A quarterback from 1989-92, Billy Rizos was the offensive catalyst for the football team in its most successful seasons in the modern era.
During his tenure, he helped guide the team to a four-year record of 31-7-1 - which was the 10th-best showing among Division I-A, I-AA, II and III colleges and universities in that period - including a 27-3 clip his first three years.
In 1991, Rizos led the Chiefs to a benchmark 10-0 record through the regular season which saw them capture the New England Football Conference championship and move on to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
"At that time we had a number of local kids from the Merrimack Valley and about a 20-mile radius. Billy was the leader of all the local kids," said Dennis Scannell, who served as head coach from 1986-92. "Billy was a great quarterback. Not only was he a great player, but he is one of a bunch of those kids who went on to have great careers and remained involved with their communities."
The Chiefs led the nation in scoring defense (5.2 points per game) and its record was tops among all New England-area Division II and III colleges. As a sophomore, Rizos was the nucleus of an offense which averaged 36.0 points per game and 26.36 points from 1990-92.
Individually, Rizos was consistently among NEFC and Freedom Football Conference (FFC) leaders his final three years. As a junior, he led the NEFC with 142 completions and was second in completion rate at .540 (142-263). As a senior, he led the FFC in passing touchdowns (12) and ranked second in completions (124).
Rizos was named to the Associated Press (AP) All-New England Honorable Mention Team as well as the NEFC Second Team following his junior season. As a senior he was a FFC honorable mention all-star.
"In my 18 years at UMass Lowell we had some great quarterbacks," Scannell added. "Billy was among the top of all of them."
Rizos set 16 records during his career and his name remains etched in several places in the record book.
He holds the career marks for total offense yards (3,563, shared with Gary Errico); touchdowns responsible for (38); completion percentage (.535), passing yards (3,904), touchdown passes (37) and completions (331). He also owns the single game marks for touchdown passes (three, done three times) and longest pass completion (83 yards).
Rizos graduated in 2002 with a degree in business management.
