The Cortland football team earned 21 Empire 8 all-conference awards, including 15 first team slots, and the Red Dragons received four of the league's top five special honors for the 2021 season. 
 
Senior quarterback Brees Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder) was chosen as the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year, senior linebacker Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia) was named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year, and sophomore defensive lineman Nick Lardaro (Smithtown/Smithtown East) earned Empire 8 Rookie of the Year honors. Head Coach Curt Fitzpatrick and his assistant coaches - Lazarus Morgan, Patrick Rotchford, Jake Spalik, Richard Curran, Steve Cushing, Landon Finkel, Ryan Heasley, Brett Segala and Kyle Wallace, and strength and conditioning coach Phill Wiltshire - were honored as the Empire 8 Football Coaching Staff of the Year. 
 
Cortland finished the regular season with a 10-0 record, including a 6-0 mark to win the Empire 8 title and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs. Cortland will host Springfield College in the NCAA opening round Saturday at noon. 
 
Senior linebacker Paul Imperiale (East Meadow) is Cortland's representative on the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year Team. One member of each conference school is chosen for that honor. The Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission, and that the honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen. 

Cortland's All-Empire 8 selections are as follows: 
 
FIRST TEAM

Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position

Brees Segala (Webster/Webster Schroeder), Sr., Quarterback 
Jaden Alfanostjohn (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach), Fr., Running Back 
Travis Alvarez (Keyport, NJ/Keyport), Sr., Offensive Line 
Michael Bailey (Bedford Hills/Fox Lane), Sr., Offensive Line 
Connor Hill (Newfane/Newfane), Sr., Offensive Line 
Derek Cruz (Oceanside/Oceanside), Sr., Wide Receiver 
JJ Laap (Stony Brook/Ward Melville), Jr., Wide Receiver 
Nick Lardaro (Smithtown/Smithtown East), So., Defensive Line 
Devin Smith (Utica/Utica Notre Dame), Sr., Defensive Line 
Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia), Sr., Linebacker 
Joshua Cordero (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury), Sr., Defensive Back 
Christian Legagneur (Brentwood/St. John the Baptist), Sr., Defensive Back 
Stone Murray (Latham/Shaker), Sr., Defensive Back 
Patrick Luby (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood), So., Kicker 
Liam Casey (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown), Sr., Punter 
 
SECOND TEAM

Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position

Ricky Chenard (Ardsley/Ardsley), Sr., Tight End 
Paul Imperiale (East Meadow/East Meadow), Sr., Linebacker 
Justin Wheeler (Binghamton/Susquehanna Valley), Sr., Linebacker 
Mark Noel (Staten Island/Port Richmond), Jr., Defensive Back 
 

THIRD TEAM 
 
Name (Hometown/High School), Year, Position 
Trevor Ash (Auburn/Auburn), Sr., Wide Receiver 
John Manganella (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley), Sr., Defensive Line 
 


Four Red Dragons earned all-league honors for the second straight season. Smith was a first teamer, Alvarez and Casey were second teamers, and Dubuque was honorable mention in 2019. 
 
Statistical highlights for each of Cortland's all-league selections follows: 
 
Brees Segala 
10 games/starts, 164-of-240 passing (68.3 percent), 2,144 yards, 29 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 179.9 pass efficiency rating; 85 rushes, 344 yards, 5 touchdowns 
 
Dylan Dubuque 
10 games/starts, 50 tackles (31 solo), 7.5 tackles for loss (2 sacks), 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, 15 QB hurries, 1 fumble recovery, 2 forced fumbles, 3 blocked kicks, 2 defensive touchdowns (one interception return, one fumble recovery), 1 special teams touchdown (blocked field goal return) 
 
Nick Lardaro 
10 games/starts, 37 tackles (16 solo), 17 tackles for loss (5.5 sacks), 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, 31 QB hurries, 1 forced fumble 
 
Jaden Alfanostjohn 
8 games/6 starts, 96 rushes, 606 yards, 6 touchdowns; 14 receptions, 120 yards 
 
Travis Alvarez, Michael Bailey, Connor Hill 
Alvarez and Bailey, each 10 games/starts; Hill 9 games/starts 
team is averaging 420.0 yards per game of total offense (6.2 yards per play), including 183.1 rushing yards per game (4.5 per rush); 7 sacks allowed in 280 pass plays (273 passes plus 7 sacks) 
 
Derek Cruz 
10 games, 57 receptions, 694 yards, 9 touchdowns 
 
JJ Laap 
10 games/starts, 41 receptions, 670 yards, 9 touchdowns 
 
Devin Smith 
10 games/starts, 33 tackles (18 solo), 6 tackles for loss (5.5 sacks), 2 pass breakups, 26 QB hurries, 3 forced fumbles 
 
Joshua Cordero 
10 games/starts, 29 tackles (15 solo), 0.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 8 pass breakups, 1 blocked kick 
 
Christian Legagneur 
10 games/starts, 55 tackles (29 solo), 3 tackles for loss (0.5 sacks), 2 interceptions (one for touchdown), 4 pass breakups, 1 QB hurry, 2 fumble recoveries 
 
Stone Murray 
10 games/starts, 34 tackles (18 solo), 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception (returned for touchdown), 5 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 2 blocked kicks 
 
Patrick Luby 

10 games, 79 kickoffs, 60.0 yards per kickoff, 29 touchbacks; 9-11 PAT, 1-2 field goals 
 
Liam Casey 
10 games, 28 punts, 39.0 yards per punt (4 50+ yards), 10 inside the 20, 0 touchbacks 
 
Ricky Chenard 
9 games/starts, 7 receptions, 77 yards 
 
Paul Imperiale 
10 games/starts, 54 tackles (23 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss (1.5 sacks), 1 interception, 4 pass breakups, 3 QB hurries, 1 forced fumble 
 
Justin Wheeler 
9 games/starts, 63 tackles (24 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss (2 sacks), 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 13 QB hurries, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 forced fumbles 
 
Mark Noel 
10 games/starts, 13 tackles (6 solo), 4 interceptions (one for touchdown), 6 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery 
 
Trevor Ash 
10 games/starts, 29 receptions, 301 yards, 6 touchdowns 
 
John Manganella 
10 games/8 starts, 27 tackles (11 solo), 6 tackles for loss (2.5 sacks), 1 pass breakup, 7 QB hurries