Local trio helps Husson football reach NCAA playoffs

    BANGOR — Three area residents continued their football careers by playing this past season at Husson University. The Eagles finished 2014 with an overall record of 8-2, going 7-0 in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) play.

Stroud

Labelle

    Husson won the first ECFC championship in program history, and as a result earned one of 32 spots in the NCAA Div. III postseason. The Eagles hosted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Nov. 22 in a opening round playoff contest, and the visitors won 27-20 in overtime to improve to 10-0 on the season.
    Ryan Stroud of Dover-Foxcroft, and a graduate of Foxcroft Academy, was a senior wide receiver for Husson. Stroud, who began his college career as a quarterback at the University of Maine, finished second on the team with 28 receptions. Stroud also ended up second on the team with 381 receiving yards, tied for second with three touchdown catches and he was fifth in all-purpose yards.
    Not limited just to offense, Stroud was Husson’s punter. He averaged 34.8 yards per attempt in 52 punts, with a season-high distance of 57 yards. Stroud placed 16 punts inside the opposition’s 20, had 11 be fair catches and only had five roll into the endzone for a touchback.

McLaughlin

    The 2014 Husson football roster included senior wide receiver Rob Labelle, of Dover-Foxcroft and a Foxcroft Academy graduate, and sophomore tight end AJ McLaughlin, a resident of Dexter and graduate of Dexter Regional High School.