10 MASCAC Student-Athletes Named to D3football.com All-Region One Team
10 MASCAC football student-athletes have been selected to the 2022 D3football.com All-Region One Team.
D3football.com All-Region Team
10 MASCAC football student-athletes have been selected to the 2022 D3football.com All-Region One Team.
UMass Dartmouth's Dante Aviles-Santos and Angel Sanchez earned first team offense honors, Bridgewater State's Jalen Kopecky and Steven Silvia, Framingham State's Brian Callery and WestConn's Chad Blaszky were named to the second team with Brendan Albert and Jaren Alves of Bridgewater State, Cully Curran of Framingham State and Hugh Wells of Massachusetts Maritime taking home third team accolades.
In 11 games this season, Silvia recorded 93 tackles (58 solo) with 13 tackles for loss, 2 1/2 sacks, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Silvia ranked second in the MASCAC in both solo tackles and tackles for loss, and third in total tackles. He is aiso currently 43rd in all of Division III in solo tackles.
Kopecky hauled in 26 receptions for 390 yards and five touchdowns while also providing outstanding blocking from the tight end position. The Warren, Rhode Island native also rushed for a pair of touchdowns. He tied for sixth in the MASCAC in receiving touchdowns. In 21 games over his first two seasons at Bridgewater State, Kopecky has 36 career receptions for 481 yards and six touchdowns as well as three rushing touchdowns.
Albert recorded a team-best 109 tackles (62 solo) with 5 ½ for loss, one sack and two forced fumbles to go along with a game-saving blocked field in a 20-19 win over Framingham State University. Albert led the MASCAC in solo tackles and ranked second in total tackles and forced fumbles. He is also currently 24th in all of Division III in solo tackles per game (5.6) and 27th in total tackles per game (9.9).
Alves notched three interceptions, broke up nine passes, recovered a fumble and notched 34 tackles (24 solo) with 2 1/2 tackles for loss during the 2022 campaign. He ranked third in the MASCAC in interceptions and fourth in both pass breakups and passes defended (12).
Callery, the 2022 MASCAC Offensive Lineman of the Year, earns his first All-New England honors after an outstanding junior season. Callery, a first team All-MASCAC selection, started all 10 games for the Rams as the Rams finished the year second in the MASCAC in rushing yards, rushing yards per game, yards per rush and rushing first downs.
Curran, a 2021 NEFW All-New England selection and a 2022 first team All-MASCAC selection, finished the season with 64 total tackles including 49 solo stops with 6.5 tackles for a loss to go along with nine pass breakups.
This season, Wells racked up a league-high 10 sacks and 20 tackles for loss and totaled 59 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception, four pass breakups and a blocked field goal on special teams. He was named to the MASCAC First Team last week.
Sanchez finished the season third in the nation in receiving yards per game (131.2) and sixth in the country in total receiving yards (1,181) with nine touchdown catches. Sanchez put up over 100-yards receiving in seven games this season, including 191 yards and a TD at Mass. Maritime. (Oct. 6).
Aviles-Santos, the MASCAC Offensive Player of the Year, completed 219 of 362 passes (.605 completion percentage), throwing for 3,189 yards and 28 touchdowns with only eight interceptions. He was named the NEFW Gold Helmet Award Winner last week which goes to the best season honoree.
Blaszky earned MASCAC All-Conference accolades after rushing for 1,306 yards on 260 carries and scoring eight touchdowns. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry and 130.6 rushing yards per game in his final season.
The D3football.com All-Region One Team, selected in balloting by Region One sports information directors and D3football.com staff, was chosen from 199 nominations by full Division III member schools. A total of 79 players were chosen. Players nominated for all-region are eligible to be considered for D3football.com All-America honors, which will be announced the evening of Dec. 16, in D3football.com’s pregame coverage for Stagg Bowl XLIX.
Portions of this release courtesy of Bridgewater State, Framingham State, Mass. Maritime, UMass Dartmouth and WestConn Sports Information