Clarkston native Sam Fioroni headed into off-season training for football with good news.
The sophomore at Denison University, Ohio received an honorable mention for All-North Coast Athletic Conference for his performance during the 2010 season.
“It’s really quite an honor,” he said. “I am looking forward to next year. Hopefully we can do better as a team and that will lead to better things for me.”
Denison finished the season with a 4-6 record. Fioroni aided the Big Red’s during an overtime win at Hiram College, Ohio on Sept. 18, 31-24.
The tailback scored on a 1-yard run to open the second half and finished the game with a 13-yard touchdown run on the second play of overtime for the victory. He also had his career high of rushing 200 yard on 22 carries during the game.
“It was a great win,” he said “I have to give credit to our offensive line. We ended up coming back and winning.”
He finished fifth in the conference with 1,063 all purpose yards and second in the league with a 21.3 kick return average. He led the team in scoring with eight touchdowns.
“I enjoyed this season,” he said. “We have a new head coach and it was a different atmosphere on the team. We did a little bit better in wins than we did the year before. It was back to having fun on the football field which is what we do.”
Fioroni began playing in fourth grade with the Clarkston Chiefs after deciding soccer wasn’t for him.
He went on to play for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Preparatory for four years with his junior and senior year on the varsity team.
When visiting colleges, Denison had exactly what he was looking for. The Divison 3 college was small and the team accepted him.
Fioroni is studying economics and history while maintaining a 3.0 GPA in his sophomore year.
His advice for young gridiron gang members is to work hard and have fun.
“Football is such a fun sport,” he said. “You can’t lose track of that. Have fun and enjoy every minute.?
His parents are Lynette and John.