Brown’s Matt Childs Named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Jack Connolly First Team All-Ivy

Following a standout rookie season in 2024, Brown freshman running back Matt Childs has been selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday. The announcement coincided with the reveal of the All-Ivy League teams, which saw seven members of the Bears honored.

The All-Ivy League teams were selected by a vote of the league’s eight head coaches.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Matt Childs (RB)

FIRST TEAM
Jack Connolly (OL)

SECOND TEAM
Elias Archie (DB), Christopher Maron (K), Kyle Philbin (DL)

HONORABLE MENTION
Hayden Bozich (OL), Caleb Moorhead (LB), Jake Willcox (QB)

ACADEMIC ALL-IVY
Caleb Moorhead

Four Bears – Connolly, Moorhead, Philbin and Willcox – all earn All-Ivy for the second time in their careers, with Connolly earning his second straight First Team honor. This marks the first All-Ivy accolades for Archie, Bozich, and Maron. In addition, Moorhead also earned Academic All-Ivy honors.

The only Ivy Leaguer to be named a finalist for the 2024 Stat Perform Jerry Rice Award (presented to FCS Football’s most outstanding freshman), Childs became just the fourth true freshman in program history to lead the Bears in rushing, and led all Ivy League rookies in rushing yards per game, receiving yards per game, and total touchdowns. In nine games, he finished with 361 rushing yards on 91 carries, averaging exactly 4.0 yards per attempt and 40.11 yards per game on the ground. He also finished as Brown’s second-leading receiver with 29 catches for 384 yards (42.67 yards per game) and tied for second on the team with four total touchdowns. Childs was twice named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, coming in consecutive weeks after tallying four catches for 101 yards and a touchdown against Harvard, and then adding 58 yards rushing and 93 yards receiving with two touchdowns against Bryant.

Connolly earns First Team honors for the second straight season after anchoring the Bears’ offensive line, starting all 10 games at left guard for the second consecutive year and appearing in 39 out of 40 games in his career. His leadership and protection helped the Bears lead the Ivy League in total offense at 421.5 yards per game and passing yards per game (290.4).

Archie ranked fifth on the team with a career-high 36.0 tackles, along with 11 passes defended, which ranked sixth in the Ivy League. He had one interception on the year, coming against Harvard which proved critical in seizing momentum and sparking the team’s comeback against the Crimson.

Philbin totaled 23.0 tackles on the season, including 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. He had a season-high 5.0 tackles at Princeton, including a sack.

A four-year mainstay at placekicker for the Bears, Maron earns his first All-Ivy honor after connecting on 11-of-16 field goals this season. He was named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week after connecting on three field goals, including the game-winning 29-yarder as time expired to beat Cornell on October 26. His career-long of 48 yards ranks tied for fifth all-time in program history.

Bozich appeared and started nine games as the Bears left tackle this season, helping Brown lead the Ivy League in total offense at 421.5 yards per game and passing yards per game (290.4).

Moorhead earns Honorable Mention from the league for the second straight year after helping anchor the defense as team captain and finishing second on the team in tackles (51.0) and ranking fourth in the Ivy League with 9.5 tackles for loss. This season, he registered at least one TFL in each of the first four games, including 2.0 TFLs as part of a nine-tackle performance at URI, and added eight tackles and a fumble recovery at Yale.

Willcox ranked second in the Ivy League and 18th in the FCS this season with 2,497 passing yards (13th nationally with 249.7 passing yards per game), ranked fourth nationally with 24.60 completions per game, and was second in the league and ninth in the FCS with 282.1 total yards of offense per game. He added 11 touchdown passes and a completion percentage of 64.1. His 324 rushing yards were also more than triple his previous career high.

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