Aaron Berkowitz – General Assignment Reporter
NEW HAVEN, Conn—Southern Connecticut’s athletics have done nothing but give its Owls more to be proud of this semester.
On top of Southern’s swim teams bringing home championships, the men’s basketball team winning the NE-10 tournament and making it to the elite eight for the first time since 1996, the school should also be proud of three players on the football team who received All-American Honors.
Brian Wilcox, junior and middle linebacker for the Owls, said he is honored to be
named First-Team All-American but he would prefer a winning season over the personal accolades.
“That’s all that really matters to me,” said Wilcox. “At the end of the day if we are a winning team everyone will be noticed and everyone will be happy.”
Wilcox became just the third player to record more than 100 tackles in a season and the first to do it since 1996. He also said the skeptics of his game are some of his biggest motivators.
“My main goal is to get better and work hard everyday,” said Wilcox. “People have been telling me ‘I’m not smart enough, not big enough, or fast enough,’ since I started playing in fourth grade, but forget them. They say I can’t do something and I love proving people wrong.”
Carlif Taylor, junior defensive linebacker, said he found out he received All-American Honorable Mention Laurels through a friend on the school’s softball team and didn’t believe it initially.
“I’m humbled by the acknowledgement but I know the type of work we put in to receive it as well,” said Taylor. “There are plenty of us who deserve this so I am more focused on next year and my NFL goals.”
Taylor recorded 54 tackles this past season, three of them were sacks, and 10.5 of them were for a loss; this was a team best.
Both Taylor and Wilcox said their success on the field should be credited to all of the work they put in during the offseason and on the weekends. Taylor also said he trains with SCSU alumni, Ike Igbinosun, on the weekends and he serves as some of his biggest motivation towards achieving his goals of taking his game to the next level.
Igbinosun signed a two-year contract with NFL team, the Buffalo Bills, in 2013 according to BuffaloBills.com.
Taylor said being named All-American was huge to his family and friends, but he has tried to remain level headed and focused on the task at hand; which is to win a championship and elevate his game to an NFL stature.
“You can’t let yourself get clouded with confidence after being acknowledged like this,” said Taylor. “It’s important to not forget what’s going on presently. The award we received is in the past now, it doesn’t determine what we will do the following year. We just have to do what we did last year and then some to get it again.”
John Moscatel, senior wide receiver, was the third player to receive the All-American Honors as a Third-Team pick. Moscatel had a breakout season this past year as he led the Northeast-10 Conference in rushing yards (1,070) and rushing yards/game (107.0) during the regular season, according to the team’s stats. He also ranked third in the league with 10 rushing touchdowns this year.
Although the three players are grateful for their achievements, their ultimate goal is to use their skills to help bring the school a more successful season next year.
“Our entire team just needs that winning attitude,” said Wilcox. “Day in and day out and during the off season. We need to be on the same page with the positive attitude because your teammates feed off of that. Then we will win a national championship.”
