Buzzards Bay, Mass. --  Massachusetts Maritime junior placekicker Brandon Rodrigues has been named to the 2012 Capital One Division III Football Academic All-District team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America for his performance both on the field and in the classroom, as he will now be eligible for selection to the national Capital One Academic All-America squad that will be announced later this month.

A native of Brockton, Mass. and a graduate of Brockton High School, Rodrigues has posted a 3.95 cumulative grade point average as a Marine Engineering major at the Academy, as he comes the third Buccaneer student-athlete to earn Academic All-District accolades on the gridiron in the last four years, joining William Hafferty ’10 and Jarad Horey ’11.  Rodrigues is also one of four Massachusetts Maritime student-athletes overall in that exclusive Academic All-District club over that same time span, as former men’s soccer standout Jon White ’11 also earned the honor in 2010.

Rodrigues converted 31 extra point attempts and kicked a pair of field goals this fall for Head Coach Jeremy Cameron’s Buccaneers, setting a school record with eight PAT conversions in a 56-31 victory over Fitchburg State on October 13^th.  He also booted a game-tying fourth quarter field goal in Massachusetts Maritime’s 42-38 come-from-behind triumph over Coast Guard on September 22^nd, as he earned a pair of spots on the New England Football Conference weekly honor roll for his efforts during the season.  Rodrigues ended the season ranked second on the team in scoring with 37 points while also ranking sixth in the NEFC in kick scoring.

A four-time President’s List honoree, Rodrigues has also earned four spots on the Massachusetts Maritime Athletic Director’s Honor Roll as well as two appearances on both the New England Football Conference All-Academic team and the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Fall All-Academic squad.  His cumulative GPA was the highest among the 25 members of this year’s Division III District I team.

Rodrigues is bidding to become the second Capital One Academic All-America honoree in school history, as Buccaneer Hall of Famer John Hendy earned that distinction during his senior season of 1982.  Rodrigues helped Massachusetts Maritime to its second straight 5-4 campaign this fall, as the Buccaneers posted their third straight winning season under Cameron’s tutelage.

The Capital One Academic All-America program, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, recognize 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.