Four MASCAC Student-Athletes Named to D3football.com All-East Region Team
Jacob Maher, Joshua Onujiogu of Framingham State, Kyle Johnston of Massachusetts Maritime and Tony Slaughter of UMass Dartmouth were named to the D3football.com All-East Region Team as announced by the organization yesterday.
D3football.com All-East Region Teams
Jacob Maher, Joshua Onujiogu of Framingham State, Kyle Johnston of Massachusetts Maritime and Tony Slaughter of UMass Dartmouth were named to the D3football.com All-East Region Team as announced by the organization yesterday.
Maher continues to rack up honors after his senior season as he was previously recognized with selection to the 2019 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches' All-America First Team. Maher was also an All-MASCAC first team selection and named to the New England Football Writers College Division All-New England Team. In 2019, Maher made 56 receptions on the year for 819 yards with eight receiving touchdowns. Maher averaged 14.6 yards per catch, led the Rams with 68 points and carried the ball 20 times with three rushing scores.
Onujiogu, a second team defense selection, earns his first D3football.com All-Region honors after previously being named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-MASCAC selection. Onujiogu finished the season with 52 total tackles including 28 solo stops. He recorded a team-best 14.5 tackles for a loss with 8.5 sacks. Onujiogu recorded a pair of pass breakups on the year and forced a fumble. The 2019 Ram defense allowed just 92.4 yards rushing per game and 291 total yards per contest.
Johnston, the Raynham native totaled 164 tackles, 25.5 sacks, 49.5 tackles for loss, eight forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his career at the Academy to earn a spot on the second team.
In 2019 Johnston racked up 12.5 sacks, a MASCAC high and fifth best in the nation. He tied for second in conference with 19.5 tackles for loss, forced a league-high three fumbles and tallied 57 total tackles. All of those numbers are career highs for the Buccaneer defensive end. This is Johnston's fourth honor of the season after earning MASCAC All-Conference, NEFW All-Star and AFCA All-American accolades.
A native of Springfield, Mass. and a graduate of Chicopee High School, Slaughter earned first team all-Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference accolades once again this fall after registering 67 total tackles (47 solo) and four pass breakups. Tony broke Marvey Mathurin’s single-season school record with 21 tackles for losses of 87 yards, as he ranks fifth nationally in NCAA Division III Play in that category at 2.1 per contest, and he paced the Corsairs with 7 ½ sacks for losses of 47 yards while forcing a pair of fumbles and blocking two kicks on the year.
An all-league performer at three different positions during the course of his career, Slaughter closed out his career with 250 total tackles (188 solo) that included 11 ½ sacks and 39 ½ tackles for loss. Tony picked off seven passes and recovered three fumbles along the way, as he added a defensive scoop and score during his junior campaign in a 28-9 victory at Westfield State. He defended a total of 30 passes (including 23 breakups) and averaged 6.25 tackles while playing in 40 career contests.
The teams, selected in balloting by East Region sports information directors and D3football.com staff, were chosen from 331 nominations by full Division III member schools. A total of 78 players were chosen. Players nominated for All-Region are eligible to be considered for D3football.com All-America honors, which will be announced on December 20th.
Portions of this release courtesy of Framingham State, Mass. Maritime and UMass Dartmouth Sports Information