Five members of the Massachusetts Maritime football team have earned spots on the 2013 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference all-conference squad that was released by the league office earlier today.

Senior John Moriarty (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) and junior E.J. Bennett (East Wareham, Mass./Wareham) led the way in claiming first team all-MASCAC accolades for the Buccaneers, as Moriarty has anchored a record-setting offensive line unit at right tackle over the past two seasons and helped Massachusetts Maritime rank 15^th nationally in NCAA Division III play with 494.2 yards of total offense per game this fall.  In the last 19 games alone, Moriarty has been a part of an offensive unit that set or tied 19 school records and top the 700-yard single-game total offense mark on three occasions, including a school record 752 yards in a 52-18 Admiral’s Cup win at Maine Maritime on September 21^st.  In the classroom, Moriarty earned a spot on this year’s Capital One Division III Academic All-District team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, and he was also one of 170 semifinalists nationally across all divisions for the National Football Foundation’s William V. Campbell Trophy, which is presented annually to the nation’s absolute best scholar-athlete, in achieving a 3.82 cumulative grade point average as a Facilities Engineering major.

Bennett posted his second straight record-setting campaign at wide receiver for the Buccaneers, as he topped his single-season receptions mark with 60 catches for 849 yards and 10 touchdowns, falling just nine receiving yards shy of his single-season mark in that category that was also set in 2012.  Bennett also added two more records to his resume this fall, shattering the single-game receptions mark with 17 at Worcester State on September 28^th as well as posting a record 274 receiving yards at Westfield State on October 19^th, and he finished the year ranked 21^st nationally in receiving touchdowns and in the top 50 in both total receiving yards and receiving yards per game.

A trio of Massachusetts Maritime standouts earned second team all-MASCAC honors as well this fall, with seniors Stefan Gustafson (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) and Mike Stanton (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) tabbed at running back and quarterback, respectively, and junior John Trudel (Niantic, Conn./Ledyard) earning the nod at punter.  Gustafson earned all-conference honors for a second straight season in the backfield, as he rushed for 1,237 yards (just 102 shy of the school single-season mark) in nine games that included 235 yards and a record-tying four touchdowns in a 54-53 victory at Western Connecticut on October 12^th.  Gustafson ended the year ranked 19^th nationally in Division III play in rushing yards per game and 25^th in total rushing yards, as he earned all-league honors on both sides of the ball over the course of his career, including as a defensive back during his freshman campaign of 2010.

Stanton will graduate with every Buccaneer single-game, season and career passing yards mark at the Academy, as he topped his own single-season passing yards record with 2,543 yards on 200 completions and 15 touchdowns this fall.  He posted 20 victories as a starting signal-caller and threw for 7,543 yards and 51 touchdowns over the last four seasons, and this year he fell one scoring strike shy of his single-season record set in 2012.  Stanton set the single-game passing yards mark of 420 in a 42-38 come-from-behind triumph over Coast Guard in September 2012, and this year he averaged 254.3 passing yards per game in directing the league’s top offensive unit while ranking 27^th in Division III in total passing yards and 31^st in passing yards per game.

Trudel, who served as Massachusetts Maritime’s back-up quarterback during the season, excelled in the punting game as well this fall, as he averaged 39.7 yards on 24 kicks with a long of 56 yards.  Four of Trudel’s punts landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, and during the first four weeks of the campaign he had the Buccaneers leading Division III nationally in net punting.  At quarterback, Trudel ran 94 plays (55 rushing, 39 passing) in the back-up role and directed his squad to 17 touchdowns, (including 10 through the air) as a red zone specialist, including three scores that featured the game-winner in the season-opening 24-20 Chowder Bowl triumph over SUNY-Maritime.  Trudel averaged 1.09 points and 4.02 yards per play during the 2013 campaign.

Massachusetts Maritime posted its fourth straight five-win season under the guidance of ninth-year Head Coach Jeremy Cameron this fall, as the Buccaneers have posted their highest four season victory mark since 1985-88.  Over the course of the last two seasons, Cameron has coached 16 all-conference performers and has seen his squad set or tie 24 school records while ranking among the national leaders in several categories.