ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Junior safety Raeqwon Greer (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) of the Alfred University football team was named as the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year, leading the way as 10 Saxons were honored by the conference Thursday morning.
 
Greer was also named to the All-Empire 8 First Team. Joining him on the first team defensively is senior interior linebacker Nick Milgate (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton). Offensively, the first team is headlined by senior running back Aaron Griffin (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross), senior offensive lineman Wes Senn (Randolph, N.Y./Randolph), and senior tight end/fullback E.J. Staniszewski (South Wales, N.Y./Holland).
 
Earning second team offensive honors are the offensive line trio of junior Ethan Stewart (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South), senior Patrick Hannon (Springville, N.Y./Springville-Griffith), and senior Robert LoSordo (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North). Junior defensive lineman Caleb Marshall (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy) earned second team honors on the defensive end. Senior defensive lineman Leo Pamphile (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) earned honorable mentioned honors. In addition, he was named the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year.
 
Greer is the third Saxon in the last four years and sixth this decade to earn Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining A.J. Licata (2016, 2017), Mike Raplee (2012), and Nick Clark (2010, 2011).  The junior earns his third All-Empire 8 honor and second consecutive first team honor after leading the league with 60 solo tackles, adding one sack and a forced fumble. Nationally, Greer is 12^th with 6.4 solo tackles per game and 64^th with 9.3 tackles per game. He has earned d3football.com Team of the Week honors on two occasions (10-8 and 11-12). Greer, a 2019 D3football.com First Team Preseason All-America selection, will enter his senior season with 208 total tackles, six interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
 
Milgate earns his third consecutive All-Empire 8 honor, making his first foray onto the first team after earning consecutive honorable mention nods. The senior captain moved from outside to inside linebacker and dominated, leading the team and the conference with 111 tackles and 18 tackles for loss, adding four sacks, three forced fumbles, and an interception. Nationally, Milgate finished the season 14^th with 11 tackles per game and 27^th with 1.8 tackles per loss per game. He was honored by the ECAC as its Division III North Football Defensive Player of the Month for October, and was honored twice by D3football.com, earning a spot on its Team of the Week on Sept. 17 and Oct. 29. Milgate also earned Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct 21.
 
Milgate concludes a solid career with 298 career tackles, 34 for loss, along with 8.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and nine interceptions. His 298 tackles are tied for ninth all-time in Alfred University history.
 
Griffin exploded onto the scene in 2019, earning his first All-Empire 8 honor. The senior led the conference and is 13^th nationally with 1,233 rushing yards, averaging a league-leading 6.1 yards per carry. It's the 10^th-best rushing effort for a season in Saxon history and his 12 touchdowns are seventh all-time in a season. During the year, Griffin recorded five games with 100 or more yards and two with 200 or more yards, including a career-high 229-yard outburst against Rochester, the sixth-highest single game rushing total in Alfred history.
 
Griffin was named the Empire 8 Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 30 and earned D3football.com Team of the Week honors on Oct. 1. He wraps up his AU career with 1,810 yards and 22 touchdowns.
 
Four members of the AU starting offensive line land on the All-Empire 8 team. Senn earns his first first-team nod after earning second team and honorable mention nods over the past two seasons, while Stewart, Hannon, and LoSordo each earn their first all-conference honor. The unit, which also includes sophomore Robert Felder Jr. (Syracuse, N.Y./Institute of Technology at Central), has started in all 10 games together, aiding a strong rushing attack which finished second in the Empire 8 by a narrow margin with 2,228 rushing yards (222.8 per game) and led the league with 114 rushing first downs. In the passing game, the unit allowed just four sacks in conference action, good for second.
 
Staniszewski earns his second consecutive all-league honor, also making his first foray onto the first team in 2019. Staniszewski played in all 10 contests, serving as a key cog both as a blocker and pass catcher. As a blocker, the senior helped the line and the AU rushing attack as the team rushed for 2,228 total yards and 23 touchdowns, both second in the league. As a receiver, he caught four passes for 101 yards, scoring on a 19-yard touchdown in the Saxons' victory against the University of Rochester on Sept 28.
 
Marshall earns his first all-conference honor in 2019. He played a key role in shoring up a stout Alfred defensive line, as the team finished second in conference and 24^th nationally in rushing defense (90.5 yards allowed per game). Individually, Marshall totaled 18 tackles, 4.0 for loss, adding 1.5 sacks.
 
Pamphile finishes his time with AU with his first all-conference honor. The senior co-captain played in just five contests before succumbing a season-ending injury, but was dominant, tallying a team-leading 6.5 sacks, while adding 29 tackles (8.5 for loss), adding a quarterback hurry and two pass breakups. At the time of the injury, Pamphile led the league and was 10^th in the country with 1.3 sacks per game. As a team, the Saxons were sixth in the country with 4.2 sacks per game. Pamphile earned Empire 8 Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 9.
 
Pamphile is also Alfred's selection for the Football Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference 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. Pamphile has distinguished himself, consistently exhibiting the critical traits as an outstanding sportsman.
 
The Saxons finished 5-5 in the 2019 season, having spent four weeks on the D3football.com Top-25 polls.