Springfield, Mass. - January 3, 2025 - The Springfield College football team set another program record as the Pride landed three student-athletes on the 2024 D3football.com All-America teams after a historic campaign on Alden Street as Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.), Craig Connell (Groshen, N.Y.) and Billy Carr (Southington, Conn.) earned the national honors.
The first D3football.com All-America team was awarded in 1999 and is, along with the AFCA All-America team, the only ones recognized in the NCAA record book. Players are nominated by schools in November and December for the D3football.com All-Region team, and are then considered for All-American. The trio become just three of 17 student-athletes in program history to garner the recognition from D3football.com, with Shtefan being named to the Offensive All-America Second Team, Connell the Offensive All-America Third Team and Carr the Defensive All-America Fourth Team.
This season, Springfield won its fourth consecutive NEWMAC Championship title and a program record 12 wins under AP Division III National Coach of the Year Mike Cerasuolo. After winning the NEWMAC title, 55-20, at Maritime, Springfield earned a first round bye in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The Pride hosted a second-round game on Stagg Field against UMass-Dartmouth defeating the Corsairs, 54-27, before dethroning the defending national champions and second-ranked Cortland on the road, 40-28, in the third round of the tournament.
The two-time defending NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Year, Shtefan recorded a Division III leading 1,716 yards on the ground this fall. His 1,716 yards are the most for Springfield since Jordan Wilcox posted 1,786 yards in 2017. Shtefan also ranked third in the nation in rushing touchdowns with 21 and fifth in the country with 132 rushing yards per game. In four years on Alden Street, Shtefan appeared in 42 games and rushed 647 times for 3,869 yards to go along with 39 touchdowns. Shtefan averaged 6.06 yards per rush this year, which ranked 28th nationally, and 5.98 yards per rush for his career. Shtefan is just the second fullback in program history to be named a D3football.com All-American along with Wilcox in 2017.
Connell has collected a number of honors following a standout year at left tackle following the conclusion of the season, including being named to the New England Football Writers Association All-New England team, NEWMAC All-Conference First Team and the D3football.com All-Region I First Team. The junior paved the way for Springfield to have the nation's top rushing offense as the Pride lead all of college football with 427.5 rushing yards per game. Connell also helped the Springfield offense total 5,557 rushing yards, the most in the history of Division III and a new program record, while the Pride's 583 points scored and 808 rushing attempts were the most ever in the 134-year history of the program. The Pride also ranked second nationally in Division III in third down conversions, succeeding at a 51.9% clip. Connell is the eighth offensive lineman in program history to be named a D3football.com All-American.
Carr had an impressive season leading Springfield's defensive unit. The senior linebacker won a plethora of awards at the conclusion of the season, including being named the D3football.com All-Region I First Team, New England Football Writers Association All-New England team, NEWMAC All-Conference First Team and NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Year. Carr has registered 79 total tackles (46 solo, 33 assist), 9.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks. The senior linebacker also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and broke up a pair of passes. Carr's 45 solo tackles ranked fourth in the NEWMAC and is just the second linebacker in program history to be named a D3football.com All-American behind Max Nacewicz in 2015.
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