Westfield, Mass. — UMass Dartmouth's Dante Aviles-Santos and Fitchburg State's Cameron Monette are the 2024 MASCAC Football Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year and headline the 2024 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 third straight Offensive Player of the Year after earning the title in 2022 and 2023. He was also MASCAC Rookie of the Year in 2021. Aviles-Santos was once again a dominant force for the Corsairs who saw them win their third straight MASCAC title with a 10-0 record. At the conclusion of the regular season, he was first in the MASCAC in passing yards per game with 246.2 and total passing yards at 2,462 while collecting the most passing touchdowns with 38. He registered a 179.8 pass efficiency while only throwing four interceptions over the 10 contests. His passing touchdowns are currently the fifth most in Division III. In the win over Worcester State, he threw for six touchdowns on 26-of-32 passes (81.3 percent) with 342 yards on the day. This also marks his fourth time earning a spot on the MASCAC All-Conference squad.

 

Taking home the 2024 MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors is Cameron Monette of Fitchburg State. The senior defensive linemen from Winchendon, Mass., closed out the regular season with the most sacks in the league with 6.5 with also the most sack yards at 51. He recovered two fumbles while recording 70 tackles (7.0 per game) with 33 being solo. In the Falcons win over VT State-Castleton, he had seven solo tackles and two assisted along with 1.5 sacks for a loss of 17 yards and 2.5 tackles for a loss of 19 yards. 

 

Tyler Gmyr of UMass Dartmouth is the 2024 MASCAC Offensive Lineman of the Year honoree. The senior tackle from New London, Conn., helped the team finish first in the conference in several categories, including scoring (54.2 points per game), yards per game (515.3), total passing yards (2,635) and passing yards per game (263.5). He only allowed one sack; nationally he's part of an offensive line that ranks 8th in Division III in rushing offense (251.8), third in scoring offense, sixth in total offense and fourth in fewest sacks allowed (0.50).

 

Earning 2024 MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors is Zy'kie Askew from Bridgewater State The freshman wide receiver from Middletown, Conn. finished his first season with the Bears with 381 yards and a touchdown over 10 games. He averaged 5.4 yards per rush over his 71 chances. His best game of the season came in the win over Worcester State where he had 104 yards on two rushes with a score. 

 

Rounding out the major award winners are Robbie Engel of Plymouth State and Andrew Lovell of Westfield State, the 2024 MASCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year. Engel, freshman defensive back from Topsfield, Mass., finished his first year with the Panthers with 46 tackles, including 22 solo while also recovering a fumble. His top game of the season with in the win over Bridgewater State, where he had six solo and seven assisted tackles. For Westfield State, Lovell registered 42 tackles, 20 solo with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries on the year. He earned Rookie of the Week honors after recording an interception and recovering two fumbles in the game against VT State-Castleton earlier this season.

 

After leading the Corsairs to their third straight MASCAC title, a 10-0 overall and 9-0 league record and a spot in the NCAA Tournament, Josh Sylvester was voted the 2024 BSN Sports Coach of the Year.