With the start of the 2015 Massachusetts Maritime football season a little more than three weeks away, preparations are continuing in earnest for the upcoming campaign.  And with that in mind, Head Coach Jeremy Cameron has named a quartet of Buccaneer senior standouts who will serve as team captains for his 11^th year at the helm on Taylor’s Point.

Cameron has tabbed Brad Skeffington (Salem, Mass./Salem), David Yerxa (Milford, Conn./Foran), Grady McCarthy (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) and Ash Ergle (Modoc, S.C./Fox Creek) to lead this year’s squad, which returns 50 letterwinners and 11 starters from last fall.  Massachusetts Maritime posted four overall victories in 2014, including a double-overtime 26-20 triumph in the Admiral’s Cup clash with Maine Maritime and a 31-21 season-ending win at rival Bridgewater State in the 36^th Annual Cranberry Bowl Presented By Ocean Spray.

“All four of these seniors have played crucial roles, both on and off the field, in the continued development and success of our program by being good teammates and leaders on and off the field,” Cameron, who begins his second decade at Massachusetts Maritime this fall, says of his 2015 captains.  “They have set a high standard for achievement in competition and in their studies, and their example is the one I want all of our players to emulate.”

Skeffington has been a versatile performer for the Buccaneers throughout his career, and last season was no exception.  He rushed for 206 yards on 61 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns as a running back, and he also hauled in seven catches for 66 yards and two more scores as a receiver.  On the defensive side, Brad added made seven total tackles (five solo) and recorded an interception, and he looks to take over as Massachusetts Maritime’s signal caller this fall.

Yerxa rushed for a career-best 126 yards on 45 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in 2014, while McCarthy amassed a career-high 21 total tackles (14 solo) to go with a pass break-up and a forced fumble in the defensive backfield.  Ergle chipped in with 20 total stops (13 solo) on the defensive line for the Buccaneers, as he lends experience up front with 13 career appearances.

Massachusetts Maritime kicks off the 2015 campaign on Friday, September 11^th when Cameron’s Buccaneers entertain rival SUNY-Maritime in the Eighth Annual Chowder Bowl at Clean Harbors Stadium beginning at 6:00 p.m. EDT.