Buzzards Bay, Mass. --  Massachusetts Maritime senior placekicker Brandon Rodrigues and senior offensive right tackle John Moriarty were both named earlier today to the 2013 Capital One Division III Football Academic All-America team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America for their performances both on the field and in the classroom, as the duo joins a group of 48 student-athletes nationally to receive the prestigious honor.

Rodrigues, a native of Brockton, Mass. and a graduate of Brockton High School, becomes the first two-time Capital One Academic All-America in Academy history, as he earned second team national honors for a second straight year after posting a 3.89 cumulative grade point average as a Marine Engineering major.  Moriarty, a native of Wilmington, Mass. and a graduate of Wilmington High School, becomes the third Buccaneer in school history to earn Capital One Academic All-America accolades, as he also earned a spot on the second team national squad with a 3.82 cumulative GPA as a Facilities Engineering major.  The duo joins Massachusetts Maritime Hall of Famer John Hendy ’82 as the only three Academic All-America honorees in the Academy’s 40-year NCAA history, as Hendy collected the award during his senior season on the baseball diamond in 1982.

Rodrigues averaged 46 yards per kickoff during the 2013 campaign and added a 30-yard field goal in the Buccaneers’ season-opening 24-20 Chowder Bowl victory over SUNY-Maritime.  He also converted seven PAT attempts and recorded four touchbacks for Head Coach Jeremy Cameron’s squad.  As a junior, Rodrigues converted 31 extra point attempts and kicked a pair of field goals, setting a school record with eight PAT conversions in a 56-32 victory over Fitchburg State.  He also booted a game-tying fourth quarter field goal in Massachusetts Maritime’s 42-38 come-from-behind triumph over Coast Guard in September 2012 and ranked second on the team in scoring with 37 points.

Moriarty has been Massachusetts Maritime’s starting right tackle for the past two seasons and has been part of an offensive line unit that has set 22 school records over that time span.  The Buccaneers ranked as high as second nationally in total offense during the year and are currently rated 13^th with a mark of 494.2 yards per game, including a school-record 752 total yards in a 52-18 Admiral’s Cup victory at Maine Maritime on September 21^st.  Moriarty, who allowed just one sack in 509 quarterback passing and rushing attempts on the year, played in 876 of a possible 886 total offensive snaps, including 121 at Worcester State on September 28^th in a contest that saw Massachusetts Maritime set NCAA Division III single-game records for most plays and first downs (44), and he was part of an offensive line unit that amassed a record 4,942 yards of total offense this fall.  Over the course of his career, Moriarty helped the Buccaneers collect 9,628 yards and average 34.1 points per game.

A first-team all-Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference selection and Massachusetts Maritime’s fifth All-New England honoree in school history, Moriarty was one of 170 semifinalists for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy presented by the National Football Foundation to the absolute best scholar-athlete across all divisions and was one of 39 Division III student-athletes to also be a semifinalist for one of the National Football Foundation’s 16 Scholar-Athlete Awards.  Rodrigues and Moriarty, who are both perennial Presidential Scholars at the Academy, have been named to a combined eight Massachusetts Maritime Athletic Director’s Honor Rolls as well as four MASCAC and New England Football Conference All-Academic squads.

“The accomplishments that both Brandon and John have achieved in competition and in their studies are a direct result of the talents they possess and the hard work they have put in,” Cameron says of his Academic All-America duo.  “Earning the right to be called an Academic All-America is very special, and I join everyone in our program in congratulating them on this great honor.”

“Recognizing the combination of academic and athletic success leads to a true celebration of the student-athlete, and that’s what today’s honors have done for Brandon, John and the entire Buccaneer athletic family,” Massachusetts Maritime Director of Athletics Bob Corradi says.  “They will be known for the rest of their lives as Academic All-Americas, and I couldn’t be prouder of the example they have set for their teammates and classmates to follow.”

Massachusetts Maritime posted its fourth straight five-win season this fall and once again re-wrote the school record books while ranking among the Division III national leaders in several categories.  Cameron has guided the Buccaneers to their best four-year record since 1988, and over the last three seasons his student-athletes have earned a total of 23 all-conference honors.

The Capital One Academic All-America program, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.  Capital One has been the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program since 2011.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $216.5 billion in deposits and $294.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of March 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One and ING Direct offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.

Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team, Capital One Academic All Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.