BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University junior linebacker Steven Silvia has been selected to the D3football.com Team of the Week for his outstanding effort in the Bears' 35-7 Cranberry Bowl win against Massachusetts Maritime Academy this past weekend at Buzzards Bay.

Silvia, who hails from Dighton, Massachusetts, recorded six tackles, including a strip sack, intercepted a pass and returned a fumble for a touchdown in the Bears’ victory over the Buccaneers. His strip sack and interception both led to BSU touchdowns.

With the Bears trailing 7-0 midway through the second quarter, Silvia recovered a fumble and rumbled 44 yards for a touchdown to get the Bears on the board. His strip sack on the ensuing drive thwarted a Maritime scoring threat and set up a BSU touchdown. With the Bears leading 21-7 late in the third quarter, Silvia intercepted a pass and returned the ball 12 yards down to the MMA 26 to set up another score.

In ten games this season, Silvia notched 104 tackles (72 solo), eight tackles for loss, a pair of sacks, two interceptions and three pass breakups as well as three forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles and a blocked kick. He leads the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) in solo tackles and ranks second in the league in total tackles, forced fumbles and recovered fumbles.

Silvia is currently tied for fourth in all of Division III in solo tackles per game (7.2) and tied for 19th in total tackles per games (10.4).

In 31 games over three seasons with the Bears, Silvia has amassed 234 tackles (153 solo), 24 tackles for loss, five sacks, five interceptions, four forced fumbles, five recovered fumbles and nine pass breakups.

The BSU football team wrapped up the 2021 season with an overall record of 6-4 including a 6-2 mark in the MASCAC. The Bears finished in a tie for second place in the conference standings.

Earlier this week, Silvia was named the MASCAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Silvia is the third linebacker in program history to earn D3football.com Team of the Week accolades joining former teammate Ben McMahon (2019) and current teammate Brendan Albert who picked up the honor earlier this season. 

The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 23rd season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.

Bridgewater State All-Time D3Football.com Team of the Week (PDF)