burgess 
9 games played/started, 50 receptions, 825 yards, 10 touchdowns 
 
JJ Laap 
10 games played/started, 47 receptions, 896 yards, 11 touchdowns 
 
Nick Lardaro 
10 games played/started, 12 tackles (7 solo), 7.0 tackles for loss (4.5 sacks for 37 yards), 1 pass breakup, 13 QB hurries, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble 
 
Max Llewellyn 
10 games played/started, 34 tackles (15 solo), 8.0 tackles for loss (4.0 sacks for 35 yards), 2 pass breakups, 17 QB hurries

Jack Winey 
10 games played/started, 89 tackles (32 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss, 4 QB hurries, 2 fumble recoveries 
 
Mark Noel 
6 games played/5 started, 6 tackles (3 solo), 1 tackle for loss, 2 interceptions, 4 pass breakups 
 
Ashton Capone 
10 games played, 89 rushes, 481 yards, 11 touchdowns; 5 receptions, 38 yards, 1 touchdown 
 
Sam Maddi 
10 games played/started, 21 tackles (6 solo), 3 tackles for loss, 3 pass breakups, 6 QB hurries 
 
Mike Baloga 
10 games played/started, 7-for-11 field goals (long 39 yards), 68-for-68 PAT kicks, 89 points 
 
Omari Kendrick 
10 games played/5 started, 5 receptions, 45 yards, 2 touchdowns 
 
Jaden Martinez 
7 games played/started, 42 tackles (22 solo), 4 tackles for loss (2.0 sacks for 24 yards), 1 interception (touchdown), 2 pass breakups, 6 QB hurries, 1 forced fumble 
 
Luke Winslow 
10 games played/started, 44 tackles (25 solo), 2 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 4 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery