D3football.com All-Region 1 Team

13 student-athletes from around the MASCAC have been selected to the 2021 D3football.com All-Region One Team.

Brendan Albert, Jaren Alves, Adam Couch, Thomas Fay and Steven Silvia of Bridgewater State, Jack Canney, Devaun Ford, Bryan Lawton and Joshua Onujiogu of Framingham State, George Lampros, Andrew Longwater and Cobey Williamson of Massachusetts Maritime, Ryan Milliken of Plymouth State and Ke'Vaughn Davis of Worcester State all earned a spot on this year's squad.

Albert tallied a team-best 110 tackles (70 solo) with 14 ½ for loss, four sacks, five forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles in ten games this season. The Canton, Massachusetts product also returned two fumbles for touchdowns.

Alves recorded three interceptions, broke up 11 passes, recovered a fumble and notched 23 tackles (16 solo) in ten games. The East Providence, Rhode Island product ranked second in the conference in pass breakups and tied for fifth in interceptions. He is also tied for 18th among the NCAA Division III leaders in passes defended with 14.

A native of Winchendon, Massachusetts, Couch started each of the Bears first nine games this fall before suffering a season-ending injury. He carried the ball 167 times for 1,020 yards and 13 touchdowns as he became the ninth different running back in BSU football history to crack the 1,000-yard rushing barrier for a season.

Couch led the MASCAC in rushing yards, ranked second in rushing touchdowns and tied for third among the conference leaders in scoring with 78 points. He is also currently ranked 18th in all of NCAA Division III in rushing yards per game (113.3) and is tied for 31st in rushing touchdowns.

Fay averaged a school single-season record 40.4 yards on 39 punts with seven inside the 20 and a long of 61. Six of his punts went for over 50 yards and he also converted 29 of 31 extra point attempts. The Raynham, Massachusetts native led all Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) special teams performers in punting average and ranked third overall in punting yards (1,574). Fay is currently tenth in all of Division III in punting average.

Silvia, who hails from Dighton, Massachusetts, notched 104 tackles in ten games, including a team-high 72 solo stops, to go along with eight tackles for loss, two sacks, a pair of  interceptions, three pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles and one blocked kick. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown in the Bears’ Cranberry Bowl win over Mass. Maritime.

Ford, the 2019 MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, earns Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 805 yards on 151 carries with 10 touchdowns.  Ford also made 32 catches on the year for 395 yards with four scores.  Ford ran behind an offensive line anchored by Lawton. 

Lawton, the 2021 MASCAC Offensive Lineman of the Year, earns his first All-New England honors after an outstanding rookie season. Lawton, a first team All-MASCAC selection, started all 11 games for the Rams and was the anchor the offensive line.

Along with Lawton, Canney helped the Rams finished the year second in the MASCAC in total offense (4291 yards) and yards per game (390.1) and third in rush yards (2048). 

Onujiogu, the 2019 and 2021 MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year, earns All-New England Honors after leading the Rams with 68 tackles including 25 for a loss with 13.5 sacks. Onujiogu, a first team All-MASCAC selection, recorded a pair of forced fumbles with one recovery and added an interception.   

On the first team offense is graduate kicker/punter George Lampros who earned a spot on the team after having a perfect season for the Bucs, making all nine of his field goal attempts and all 18 of his extra point attempts. Lampros also converted a 46-yard field goal against West Conn this season to win the game. The 46 yard kick is also the longest in Buccaneers program history.

Selected to the 1st Team defense is junior defensive back Andrew Longwater. Long water was a big part of the Buccaneers defense during 2021, making 64 total tackles and recovering a fumble, more importantly he was a menace for opposing teams on special teams as he blocked four kicks this season. Three of those blocks came in a 28-0 win over Fitchburg State with the other coming against Framingham State which was picked up in the end zone for a touchdown. 

Making the 3rd Team defense is senior defensive back Cobey Williamson. Williamson, who covered each team's top receiving target this season, intercepted a MASCAC-high five passes, including a pick six. He broke up eight passes to go along with the interception and made 39 total tackles, 31 solo, on the season.

Milliken was electric for the Panthers' special teams, scoring three return touchdowns on the season. Milliken, who was also named All-MASCAC First Team as a return specialist, was the only returner in the MASCAC to get into the end zone. He led the league in return yards (454), return yard average (30.3), punt return yards (223) and punt return yard average (13.1), all by comfortable margins.

A multi-time MASCAC Rookie of the Week honoree, Davis led the MASCAC with 13 receiving touchdowns, 70 receptions and 1132 receiving yards. He had four more receiving touchdowns than the next closest player in the conference, was the leader in catches by 14 receptions, and led in receiving yards by 368. He was the only player in the conference to average more than 100 yards per game, helped by the fact that he had six games with over 100 receiving yards.

The D3football.com All-Region teams are selected in balloting by sports information directors in each region and D3football.com staff. All players nominated for All-Region are eligible to be considered for the D3football.com All-America Team. Players were nominated for these awards by the Sports Information Directors at the various schools. In total, 1,036 players were nominated from across the country.

Portions of this release courtesy of Bridgewater State, Framingham State, Mass. Maritime, Plymouth State and Worcester State Sports Information