Westfield, Mass. — UMass Dartmouth’s Dante Aviles-Santos and Framingham State’s Jared Martino are the 2023 MASCAC Football Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year and headline the 2023 MASCAC All-Conference teams as voted on by the coaches from around the league.

 

Aviles-Santos, a senior quarterback from Cumberland, R.I., earns his second straight Offensive Player of the Year after finishing atop the MASCAC in several categories, including total yards (2,233), yards per game (223.3), touchdowns (21) and pass efficiency (153.7) to guide the Corsairs to a share of the MASCAC Regular Season title. This is Aviles-Santos third-straight MASCAC honor after earning Offensive Player of the Year last season and Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021. During the 2023 season, he broke the school record for passing completions, passing yards, passing touchdowns and passing attempts. 

 

Taking home the 2023 MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors is Jared Martino of Framingham State. The senior linebacker from Malden, Mass., closed out the regular season with the most sacks in the conference with 12 and 87 sack yards. He also made two interceptions, bringing them both back for touchdowns. He totaled 78 tackles this season with 56 solos. He currently leads Division III in tackles for loss while his 12 sacks has him fifth nationally. In the Rams most recent win over Worcester State, Martino registered 13 tackles (six solo), 2.5 sacks for a loss of 23 yards, three tackles for a loss of 25 yards and an interception returned 35 yards for a touchdown. 

 

Patrick Adams from WestConn is the 2023 MASCAC Offensive Lineman of the Year honoree. The senior tackle from Seldon, N.Y., helped the team finish first in the conference in several categories, including scoring (408), points per game (45.3), yards per game (470), passing yards (2,579) and passing touchdowns (28). The Wolves were third in rushing yards (1,651), rushing touchdowns (24) and rushing yards per game (183.4).  

 

Earning 2023 MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors is Dae’Shawn Allen from WestConn. The freshman wide receiver from White Plains, N.Y. helped the Wolves to a 7-2 overall record and 7-1 mark in the MASCAC for a share of the MASCAC Regular Season crown and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. He made 31 receptions for 584 yards and six touchdowns on the year. In the win over Framingham State, Allen had 211 yards on six receptions and three scores. 

 

Rounding out the major award winners is Noah Barrera, the 2023 MASCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year. The freshman defensive lineman from Worcester, Mass. collected 25 tackles, including seven solo, two tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks with seven yards lost. In each game this season, Barrera registered a tackle, including five in the game against WestConn. 

 

After leading the Wolves to a share of the regular season title and the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament, Joe Loth of WestConn has been named the BSN Sports Coach of the Year as voted on by his peers.