Football | 11/26/2025 3:00:00 PM

Geno Calgaro (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), a member of the Saint Francis football team, has been named to the All-NEC first team as a linebacker. He becomes the sixth Red Flash linebacker in NEC history to earn an All-NEC first-team nod.

Calgaro finished with a team-leading 105 tackles with five games with at least 10 tackles, including a career-high 15 tackles at Buffalo on September 6. He led the NEC in tackles per game with a 9.5 average and ranked second in overall tackles with 105, seven tackles behind a player from Robert Morris who also played one more game than Calgaro. He also ranked fifth in the league for tackles for a loss (10.5/0.95 per game). The sophomore ranked 17th in FCS in tackles per game and was one of 39 players to reach 100 tackles on the year in FCS. 

The Canonsburg native is the first Saint Francis player to have 100 tackles in a season since Martin Foray, Jr. recorded 102 tackles in 2021. In addition, Calgaro paced the team in tackles in consecutive years to become the first player since Saint Francis Athletics Hall of Famer Scott Lewis turned the trick all four years of his career (2007-10). Along with Calgaro and Lewis, Marcus Haines (2003-04), Dwayne Eck (1993-94), Frank Blair (1990-91), and Bob McHale (1986-87) paced the team in consecutive seasons in tackles.

Calgaro was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of the 2025 regular season. It was the second time in his career he earned the distinction, after receiving it for the week of October 28-November 3, 2024. He was the NEC Rookie of the Week for that week, and for October 14-20, 2024. He was also named to the All-NEC Preseason team and to the 2024 FCS Football Central Freshman All-America Team.

After two years in Loretto, Calgaro has 91 solo tackles and 84 assisted tackles for a total of 175 in 22 games played. He registered 18 tackles for a loss for 41 yards, two half-sacks, two pass defenses, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. 

Along with Calgaro, Lewis (2007, 2008, 2010), Solomon Leaeno (2016), Da'Jon Lee (2018, 2019), and Carter Glassmyer (2023) have earned first-team recognition in team history as linebackers.

Lewis (2009), Matthew Parker (2009, 2010), Anthony Bowman (2011), Bishop Neal (2013), Ben Bruni (2019), Marcel Mami (2022), Willie O'Hara (2022), William Middleton (2023), and Mercury Swaim (2024) earned All-NEC second-team honors as a linebacker for the Red Flash.

Under head coach Chris Villarrial, Calgaro marks the 58th time a player has received All-NEC first-team recognition and is the sixth time a linebacker has been named to the top team under the coach.