Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College football team has been picked to win the Northeast Conference by The Sporting News Preseason Football Magazine. In addition, quarterback Nick Doscher has been tabbed by the magazine as the league’s top offensive player.

...

In earning NEC Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-NEC honors a year ago, Doscher led the Seahawks to a 6-5 record and a 5-3 league mark, which was good for a tie for third place. Doscher’s 769 rushing yards set a Wagner record for a quarterback.

“It’s very flattering to be picked first by the Sporting News but we know there is a lot of work to be done and that this ranking will have no bearing on our season,” said head coach Walt Hameline who enters the 2010 campaign with a 195-110-2 record and is just five wins away from becoming just the sixth active coach in the FCS to accumulate 200 career wins.

“At the same time, we are optimistic about the season,” Hameline continued. “We’ve got a lot of returning firepower on offense. How well we do will be predicated by how much we improve on the defensive end. We led the league in scoring last year but gave up 342 points. We have a new defensive coordinator and installed a new defense in the spring so it will be interesting to see how much we’ve improved on that side of the ball.”

The Seahawks open the 2010 season on Saturday, Sept. 11 at Assumption College.

The Sporting News Preseason NEC Poll
1. Wagner
2. Albany
3. Robert Morris
4. Central Connecticut St.
5. Duquesne
6. Bryant
7. Monmouth
8. Sacred Heart
9. Saint Francis (PA)

Wagner Athletics
http://www.wagnerathletics.com/news/2010/6/10/FB_0610104047.aspx