By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team has eight players on the All-Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference teams.

In addition, Bears freshman running back Zy'Kie Askew (Middletown, Conn.) has been selected the MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Making the all-conference first team from BSU are graduate student Shane Drake (Franklin, Mass.) as the punter, junior cornerback Brandon Medeiros (Somerset, Mass.), senior defensive tackle Nicolas Canales (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and junior kicker Joey Naso (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.).

Drake was selected to the first team for the third straight year. Naso made the first team for a second consecutive year while Canales was named to the second team in 2023.

Chosen to the All-MASCAC second team are senior center Anton Vasquez (Nahant, Mass.), senior right guard Michael Garafola (Bradford, R.I.), senior running back Trevor Nunes (Falmouth, Mass.) and senior fullback Matthew Rinta (Wareham, Mass.).

Vasquez was on the all-conference first team in 2023.

BSU went 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the MASCAC, finishing in a third-place tie after winning its final three games of the season against Fitchburg State, Vermont State Castleton and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Drake led the MASCAC, averaging 41 yards on 36 punts. The second-closest team was UMass Dartmouth with an average of 36.3 yards per punt.

Drake broke the BSU record with a 76-yard punt in the Cranberry Bowl win over Mass. Maritime last weekend, surpassing the mark of 73 yards set by Chris Carr in 2000.

In that win over the Buccaneers, Drake also had three punts inside the 20 and averaged 47.3 yards on four punts. He kicked field goals of 25 and 41 yards (a career long).

Fifteen of Drake's punts were inside the 20 this season and there were 10 fair catches with six punts of more than 50 yards.

Drake leads the MASCAC in punting average, punts inside the 20 and fair catches.

He is the BSU career leader with a 41.6-yard average on 118 punts, including 35 inside the 20, and 19 went for at least 50 yards. In 2023, Drake set the school record with a 42.5 punting average.

In addition to being a three-time All-MASCAC first team pick, Drake was on the New England Football Writers All-New England team and the D3football.com All-Region One team.

Canales ranked second in the MASCAC with six sacks for 42 yards. He was the Bears' second-leading tackler with 56 and had 12 1/2 tackles for a loss of 64 yards.

Canales had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and blocked a kick.

Naso set the BSU record for point-after conversion kicks, breaking the mark set by Ripp Charters (93) in 1990.

The record-setting kick came in a win over Fitchburg State.

Naso went 26-for-26 on conversions and made 3-of-5 field goals. He leads all BSU kickers with a career conversion percentage of .952, making 100 of 105 tries.

Naso has made 33 consecutive extra points dating back to last season.

Medeiros was in on 31 tackles and had a sack for five yards to go with an interception and a fumble recovery.

Vasquez and Garafolo were part of an offensive line that helped BSU average 176.7 rushing yards per game and 300.9 yards of total offense.

Nunes appeared in seven games before having an injury end his final season.

He led the team with 575 rushing yards on 126 carries, averaging 82.1 yards a game with seven touchdowns.

Rinta was a key in the backfield as he helped keep the running game going. He caught three passes for 58 yards.

Askew rushed for 381 yards on 71 carries and caught three passes for 23 yards.

He set the BSU record for the longest run from scrimmage, going 95 yards for a score against Worcester State University.

That broke the record set by Andy Brems when he went 88 yards against Worcester State in 2003.

2024 All-MASCAC Football Team (PDF)