Black Bears picked 3rd in North DeVito, Stone named to All-Conference team

PHILADELPHIA – The University of Maine football team was picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 North Division preseason poll and two Black Bear players were named to the preseason all-conference team.

Defensive tackle Mike DeVito and cornerback Daren Stone earned all-conference defensive honors.

The preseason honors were announced Wednesday at Atlantic 10 media day.

Maine was picked behind New Hampshire, which earned 22 first-place votes in the poll of the league’s 12 head coaches and a panel of 15 media members, and Massachusetts, which had five first-place votes.

Hofstra, Rhode Island and Northeastern rounded out the top six in the North Division.

James Madison had 17 first-place votes to lead the South Division, followed by Richmond (9), Delaware (1), William & Mary, Villanova and Towson.

Maine returns 14 starters and 35 letterwinners from the 2005 team which went 5-6 overall and 3-5 in league play. The Bears won three of their last four games.

DeVito, who will be one of three senior captains this season, was named to the All-Atlantic 10 second-team. The 6-foot-3, 298-pound native of Wellfleet, Mass., started all 11 games, recording 34 tackles (20 solo, 14 assisted), made a team-high 12 tackles for loss (minus-64 yards), 6.5 sacks (minus-55 yards), forced one fumble and recovered another.

He was also named a second-team preseason All-American by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette and The Sports Network.

Stone, a 6-3, 216-pounder from Lockport, N.Y., was named a Dan Hansen honorable mention preseason All-American. He recorded 41 tackles, including 30 solo tackles, in 10 games for Maine last year. He led the league with five interceptions, four of which came in the first three weeks of the season to lead all of Division I. He finished 15th nationally with 0.5 interceptions per game.

The Black Bears start practice Monday, Aug. 14. The session, which goes from 3 p.m. to 4:10 p.m., is open to the public and will be held at either Alfond Stadium or the grass practice fields.