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HERO Sports honors UNH players

RICHMOND, Va. – Six CAA Football standouts have been recognized on the 2023 HERO Sports FCS Preseason All-America team.

Selected to the squad were Monmouth junior running back Jaden Shirden, New Hampshire running back/returner Dylan Laube, Rhode Island senior offensive lineman Nick Correia, New Hampshire junior defensive ends Dylan Ruiz and Josiah Silver and William & Mary junior linebacker John Pius.

Shirden led FCS in rushing in 2022 with 1,722 yards and 13 touchdowns. A finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the nation’s top offensive player and a consensus All-American, he ran for over 100 yards in nine games and topped the 200-yard mark in four contests.

Laube was the FCS leader in all-purpose yards (194.3 ypg) last season and received All-America accolades from seven organizations. He ran for 1,205 yards and 15 touchdowns and also excelled as a returner, averaging 25.8 ypr on kickoffs and 13.7 ypr on punts.

Correia has made 37 straight starts on the offensive line for the Rams and is a two-time All-CAA honoree. He was part of a URI offense that averaged better than 30 points per game last season and ranked fourth in the conference in both rushing and passing yardage.

Ruiz contributed a CAA-best 12.0 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in 2022. The Wildcats’ defensive end was second on the team with 60 tackles and added seven quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles.

Silver tallied 55 tackles, 8.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss. The All-America defensive end recorded at least one tackle for loss in 11 of 13 games and had 10 contests with at least four total stops.

Pius, a consensus All-American and the runner-up for the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation’s top defensive player, recorded a team-best 72 tackles and ranked among the top 10 in FCS with 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. He added 12 quarterback hurries and had at least one TFL in 10 contests.

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