As Massachusetts Maritime Head Football Coach Jeremy Cameron prepares for his ninth campaign in Buzzards Bay this fall, the Buccaneers will look to continue their winning ways under the leadership of four cadets that have been appointed as team captains for the 2013 season.

Seniors John Bochman (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South), Sheldon Roper (Sharpsburg, Ga./Northgate), Michael Sylvia (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) and Stefan Gustafson (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) will serve as co-captains for Massachusetts Maritime, which has posted three straight winning seasons for the first time since 1998-2000 that includes rivalry game victories over Maine Maritime, Coast Guard and Bridgewater State.  The Buccaneers will move into a new conference this fall as well, as after nearly four decades as a member of the New England Football Conference, Cameron’s crew will play a 10-game schedule in the newly formed nine-team Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“This group has demonstrated effective leadership by example and commitment both on and off the field throughout their careers at the Academy, and that leadership will be a key component once again during the upcoming season,” Cameron, who has led Massachusetts Maritime to 15 victories over the past three years, says of the quartet.  “They have gained the utmost respect from their teammates by instilling confidence and camaraderie, and they will continue to represent the program with great pride and integrity.”

Gustafson earned all-NEFC Bogan Division honors for the second time in his career in 2012 after rushing for 701 yards in seven contests (100.1 per game), as he was tabbed as the 2010 NEFC Bogan Division Defensive Rookie of the Year as a freshman defensive back.  Roper ranked fifth in total tackles for the Buccaneers as a junior with 49 total stops (37 solo) that included three interceptions and six total pass break-ups, while Sylvia was limited to just four contests due to injury but chipped in with 15 total tackles (10 solo) in four outings.  Bochman was part of a record-setting offensive line that saw Massachusetts Maritime shatter multiple school records throughout the year last fall, as the Buccaneers amassed 4,686 yards of total offense while finishing sixth nationally in NCAA Division III play in yards per game with average of 520.7.

Massachusetts Maritime begins the 2013 season on Thursday, September 12^th when Cameron’s crew entertains SUNY-Maritime in the Sixth Annual Chowder Bowl clash at Clean Harbors Stadium that kicks off at 7:00 p.m. EDT.