ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Eight Navy football players have been named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-American Athletic Conference team.
Senior nose guard Donald Berniard Jr. and junior linebacker Colin Ramos were named to the second team, junior fullback Daba Fofana, junior safety Rayuan Lane III and junior punter Riley Riethman were named to the third team, while junior offensive tackle Connor McMahon, senior defensive end Jacob Busic and junior punt returner Amin Hassan were named to the fourth team.
Berniard has made an incredible 30-straight starts at nose guard for the Mids. He was named to Phil Steele's All-American Athletic Conference Third Team last year and finished the season with 35 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss.
Ramos, who was named to Phil Steele's All-American Athletic Conference Third Team at the end of last season, was a starter in 10 of the 12 games last year and was second on the team in tackles (79), tied for second in tackles for a loss (8.6) and tied for third in sacks (4).
Fofana had a breakout campaign at fullback in 2022 leading Navy in rushing (769) and rushing touchdowns (6) on 186 carries. Fofana earned seven starts a year ago and was named to Phil Steele's All-American Athletic Conference Fourth Team.
Lane has been a starter in all 24 games of his career and has made 18-consective starts. Lane finished third on the team in tackles (71) and pass breakups (4) last year and also contributed 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Riethman, who is ranked #1 on the Navy career punting leader board with a 43.2 average over 2 seasons, punted 45 times a year ago for a 43.8 average, which is tied for the third best single-season average in school history. He placed 11 of his 45 punts inside the 20 and booted 13 punts 50 yards or more.
McMahon, who is projected to start at left tackle for the Mids this year, started 10 games last year as a sophomore.
Busic, who has started 24-consecutive games for Navy, was named First-Team All-East, an Honorable Mention All-American Athletic Conference selection and Third-Team All-AAC honoree by Phil Steele last fall. He finished the year second on the team in sacks (6) and tied for second in tackles for loss (8.5) to go along with his 38 total tackles.
Hassan, who also started six games at slot back, ranked 18th in the country in yards per punt return, averaging 8.8. He returned 15 punts on the year for 132 yards.
Navy will open up the 2023 campaign on August 26 against Notre Dame at a sold out Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Season and single-game tickets for the six home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium are on sale now by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/bd3tfjuj or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.
