Massachusetts Maritime seniors Brandon Rodrigues and John Moriarty were named today to the 2013 Capital One Division III Football Academic All-District team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, as both are now eligible for selection to the Capital One Academic All-America team that will be released later this month.

 

Rodrigues, a native of Brockton, Mass. and a graduate of Brockton High School, earned his second straight Academic All-District nod and is bidding to become the first two-time Academic All-America honoree in school history, as he earned second team national Academic All-America accolades in 2012 and joined Buccaneer Hall of Famer John Hendy '82 as the only two student-athletes in Academy history to claim the prestigious honor.  A Marine Engineering major at Massachusetts Maritime, Rodrigues has achieved a 3.89 cumulative grade point average while serving as both the placekicker and kick-off specialist during his career.

 

Rodrigues, who was one of 34 student-athletes (11 in Division III) named to the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List as the nation's top placekicker across all FCS, Divisions II & III as well as NAIA and NJCAA schools across the country in the pre-season, is averaging 44.1 yards on 24 kickoffs while adding a 30-yard field goal in the season-opening 24-20 Chowder Bowl victory over SUNY-Maritime as well as seven total extra points.  Last fall, Brandon booted a pair of field goals, including a key game-tying fourth quarter conversion in a 42-38 come-from-behind victory over rival Coast Guard, while adding 31 PAT's that featured a school-record eight conversions in a 56-32 triumph over Fitchburg State.

 

Moriarty, a native of Wilmington, Mass. and a graduate of Wilmington High School, has been Massachusetts Maritime's starting right tackle for the past two seasons and has been part of an offensive line unit that has set 17 school records over that time span.  A Facilities Engineering major at the Academy, Moriarty has achieved a 3.82 cumulative grade point average and was one of 170 semifinalists for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy presented by the National Football Foundation to the absolute best scholar-athlete across all divisions.  Moriarty, who was one of 39 Division III student-athletes to also be a semifinalist for one of the National Football Foundation's 16 Scholar-Athlete Awards, anchors a Buccaneer offensive line that is averaging 504.6 yards per game and has ranked as high as second nationally in total offense this season as well as helping to set NCAA Division III records for most plays (121) and first downs (44) on September 28^th at Worcester State.  Last season, John helped Massachusetts Maritime rank sixth nationally in Division III with 520.7 yards per game.

 

Rodrigues and Moriarty, who are both perennial Presidential Scholars at the Academy, have been named to a combined eight Massachusetts Maritime Athletic Director's Honor Rolls as well as four MASCAC and New England Football Conference All-Academic squads.  Rodrigues has posted the second highest GPA of all 22 Capital One Academic Al-District honorees, a list that also includes two Westfield State standouts in Greg Sheridan and Troy Cutter.

 

In the past four years, four members of Head Coach Jeremy Cameron's squad have earned Capital One Academic All-District honors, as former Massachusetts Maritime standouts William Hafferty and Jarad Horey also copped the respective accolade in 2009 and 2010.

 

The Capital One Academic All-America program, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.  Capital One has been the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA's Academic All-America program since 2011.

 

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $216.5 billion in deposits and $294.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of March 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One and ING Direct offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

 

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.