Zajac and Stambaugh named to Football Gazette All-North Region

DEFIANCE, Ohio-- Defiance College’s Kris Zajac (Grosse Ile, Mich.- Grosse Ile) and Blake Stambaugh (Swanton, Ohio- Swanton) earned spots on Don Hansen’s Football Gazette’s All-North Region team for their performances during the 2005 season.

Zajac, a converted strong safety, was named to the Gazette’s second-team defense after ending the 2005 campaign with 84 tackles and league-leading 15.5 tackles-for-loss at weakside linebacker. He added 10 sacks, one interception and two pass break-ups for the Yellow Jackets, who improved from 1-9 in 2004 to 6-4 in his senior campaign.

During his final year, Zajac was honored by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette as a National Player of the Week after registering 18 tackles, five tackles-for-loss and four sacks in a 29-26 win over Bethany College on September 17th. He was later named to D3Football.com’s National Team of the Week for totaling 13 tackles in a 38-23 win over Franklin College. He also had two sacks and a forced fumble in the defeat of the Grizzlies. Zajac was honored as the HCAC’s ‘Defensive Player of the Week’ for each of his two nationally-recognized performances.

Stambaugh earned honorable mention for ending his career with a senior season that ranked him at the top of the conference in punting at 40.0 yards-per-punt. The Swanton native placed 14 punts inside opponents’ 20-yard line and had a long kick of 57 yards. He was named HCAC ‘Special Teams Player of the Week’ twice for performances against Hanover and Franklin when he averaged 43.8 and 38.8 yards per punt. Stambaugh was also named to D3Football.com’s National Team of the Week and to Don Hansen’s Football Gazette squad for his Hanover performance. He is made his second-straight appearance on the HCAC first-team squad in ‘05.

Zajac was named a team captain, team defensive MVP, and was given the ‘Coaches’ Award’ by DC head coach Robert Taylor at season’s end. Stambaugh was named the team’s Special Team MVP for the third-straight season.