Posted: Nov 21, 2016

Pascale, Aronson take home major awards; eleven others make All-NEFC team

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Salve Regina University football team has placed 13 players on the New England Football Conference (NEFC) All-Conference team with two players taking home major awards. Senior running back Sam Pascale (Chesire, Conn.) took home the Offensive Player of the Year award and junior center Nico Aronson (Wayne, N.J.) was named Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Six players made the all-conference squad on offense. Joining Pascale and Aronson on the first team squad is last year's lineman of the year Noah Drake (Needham, Mass.) while Sean Nagy (Franklin Square, N.Y.), James Dawson (Oradell, N.J.), and Andrew Verre (Weathersfield, Conn.) were named to the second team.

On defense the Seahawks had seven players named to the all-conference team with five making the first team unit. Joey Farrar (Watertown, Mass.), Matt Escoto (Cheshire, Conn.), John Salute (Mahwah, N.J.), Greg Dittmar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.), and Chris Rosati (Shoreham, N.Y.) headline the first team while Francisco Hardacker (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Ethan Gambale (Mays Landing, N.J.) took home second team honors.

"It is always great to get individual awards, and everyone of these players deserve it, but the success of Salve Football as a whole is the reason we are able to get so many people on the All-Conference Team" said head coach Kevin Gilmartin.

Pascale rushed 200 times for 1,464 yards and a career-high and program record 18 touchdowns in 2016, ranking seventh nationally in rushing. He holds the top two spots in single season rushing yardage in program history. This season ranks second all-time while ran for a program record 1,482 yards in 2015. Pascale finishes his four-year career ranking second all-time in yardage (3,643) and touchdowns (39) in 41 games. Pascale holds the single season record for yards per game (148.2 – 2015) and holds the single game record for yards per carry (17.3 versus Curry on October 1, 2016) and most rushing yards in a single game (265 versus Nichols on October 24, 2015).

"Sam Pascale has had a great career here – two of the best rushing seasons in school history, and to get Offensive Player of the Year is an excellent topping to an already storied career," said Gilmartin.

Aronson started every game at center for the Seahawks as part of an offensive line that help anchored a nationally ranked offense.

"Andrew McNiece, Adam Iskra, Floyd Shaffer, Noah Drake each received the Offensive Lineman of the Year award; and now Nico Aronson. To get the award each year for five of the last six years tells you our line has been doing things at a very high level. And Nico has had three great years with us and it is exciting to see him get an individual award on a line that has been so selfless this year," said Gilmartin.

Nagy makes his first All-NEFC squad while Drake makes his second. The two, along with Aronson were part of an offensive line that helped Salve Regina finish the season nationally ranked ninth in rushing offense (274.3 YPG), sixth in rushing touchdowns (35), seventeenth in the country in scoring (41.2 PPG), and tied for first for the fewest sacks allowed all season (3).

Dawson makes his first All-Conference squad after posting a career best 932 yards and 10 touchdowns on 140 carries. Dawson ranked third in the NEFC for rushing yardage and average per carry (6.7).

Andrew Verre also makes his first All-NEFC squad to round out the Seahawks offense selections. The sophomore kicker connected on 50 of 54 extra points and four field goals. He had the most PATs made in the NEFC.

Senior defensive back Joey Farrar makes his second All-NEFC squad while being the teams second leading tackler, notching 53 stops, 33 solo in 2016, tops among the Seahawks defensive backs. Farrar also broke up five passes, had 4.5 tackles for loss, and picked off one pass.

Francisco Hardacker led the Seahawks in pass breakups (10) and ranked second in the NEFC. He also picked off three passes while making 30 tackles, 24 solo.

Gambale makes his second All-Conference team after also receiving second team honors last season. He led the Seahakws in tackling in 2016, notching 70 tackles, 49 solo, 12.5 for loss and three sacks. Gambale also forced two fumbles, broke up three passes, had a fumble recovery and an interception.

Escoto and Salute both are making their first All-NEFC team. Escoto registered 21 tackles, four for a loss with one sack and a pass breakup while Salute, in his first season of action as a sophomore, had 45 tackles, 11 for a loss of 44 yards, a conference leading five sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup.

Senior punter Greg Dittmar punted 31 times this season for 1,193 yards, with a long of 61. He averaged 38.5 yards per punt, the second best number in program history for a single season, and pinned opponents inside the twenty-yard line 15 times.

Freshman Chris Rosati gets named to the first team defense as a special teams utility player. Rosati returned two blocked punts for touchdowns this season. He also contributed seven special teams tackles while rushing the ball 42 times for 161 yards and two scores.

In 2016 the Seahawks defense ranked number one in points allowed (192) among NEFC schools. They finished second in both yards per game (312.5) and rushing yards per game (119.6) and first with 18 sacks.