BEVERLY, Mass. – The 8-2 (6-1 NEFC Boyd) Endicott football team saw 11 of their gridiron stars recognized on the NEFC Boyd All-Division Teams including freshman center Ryan Mrozek (Shelton, Conn.) who was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Six Gulls appeared on the First Team All-Division and another five on the Second Team All-Division.
Mrozek was part of a Gulls offensive line that allowed just 10 quarterback sacks all season while creating holes for Endicott's talented running core that rushed for an average of 213.3 yards in eight divisional games this season. Joining Mrozek from the offensive line, junior right tackle Alec Gatzogiannis (Wells, Maine) earned NEFC Boyd All-Division First Team honors and senior left guard and captain Ian Suter (Southbury, Conn.) who was named NEFC Boyd All-Division Second Team. Mrozek, Gatzogiannis, and Suter were integral parts of an Endicott line that protected sophomore quarterback Drew Frenette (New Bedford, Mass.) and allowed the first-year starter to throw for 2,319 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions.
Junior Dylan Rushe (Palos Verdes, Calif.) appears twice on the NEFC Boyd All-Division First Team as both the league's premier placekicker and punter. Rushe, highly-decorated over the first two seasons of his Endicott career, collects his third straight First Team award as NEFC Boyd Division's best field goal kicker and his first collegiate postseason honor as the team's punter. Rushe has scored 86 points on the season on 11 made field goals, including a season-long kick of 50 yards back on September 1st at Framingham State, and a perfect 53-of-53 on point after attempts. Perhaps more impressive has been Rushe's impact in the punt game with 15 of his 35 punts falling inside the opposition's 20 yard line. He has averaged 41.7 yards per punt and has broken the school record for longest punt with a 69-yarder against Western New England on October 27th. Rushe was named NEFC and ECAC Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance against the Golden Bears.
Both of Endicott's lead running backs earned NEFC Boyd All-Division recognition with senior Mike Wheeler (Hanover, Mass.) earned a First Team nod and senior captain Jared DiBiase (Cranston, R.I.) getting Second Team. The duo combined for 1,590 yards on the ground and 19 rushing touchdowns. Wheeler ran for 82.9 yards per game with 10 rushing touchdowns and added 128 yards receiving on 13 catches with two touchdowns. He led the team in all-purpose yardage as well (1,317), adding 360 kickoff return yards to his rushing and receiving totals. Wheeler broke the program record for longest rush from scrimmage, a 90-yard touchdown dash versus Castleton State, and three times ran for over 100 yards in a single game.
DiBiase ran for 761 yards with nine touchdowns and added 43 receiving and 47 kickoff return yards to his season total. He ran for over 100 yards three times and had two games with three rushing touchdowns, October 6th at home against Nichols and October 13th at Plymouth State.
Rounding out Endicott's NEFC Boyd All-Division First Team award winners on the offensive side of the ball was junior tight end Greg Dellorco (Franklin, Mass.). Dellorco stepped into a full-time role this season for the Gulls and shined with 22 receptions, 339 yards, and four touchdowns. He stood in 2012 with a two-touchdown effort on September 15th at non-division rival Bridgewater State and long end zone grabs in back-to-back weeks against UMass Dartmouth and Western New England in weeks eight and nine. His season-high in receiving came in Endicott's home opener as he hauled in four passes for 75 yards.
Endicott's lone representative on the NEFC Boyd All-Division Defensive First Team besides Rushe was junior defensive lineman Marcell Cooper (Dorchester, Mass.), a first-time all-conference honoree. Cooper led the Gulls in tackles during the regular season with 69 takedowns, 42 of which were solo stops and 4.5 which went behind the line of scrimmage. He recorded one sack, forced and recovered a fumble, and broke up one pass. Lined up at the nose guard position, Cooper and his fellow defensive lineman saw the opposition score only nine rushing touchdowns on the season while averaging 143.6 yards per game and 3.3 yards per rush attempt.
The NEFC placed two additional Gulls defenders on the Boyd All-Division Second Team as senior linebacker and captain Craig Lussier (Dracut, Mass.) and junior defensive back Andrew Lawson (Framingham, Mass.). Lussier totaled 50 tackles (26ua, 24a), 6.5 tackles for a loss of 33 yards, 3.5 sacks, and four pass breakups. Lussier, a 2011 NEFC Boyd All-Division Second Teamer, had two games with 1.5 sacks and wrapped up the regular season with an 11-tackle effort at home against MIT on senior night. Lawson started off the season with a bang, interception Framingham State quarterbacks three times including a 50-yard run back en route to earning NEFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. The junior finished the year well too, breaking up three Western New England passes in a 50-45 victory. Lawson also had 48 tackles, 35 of which were solo takedowns.
Endicott's final NEFC Boyd All-Division recipient was senior wide receiver Mike Murphy (Chelmsford, Mass.) who became the program's all-time leading receiving after posting a team-high 779 yards on 55 receptions with 13 touchdowns. He ranked second in the NEFC in touchdown receptions and fifth in total receiving yards. Murphy's career 1,856 receiving yards and 121 receptions both surpassed 2007 graduate Ryan MacLean on the all-time list. He was already the program's leader in touchdown grabs with 25 in just three full seasons at Endicott. Murphy had back-to-back standout games in weeks eight and nine as he total 12 catches and a single game record 210 yards with two touchdowns in a 61-15 win at UMass Dartmouth. One week later against division rival Western New England, Murphy's five touchdown catches shattered fellow senior Cameron Lett's (Waltham, Mass.) previous record of three set on September 8th of this season in the home opener versus Castleton State. Murphy is now a two-time NEFC Boyd All-Division honoree.
