Posted: Oct 23, 2013
Yarmouth Register: "Yarmouth's Andrade A Big Hit For Massachusetts Maritime Football"
Yarmouth's Andrade a big hit for MMA football
October 23, 2013
By David Wolcott, The Register
Buzzards Bay —
Soccer’s loss has turned into a large gain for the
Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s football
program.
Victor Andrade came to the
United States with his family from Brazil at the age of six. A
talented soccer player, the Yarmouth Port resident didn’t
even play the game of football until he was in the eighth grade. As
things turned out, it was well worth the wait. Andrade eventually
became a standout linebacker with the Dennis-Yarmouth football team
before taking his talents down the road to Mass. Maritime
Academy.
The junior International Maritime Business
major is second on the team in tackles headed into Saturday’s
home game against UMass Dartmouth with 44 tackles (34 solo, which
leads the team). He also ranks third in tackles for losses (5.5 for
16 yards) and a sack for six yards.
“I was a soccer player growing up, but once I
started playing football, I knew that this was the right choice for
me,” said Andrade, who was a two-sport captain and Atlantic
Coast League all-star while at D-Y.“I was on the bench when I
was a sophomore at D-Y and one game we needed someone to play
linebacker, so I gave it a shot and haven’t looked back
since.”
At 5-foot, 10-inches, Andrade is not the
biggest outside linebacker you are going to see on the gridiron,
but intelligence and solid football instincts allow him to be a
solid hybrid player at the linebacking spot. He’s got the
speed to cover outside receivers when needed, but still has the
strength to make an impact at the line of scrimmage.
“I like to get in the box when I can,”
Andrade admitted. “My job is to contain receivers, but I can
step into the box and be physical when needed.”
According to Mass Maritime head coach
Jeremy Cameron, Andrade has been excelling in all
aspects of the position this season.
“Victor’s a really good football player.
He is a tremendous student of the game and he does everything
right, both on and off the field,” Cameron said.
“He’s solid against both the run and the pass and
it’s great to have a local kid contributing so much to the
program.
“He’s athletic and tough, but
Victor’s best quality is that he is really smart,”
Cameron added. “You tell him something once and he can
immediately apply it on the field.
Andrade was on a similarly successful run
last season when he saw his season stopped short by an old injury
that flared up once again. In his six games last season, Andrade
made 37 tackles, 29 of the solo variety, before having to shut it
down.
“It was during the
Framingham State game and I just got caught up in a block. The same
thing happened to me during my junior year at D-Y. I knew right
away that I had slightly torn the ACL in my right knee once
again,” Andrade explained. “I was out for three or four
weeks in high school, but I tried to press it too much last season
and I wasn’t ready to come back for the end of the year. I
really couldn’t cut or run right at the time, but there are
no problems now. It didn’t cut into my off-season work at
all.”
During his career, Andrade has
helped Massachusetts Maritime win 13 games, as the Buccaneers
posted back-to-back winning seasons in both 2011 and 2012 and have
three straight winning campaigns for the first time since
1998-2000. MMA will play three of its final four regular season
games at home, including the 35th Annual Cranberry Bowl clash with
Bridgewater State Nov. 16.
