01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, November 29, 2005

As he watched Ricky Santos , David Ball and the rest of the University of New Hampshire football team dismantle Colgate of his own Patriot League, 55-21, in the first round of he NCAA I-AA playoffs Saturday, Steve Silva had a few "if only" moments.

If only the offense had made a play here and the defense a stop there, if only he had broken another tackle or two, if only Holy Cross had won a couple of games it lost, then he and the Crusaders might have been running in the playoffs instead of watching on television.

"Yeah, I thought about it, but wasn't killing myself over it," Silva said yesterday. "Because of where we came from the last few years, we had a good year."

A good year on all fronts. Holy Cross finished 6-5, its first winning season since 2000 and second since 1992. The Crusaders were 3-3 in the Patriot League. And Silva, a former East Providence High football star, last week received the Patriot League's offensive-player-of-the-year award, special-teams player-of-the-year award and first-team recognition as a running back.

He is the first Patriot player in five years to receive multiple postseason awards, the first Holy Cross player to earn the special-teams honor and the first Crusader since Tom Ciaccio in 1990 to win the offensive award.

"I was surprised I got both and first-team All-Patriot League. I figured I'd get the special-teams award," he said.

Silva deserves all three accolades. He led the nation in all-purpose yards (2,134) and was second in punt returns, 12th in scoring, 26th in kick returns, 34th in receptions and 35th in rushing. He led the Patriot League in receptions and punt returns, was second in scoring and kick returns and was third in rushing.

Silva rushed for 913 yards and 11 touchdowns, caught 54 passes for 364 yards and a touchdown, returned 19 kicks for 462 yards and a touchdown and returned 22 punts for 395 yards and two touchdowns. He was the Patriot League special-teams player of the week for three consecutive weeks in October, when he returned a punt or kick for a touchdown each week. And he was the Patriot League's offensive player of the week twice. He also earned a New England Gold Helmet Award.

Silva, a fifth-year senior, wrote his name in the Holy Cross record book. He finished his career second in rushing touchdowns (34) and all-purpose yards (5,153); third in total touchdowns (38), rushing attempts (615), points (228) and rushing yards (2,646), and fourth in receptions (154).

Silva was on the Payton Watch list and finished 13th in the final voting for the nation's best I-AA player. He should be a strong contender for All-New England recognition.

Silva is hoping his football journey did not end on St. James Hill in Worcester. He would like to play in one of the college all-star games, but has not received an invitation yet. He relishes the chance to play in the NFL and is working toward that goal. He is interviewing agents and expects to sign with one soon. People have told him he could be a late-round draft pick, and he isn't sure what to make of that. He is prepared to sign as a free agent if he is not drafted. He also is ready to pack his bags for NFL Europe, and might even consider Canada or Arena Football.

"I'm going to work on it and see what happens," he said. He sees himself as a third-down back and return specialist.

Silva sprained his medial collateral ligament late in the campaign and missed the Fordham game. He has rested his knee since the season-ending victory over Bucknell and hopes to resume running soon. He has started lifting weights again.

Here's an interesting twist to Silva's success story. He didn't begin returning punts until last year, when the regular return man was injured. He had a little more experience returning kicks, but not much because his coaches wanted to keep him healthy. He talked to them during the offseason and they relented, promising to give him as many touches as possible if he returned for a fifth year (he missed most of a season with a knee injury). He did, they kept their word, and he rewarded them with one of the great all-around seasons in HC history. Now, Steve Silva is reaping the rewards.

Hartigan a finalist Nick Hartigan will be busier than usual the next two weeks, which is saying something for a young man who had been busy since arriving on the Brown campus in 2002.

The Ivy League football player of the year is one of the three finalists for the Walter Payton Award as the best player in I-AA, and will be in Chattanooga, Tenn., for the trophy presentation Dec. 15. That will be after he attends the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame dinner in New York next Tuesday to receive his postgraduate scholarship and possibly the Draddy Award, considered the academic Heisman, and after the New England Football Writers annual dinner Dec. 8, at which he will receive the Harry Agganis-Harold O. Zimman Award as the best senior football player in New England. He is the first Brown player to receive that award since its inception in 1966.

Hartigan will join Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Meyer and Santos for the Payton festivities in Chattanooga. He is the first Brown player to rank among the three finalists. He led the nation in rushing with 1,727 yards and scoring with 20 touchdowns and was the star on Brown's 9-1 Ivy League championship team. He will play in the Hula Bowl in Maui in January.

