VILLANOVA, Pa. — A quintet of 'Cats were honored on Wednesday afternoon with Stats Perform All-America accolades, including a 1st Team nod for junior kick returner Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) while Shane Hartzell (Perkasie, Pa.) and Stephane Voltaire (Randolph, Mass.) were each selected to the 3rd Team. A pair of Wildcats were also chosen for the Freshman All-America Team in redshirt freshman safety Anthony Hawkins (Arnold, Md.) and first-year punt returner Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.).
The slate of national honors comes as the Wildcats are riding an 11-game winning streak and headed to the semifinal round of the Division I Football Championship where they will host Illinois State this coming Saturday night. Villanova is 12-2 overall – tying its second-most wins ever – and earned an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs after finishing in second place in the regular season CAA Football standings. This is the third straight playoff appearance and fourth in the last five years for the Wildcats, who finished the season ranked in the top 10 both major national polls.
Mace is having one of the best kickoff return seasons in school history while also leading the team in rushing. He has 22 kickoff returns for 723 yards and two touchdowns. Mace ranks second nationally with an average of 32.9 yards per return and is bidding to become only the second player in Villanova history to average better than 30.0 yards per return over a full season. His 723 total kickoff return yards are the seventh most in a season in school history and rank third in the country. Mace was the first player in the country this season to have two kickoff return touchdowns. His two scores came in a span of three games: first for 100 yards against William & Mary and two weeks later for 97 yards at Elon.
At the end of the regular season Mace became only the second player in school history to be named the CAA Football Special Teams Player of the Year. He was named to the CAA Football First Team Offense and was a three-time weekly honoree during the season. Mace has starred in the backfield for the Wildcats in addition to his success on kick returns. He broke Brian Westbrook's single game school record for rushing yards at Towson on November 8 when he ran for 291 yards and all our Villanova touchdowns on 28 carries in a 28-10 win. Mace has run for over 100 yards three times in his last six outings, including 151 yards and a touchdown in the quarterfinals of the playoffs at Tarleton State last week.
Hartzell is the unquestionable leader of the Villanova defense and is a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award which is presented to the top defensive player in the FCS. He has a team-high 95 total tackles, including 55 solo stops and 40 assisted tackles. Hartzell also leads the team with 16.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries to go along with a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. He ranks third in CAA Football in tackles for loss and is tied for fifth in sacks. One of the keys to Hartzell's success is his consistency, as he has made seven or more stops in eight different games this season.
Through the first three playoff games Hartzell has totaled 20 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. His fumble recovery in the fourth quarter helped seal a 14-7 victory over Lehigh in the second round and he added seven tackles in the quarterfinal round against Tarleton State last week. Hartzell was named to the CAA Football First Team Defense for the second straight year and was a Campbell Trophy semifinalist. He was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week twice during the season.
Voltaire has started 41 consecutive games on the Villanova offensive line, including all 14 games at left tackle this season. He is part of an offensive line that has been critical to the team's success this season. Villanova leads CAA Football in rushing offense with an average of 180.7 yards per game and the Wildcats rank 11th nationally with 297 first downs. Entering this week's semifinal playoff game the Villanova offense is averaging better than 30 points per game (30.6) for the year and has given up only 24 sacks all season, including just five in three playoff games. The Wildcats have averaged 219.5 yards per game on the ground and 423.5 yards of total offense over their last six contests.
During his career, Voltaire has been a mainstay on the Villanova offensive line. He has started 44 of the 52 career games he has played in and was named to this year's CAA Football First Team Offense. Voltaire is one of seven active players on the Wildcats roster who has played in at least 50 career games, and one of 27 members of the roster who has played in 30 or more collegiate games.
Hawkins has emerged as a key player in the Wildcats secondary in his first full season at the collegiate level. He has started all 14 games and has 54 tackles, including 38 solo and 3.5 tackles for loss. Hawkins is second on the team with 10 passes defended and has recorded eight pass breakups to go along with two interceptions. One of those picks came in the Tarleton State win last week. He has been credited with at least two tackles in every game this season and has recorded 2.5 of his 3.5 tackles for loss in the last four games. Hawkins was named a CAA Football Honorable Mention selection.
Reed has been a revelation for Villanova as both a punt returner and as an emerging threat in the team's offense. He ranks second in CAA Football and sixth nationally with an average of 14.9 yards per punt return. Reed has 20 punt returns total for 298 yards, including eight returns of 20 yards or longer. Before him, the last Villanova player to even have five punt returns of 20+ yards in a single season was J.J. Outlaw in 2004. Reed's current average of 14.9 yards per return would be the eighth-best mark for a full season in school history.
During the second half of the season, Reed has also become a key part of the Wildcats offense. He is the team's third leading receiver with 31 receptions for 462 yards and three touchdowns on the year. In the quarterfinal win at Tarleton State last week, Reed threw a 27-yard touchdown pass and later caught the eventual game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard reception in the fourth quarter. He was named to the CAA Football Third Team Offense for his success returning punts during the regular season.
