EASTON, Pa. – A championship season has produced a host of Patriot League postseason awards for the No. 18/20 Lafayette Leopards, including Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors announced on Tuesday. The Leopards had a Patriot-League best 12 selections listed on the All-Patriot League Teams, eight on the first team and four on the second team.
 
The guiding force behind the Leopards' Patriot League championship season was head coach John Troxell '94, who was named the Dick Biddle Coach of the Year on Monday, just a day after being selected as a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award given annually to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football.
 
Selected fourth in the Patriot League preseason poll, the Leopards were perhaps well ahead of schedule for Troxell and his staff who were in just their second season. Troxell spurred the Leopards to a 9-2 overall record, the program's best mark since 1981 and its first winning season since 2013. Lafayette finished the Patriot League campaign with a 5-1 mark for the first time since 2006, winning the program's eighth Patriot League championship and securing its fifth berth into the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
 
No. 18/21 Lafayette is coming off a 49-21 win over Lehigh in #Rivalry159, beating its archrival for the second straight season and fourth time in the last five tries. That victory marked win No. 700 in the program's history.
 
Joining Troxell as a major award winner is freshman defensive lineman Jaylon Joseph who was selected as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year. On Monday, Joseph was tagged as a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award given to the top FCS freshman. The All-Patriot League Second-Team selection has started 10 games, piling up 26 tackles (13 solo) with 5.5 tackles for a loss of 31 yards, including four sacks. The Houston native, who has eight quarterback hurries, is the 12th Lafayette player to garner conference Rookie of the Year honors since the league's inception in 1986.
 
The Leopards had eight players tabbed for the All-Patriot League First Team, four on each side of the ball. Topping the list is sophomore running back Jamar Curtis, who also was named as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the national offensive player of the year. Curtis leads the Patriot League and ranks second in the nation with 133.3 yards per game. He is also fourth in the NCAA with 1,333 total rushing yards and 18^th with 6.5 yards per carry. The first Leopard since 2013 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, Curtis has 13 scores on the ground and is coming off a three-touchdown performance vs. Lehigh in the regular-season finale. 
 
Seniors Mike Barr, John Olmstead and Mason Gilbert, all of whom play key roles in the run game, garnered All-Patriot League First-Team status. Olmstead and Barr started every game this season, at center and right guard, respectively. Barr has started 25 games over the last three seasons while Olmstead played in 21 games over parts of four campaigns. For Gilbert, it is his third naming to the First Team, having started 30 games during his career. In 2023, he has 19 catches for 217 yards and two touchdowns (all career bests).
 
The Leopard offense also featured three second-team honorees. Junior Ryder Langsdale joined his offensive line mates in garnering conference laurels. The tone setter for the front five, Langsdale has started in 22 games at left tackle the last two seasons.
 
At the skill positions, sophomores Dean DeNobile and Elijah Steward were second-team honorees. DeNobile was a three-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week after starting 10 games. He has completed 160-of-240 (67 percent) for 18 touchdowns and five interceptions, leading the conference while ranking 14th in the nation in completion percentage. In his last outing, he threw three touchdowns and ran for another to grab game MVP honors in Rivalry 159.
 
Steward is one of DeNobile's favorite targets, leading the team in receptions (48) and receiving yards (646 yards) to go along with four touchdowns. He accounts for nine plays of 20 yards or more, second behind only Curtis.
 
Defensively, the Leopards had at least one selection at every level of the unit, led by senior linebackers Marco Olivas and Billy Shaeffer. For Olivas, it is his third appearance on the All-Patriot League First-Team, adding to second-team honoring in the spring of 2021. The vocal team captain is third on the team with 65 tackles, including 7.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks.
 
His long-time running mate Shaeffer, played his way onto the first team via a sack-laden senior season. Shaeffer was honored as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the national defensive player of the year. The outside linebacker is fourth in the nation with 10 sacks and third in the nation with 20 tackles for loss. The team leader with 75 tackles, Shaeffer was a second-team selection in his sophomore season.
 
Providing the pressure up front is senior Blamassi Meite who has 27 tackles spurred by 5.5 tackles for loss with four sacks. Meite has played in 40 games, starting all 11 in 2023. It is the first All-Patriot League selection for the Georgia native. The same is true for Peach state native Saiku White, who was one of the Leopards' most consistent performers on the defensive side of the ball. White was second on the team in tackles (71) and led the Maroon and White with three interceptions, including tide-changing picks in road conference wins over Georgetown and Lehigh.
 
Joined by second-team honoree Joseph, the Leopards lead the Patriot League in sacks (35 for fifth in the nation), scoring defense (22.2 ppg), rushing defense (115.8 ypg) and red-zone defense (72% for 12^th in the nation).      
 
Lafayette will be back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs, as the Leopards travel to No. 12/11 Delaware.