Just like the passing yardage, the awards for Anthony Fucillo just keep piling on.
After his record−breaking passing performance in the football team's historic 70−49 loss at Amherst on Saturday, the senior quarterback will be awarded the New England Football Writers' Gridiron Club of Greater Boston's Gold Helmet Award at the weekly press luncheon this afternoon at Harvard.
Fucillo will add the Gold Helmet Award to his NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honor, which came on the heels of his 503−yard outing against the Lord Jeffs. The tri−captain became the first player in conference and New England Div. III history to pass for over 500 yards in a single game and nearly led the Jumbos to an upset of undefeated and reigning NESCAC−champion Amherst.
"It's a pretty high honor for any player, but a lot of things went right for our offense," Fucillo said. "Our line played phenomenal, the one sack we had was me holding onto the ball for too long. I think we played the best game we played all year, and I reap the benefits because I'm the quarterback, but it's really a team honor more than anything else."
Fucillo directed an offense that also set the new NESCAC record for total yards — 671, eclipsing the '93 Trinity team's mark of 663 — against an Amherst defense that had allowed just 10.2 points per game entering Saturday's contest. Five receivers had at least five catches, led by sophomore Dylan Haas' 13−catch, 205−yard outing and Pat Bailey's 10 catches.
Fucillo also set school marks with 42 completions and 522 yards of total offense, which more than edged out the previous record of 366, set by Dave Piermarini (E ‘84) in 1982.
"It's tough not to look at the records, especially when you put up 600−plus yards of offense," Fucillo said. "It's a pretty good feat, but we would've liked to score 71 points and beat Amherst by one more than anything else."
Throughout the season, Fucillo has enjoyed substantial success in the Jumbos' new fast−paced, no−huddle spread offense. His outing against Amherst gave him the Tufts single−season record for passing yards and he now sits at 1,880 with a very realistic shot at becoming the first player in program history and fifth in NESCAC history to hurl for over 2,000 yards in a given year. His 327.3 total yards per game is also tops in the conference, and four Tufts receivers — Bailey (first), senior Billy Mahler (fourth), senior Greg Stewart (eighth) and Haas (10th) — are in the top 10 in receptions.
The quarterback also set a New England Div. III single−game passing record, besting UMass Boston's Sean Austin's mark of 497, set during the 1992 season.
Fucillo follows in the footsteps of running back Will Forde (LA ‘09), the last Jumbo to win the award on Oct. 22, 2008, and becomes the fifth player under coach Bill Samko to be honored by the Football Writers. Fucillo is also the second NESCAC player to win the Gold Helmet Award this season; Wesleyan senior running back Shea Dwyer won it on Oct. 6.
This afternoon, Fucillo will attend the luncheon, snap a few photos and accept his plaque, and then get right back to work in preparation for the Jumbos' final home game of the season this Saturday against Colby. Just a few hours after the ceremony, thoughts about football assuredly will have displaced the award in Fucillo's mind.
"It's an honor and everything, but we got Colby [on] Saturday, and we're focusing on finishing strong this year," he said.