Meyer threw for 3,616 yards and 26 touchdowns and led Eastern Washington to a 7-5 finish. The Eagles shared the Big Sky title and earned the conference's automatic bid to the playoffs. They lost to Northern Iowa, 41-38, in the first round. He is the Big Sky's offensive player of the year.

Santos, the red-shirt sophomore from Bellingham, Mass., threw for 3,200 yards and 33 touchdowns during the regular season. He also ran for seven touchdowns and led UNH to a 10-1 record, a share of the Atlantic 10 championship, No. 1 national ranking and top seed in the playoffs. He was the A-10 offensive player of the year. Santos and the Wildcats will play Northern Iowa Saturday in Durham, N.H.

Dunbar stars at Temple What became of Christian Dunbar , the former football player and All-State hurdler at Woonsocket High School in 1998? He just finished his collegiate football career as the most valuable player at Temple.

Forget the snickers. We all know Temple fields one of the worst teams in I-A football; that Temple was 0-11 this season, 2-9 last season and 1-11 in 2003; that Temple draws an average of 12,000 spectators to 68,532-seat Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, and that the respected coach, Bobby Wallace , has resigned.

Perhaps those negatives make Dunbar's accomplishments this season even more remarkable. He played three positions on defense: linebacker, strong safety and defensive end. He tied for sixth in the nation in forced fumbles with five. He played all 11 games, made 61 tackles, 14 for losses, and had 6.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 quarterback hurries, an interception and a blocked kick.

In addition to the MVP recognition, he also collected a captain's award.

Dunbar's route to these honors was atypical. He graduated from Woonsocket High in 1998, enrolled at Temple in the spring of 2000, left school and played for the Bellingham Minutemen of the New England Football League in the fall of 2000, returned to Temple in 2001 and became eligible to play football in 2002. He did not squander his opportunity and played in 46 consecutive games. He played defensive end in 2002, defensive end in 2003, tight end and special teams in 2004 and the three defensive positions in 2005.

While Dunbar was having a decent career, his team was compiling a 7-39 record.

Shanley is all-region Connecticut College junior Sage Shanley (Westerly) has been named to the Dartfish/National Field Hockey Coaches Association all-region team. She had six goals and seven assists for 19 points, seventh in NESCAC scoring, and helped the Camels to an 8-7 finish. Shanley is co-captain of the squash team this winter.

Muniz an All-American Bryant volleyball star Michelle Muniz , the school's career leader in kills, is an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American. She received honorable mention last year. She also is a Northeast Region choice for the fourth time. Teamate Tiffany Garry joins her on the regional team. Jessica Cegarra received regional honorable mention.

Players of the week ATLANIC 10 BASKETBALL ROOKIE: URI's Jimmy Baron averaged 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in a 1-1 week.

NEWMAC BASKETBALL: Wheaton's Sean Kelly (Providence) averaged 15.5 points, 8.5 assists, 6.5 steals and 5.5 rebounds and was the MVP of the Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament.

Roundup The Rhode Island Basketball Luncheon series will start Thursday at the Radisson at the Airport Hotel in Warwick. Representatives from the nine colleges in the state will be on hand to talk hoops. Contact Dan Booth at Johnson & Wales (401-598-1632; dbooth@jwu.edu) to save a seat . . . Fifth-ranked Bentley went without its All-American guard, Tim Forbes , (Attleboro) Sunday, but the Falcons still defeated Le Moyne, 60-55. Forbes had an infection . . . The 6-1 CCRI men's basketball team is ranked seventh nationally, the highest-ranked team in the Northeast. The Knights will put their five-game winning streak on the line tonight at against Bunker Hill CC at the Cullen Field House on the Warwick campus . . . Wrestling legend Dan Gable visited with the Roger Williams wrestling team yesterday. He had instructed at a clinic in Massachusetts on Sunday. Gable compiled a 182-1 record in high school and college: 64-0 in high school and 118-1 at Iowa State. The one loss came in the NCAA final his senior year. He won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and entered coaching. He compiled a 355-21-5 record at the University of Iowa from 1977 to 1997 . . . He has coached the U.S. Olympic Team three times and has served as assistant to the director of athletics at Iowa . . . The URI men's club hockey team is 17-0-2 and won its inaugural Thanksgiving Invitational last weekend. The Rams defeated Division III Suffolk, 11-2, and Division II Stonehill, 4-2.

Contact Mike Szostak at mszostak@projo.com