Seahawks take home major award; place 11 on All-NEFC squad
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Salve Regina University football team has placed 11 players on the New England Football Conference (NEFC) All-Conference team with junior Noah Drake (Needham, Mass.) taking home a major award for Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Six players on offense made the team. Drake is joined by fellow offensive lineman Nico Aronson (Wayne, N.J.), wide receiver Alex Hulme (Hopkinton, Mass.), running back Sam Pascale (Cheshire, Conn.), and tight end Tommy Seaver (Rocky Hill, Conn.) on the first team, while junior quarterback Brandan Basil (Northford, Conn.) was named to the second team offense.
Defensive back Joey Farrar (Watertown, Mass.), linebacker Danny Ives (Madison, Conn.), defensive end Joe Cuccia (Brookfield, Conn.) and Hulme were all named to the first team defense. Hulme makes the defensive squad as a return specialist. Defensive back Francisco Hardacker (Minneapolis, Minn.) and linebacker Ethan Gambale (Mays Landing, N.J.) garnered second team honors.
"Each one of these players deserves this award for the body of work they have put into this season," said head coach Kevin Gilmartin. "They are all proud of the accomplishments they received as a team, and to receive some individual recognition is a nice addition. To have 11 different players get honored when we only had five returning starters shows the quality of players that compete hear at Salve Regina University."
Drake and Aronson appeared in every game this season for the Seahawks as part of an offensive line that only allowed six sacks all season, while averaging 225.9 yards per game on the ground and scoring 36.1 points per game. This is Drake and Aronson's first All-NEFC squad and the first major award of Drakes career. Salve Regina had won three straight Offensive Lineman of the year awards from 2011-2013, with current Seahawks assistant coach Floyd Shaffer last winning the award in 2013.
After a breakout season in 2014 Hulme was named a captain for his senior season and continued to be an explosive option in the passing game in 2015. Hulme has caught 62 passes, for a career-high and single season record 1,018 yards and 13 touchdowns to lead the Seahawks. His best game of the season came against Endicott when he caught 11 passes for a program record 269 yards, and tied a program record with three touchdowns. Hulme ranks first in program history with 174 catches, while ranking second in career touchdowns with 27, just two behind Matthew Traynor, who also is now an assistant coach with the Seahawks after graduating last season. Hulme also averaged 21.6 yards on kick returns.
Pascale had the best season of his career rushing for 1,448 yards, while averaging 160.9 per game, and scoring 12 touchdowns. Pascale topped 200 yards rushing four times this season. His best performance came against Nichols when he carried the ball 33 times for a program record 265 yards and two touchdowns. Currently Pascale holds the single season record for rushing yards per game and only needs 14 yards to set a new single-season record for rushing yards.
Basil had a superb season in his first at Salve Regina. Basil completed 155 passes for 2,115 yards and 27 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Basil's 235 passing yards per game is best all-time for any Seahawk quarterback and was tops in the NEFC. Basil threw for four touchdowns three times, and threw five touchdowns in his best game, against MIT. Against the Engineers Basil completed 80% of his throws for 248 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Seaver makes his first All-NEFC appearance in his second season as a Seahawk. The sophomore tight end caught eight passes and one touchdown and was highly effective as a blocker, helping to set the edge for Salve Regina running backs.
Ives makes his third all-conference squad while leading the Seahawks in tackles for the third straight season. The senior captain totaled 75 tackles, 54 solo and 21 assisted. Ives also notched 5.5 tackles for loss with 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and three pass breakups.
Farrar ranked third on the Seahawks in tackles, and led all defensive backs on the team with 40 tackles, 25 solo and 15 assisted. Farrar ranked second in the NEFC in interceptions with four, tops for any Salve Regina defensive player. Farrar also broke up five passes. This is his first all-conference selection.
Cuccia totaled 5.5 sacks for a loss of 37 yards to lead the Seahawks while ranking third in the NEFC. The senior defensive end also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, and had two pass breakups to earn his first all-conference selection.
Gambale was second on the Seahawks in tackles, 63 total with 41 solo and 22 assisted. Gambale also registered 3.5 sacks for a loss of 29 yards and nine tackles for a loss of 50 yards, the most on the Seahawks and fourth most lost yardage generated by a player in the NEFC. This is Gamable's first all-conference team.
Hardacker led the Seahawks in pass breakups with seven, while picking off one pass for 39 yards and totaling 24 tackles to earn his first All-NEFC selection.
Salve Regina will play Husson University on November 20 at 4 p.m. in the Clayton Chapman Bowl Championship on neutral turf in New Britain, Conn.