WORCESTER, Mass. – Six Worcester State University football players have been named to the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Football All-Conference Team, as announced by the league Wednesday (Nov. 15) afternoon.
The Lancers' junior quarterback Noah Brum (Honolulu, Hawaii), sophomore tight end Jacob Maher (Marshfield, Mass.), and junior place-kicker Noah Hwang (Brooklyn, N.Y.) all were named to the first team, while junior defensive back Theo Bryant (Lowell, Mass.), freshman inside linebacker Mike Quinn (Sutton, Mass.) and junior wide receiver Kharif Pryor (Brooklyn, N.Y.) were slotted on the second team.
This past season, Brum recorded 280 completions on 432 attempts with a MASCAC-high 64.8% completion rate. He has thrown a league-high 3,197 yards and averaged a conference-high 319.7 per game. The junior also led the conference in passing touchdowns with 30, and rushed for one in 10 games played. He has been named the MASCAC Player of the Week once, and was a recipient of the NEFW Gold Helmet Weekly Award for his performance against Massachusetts Maritime on Oct. 28 when he threw for 364 yards for a Lancers single-game record-high 77.8-completion percentage (28-of-36). He also tied a school record with five passing touchdowns in the shutout. In addition, Brum established a new Worcester State single-game record for pass completions with 44 against Plymouth State on Sep. 30, and also broke Worcester State records for completions in a single season (280) and most passing yards in a season (3,197).
On the other end of Brum was Maher who finished the 2017 season with a league-best 14 receiving touchdowns for a team-best 84 points on the season. He totaled 986 receiving yards, averaging 98.6 yards per game for the second-best mark in the MASCAC. Maher also rushed 10 times for 13 yards.
Hwang, a two-time MASCAC football special teams player of the week, was second on the team in scoring with a league-high 57 kicking points on seven field goals and 36 extra points. Hwang notched a 47 field goal percentage, making 7-of-15 and a conference-high 92 P-A-T percentage. Hwang's longest field goal was a 43-yard attempt in the Lancers' 36-7 win over Becker this season. In conference play, his longest was 35-yards against Fitchburg State on Sep. 16. This season, Hwang broke the Worcester State all-time kick scoring record and now holds 127 career points.
Worcester State's Bryant and Quinn were named to the second team for their contributions on the defensive end this season. Quinn led the team with 100 tackles (66 solo, 34 assisted), 7.5 tackles for a loss, four breakups, one sack, and one fumble recovery. Bryant followed with 84 tackles (46 solo, 38 assisted), 5.5 tackles for a loss, three breakups, and an interception.
Joining Bryant and Quinn on the second team is Pryor who tallied 543 yards on 51 receptions and four touchdowns. He also recorded 22 kick returns for 457 yards, and 12 punt returns for 101 yards, totaling 1,100 all-purpose yards this season.
The MASCAC major award winners this season were Quinn Fleeing of Western Connecticut, Joe Wilder of Framingham State, Stephen Gacioch of UMass Dartmouth, Zach Ziemba of Plymouth State, Jacob Burkhead of UMass Dartmouth, and Paul Castonia of Plymouth State. Fleeting was named the offensive player of the year, Wilder was tabbed the offensive lineman of the year, and Gacioch was named the offensive rookie of the year. Ziemba and Burkhead earned defensive player and rookie of the year, respectively, while Castonia was selected the Champion's Choice Coach of the Year.