“I’ve always thought the higher the level of competition, the more fun it would be,” said Sheridan, a junior defensive back at Massachusetts Maritime Academy who played his high school football at Chelmsford High. “It’s more competitive and more fun.”

This season, Sheridan is ranked fifth on the Buccaneers with 19 total tackles, including 12 solo stops. He’s made two interceptions with 38 return yards and he’s forced three turnovers.

“Evan has a great combination of speed and strength that enables him to be a playmaker,” said Mass. Maritime coach Jeremy Cameron.  “If he is not making a play himself, he is usually helping one of his teammates make a play or causing a situation that helps us.  The experience that Evan has gained over the past two years is not only being reflected in his play, it is also helping to teach his younger teammates.  He brings intangible leadership qualities and is a key for us in two phases of the game.”

After Saturday’s 26-0 loss to Framingham State University, Mass. Maritime was 2-2. The Buccaneers opened the season with a 19-14 win over Western New England College, in which Sheridan made an interception to set up a touchdown. He also had an interception in a 51-13 win over MIT and recovered a fumble in a 61-30 loss to the Coast Guard Academy.

“In the first two, our offense and defense both played well,” Sheridan said. “We let up 61 points against Coast Guard. Nobody played well in that game. We have to get our offense and defense on the same page.”

At Chelmsford, Sheridan excelled on both sides of the ball. The biggest difference between high school and college football, he said, is that everyone he plays with and against now excelled in high school.

“Every kid was one of the best players on their high school team,” he said. “Every week, you’re playing against the best kids.”

The more balanced talent level requires a more sophisticated approach to defense.

“You’re playing your position more as it relates to the system,” Sheridan said. “In high school, you can freelance more. Here, everybody has to do what they’re coached to do.

“It took me a good year to get a good grasp of the system.”

Off the field, Sheridan is an international maritime business major. Unlike many of his classmates, his career plans will keep him on shore, but he did spend 60 days on board a ship, as all students at Mass. Maritime are required to do.

“We went to the Caribbean,” he said. “It was a fun time. We got three days off at each port. It got lonely sometimes, but it wasn’t bad when we got on land. We watched the Super Bowl in the Caribbean.”

When he arrived on the Buzzards Bay campus as a freshman, Sheridan also had to get used to the military-style discipline at the school.

“It’s a regimented lifestyle,” Sheridan said. “It takes a while to get used to it. They really push it on you, but you get used to it.”

Sheridan’s major can allow him to do several things after he graduates.

“It’s anything that has to do with maritime trade,” he said. “It could involve insurance or coordinating transportation.

“There’s good money in it and they have a good job placement program here.”

Currently, Sheridan is hoping the Buccaneers can return back to the same form they had in their first two games.

“We want to win every game we have left,” he said. “We want to get back on track.”