Two Mount Ida College football players, both of whom received "of-the-year" honors for the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) for 2011, have been selected as Beyond Sports Network (BSN) All-American Finalists for their outstanding individual performances throughout this past season.
Mount Ida College junior defensive end A.J. Knibbs (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) and senior running back Johrone Bunch (Meriden, CT/F.T. Maloney) were selected; this is the first time any Mustang football player has been recognized by BSN as an All-American finalist.
Knibbs was named Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year for the ECFC making him a Defensive first team All-Conference player for the second consecutive year. Knibbs, who shares the honor with two-time ECFC Defensive Player-of-the-Year Keith Barnes from Maritime College (SUNY), was ranked eighth nationally and second in the conference with 11.0 sacks and has surpassed the all-time Mount Ida record by far with 21.5 sacks in his career. Knibbs recorded 41 total tackles, 37 solo tackles, 10 tackle assists, 14.0 tackles for a loss of 87 yards, five pass break-ups, nine quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery, and a blocked kick compiling another impressive season statistically. Knibbs was also selected to the 2011 New England Sports Writers Division II/III All-Star team for the second consecutive year.
Bunch, who was named the ECFC's Offensive Player-of-the-Year for the second time in his career (2009, 2011), landed his third consecutive season as an Offensive first team All-Conference player. Bunch totaled the most rushing yards in any season throughout his four year career with 1,582 on 286 carries breaking his old record of 1,506 yards that he set in 2009. He also broke the record for rushing touchdowns scored in a season with 14 cracking his old record of 13 that he conquered both in 2009 and 2010. Bunch led the conference in every rushing statistical category compiling 500 yards more than the second leading rusher in the conference (J. Spanopoulos-1,088) for the year. Bunch averaged 143.8 yards a game in 2011 good for 5.5 yards a carry. The game average was just shy of his 150.6 yards a game during the 2009 season. Bunch finishes his career with the Mustangs as the all-time leader in every rushing category as well. He was ranked fourth nationally throughout all of NCAA Division III teams in rushing. Bunch was also named to the 2011 New England Sports Writers Division II/III All-Star team for the second time in his career. He was also just recently named to the D3football.com's Division III All-Region East team for the first time through his career.