2011 WORCESTER AREA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

21st Annual Steve “Merc” Morris All-Star Team

As Selected by the Worcester Area Sports Information Directors 

The Worcester Area Football Association All-Star Team has been renamed in memory of Steve “Merc” Morris, the longtime Assistant Director of Athletics for Media Relations at Assumption College. “Merc” was a 1972 graduate of Assumption and was a member of the athletics staff for 39 years before passing away in January 2011. In addition to being the founder of the Worcester Area Football Association All-Star program, he was a tireless supporter of collegiate athletics in the Worcester area and had a key role in the lives of thousands of student-athletes.

Offensive Player of the Year - Mike McCabe, Holy Cross, Sr. OL

McCabe becomes the first-ever offensive lineman to be named Player of the Year on the Worcester Area Football Team. McCabe, a three-time All-Patriot League honoree, was recently named to the Division I New England Writers All-Star Team for the second consecutive year.

McCabe helped pave the way for the second-highest total offense (400.9 YPG) and pass offense (268 YPG) in the conference while the squad was also fourth in rushing offense (132.9 YPG) and scoring offense (22.9 PPG). The offensive line also allowed just 21 sacks in 11 games (1.9 SPG).

For his work in the classroom, McCabe is a three-time Capitol One CO-SIDA Academic All-District honoree.

Defensive Player of the Year - Nick DiAntonio, Assumption, Sr. LB

DiAntonio has been selected as the fifth Assumption linebacker to be recognized as the Worcester Area Football Defensive Player of the Year. DiAntonio, who was a First-Team Northeast 10 pick and honored on this years Division II/III New England Football Writers All-Star team, ended his senior year with 106 tackles, 46 of which were for solo stops.

In addition to having five games with double-digit tackles, DiAntonio was second in the Northeast 10 in average stops with 10.6 per game. He also ended the season with 6.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, a pair of pass breakups and one forced fumble.

DiAntonio has been selected to play in the inaugural DII/NAIA Senior Bowl game in Middletown, NY and he also received Daktronics Super Region I Second-Team accolades.

Special Teams Player of the Year - Ernie Mello, WPI, Sr.

Mello earns the first-ever Worcester Area Football Award for Special Teams Player of the Year. Mello, who rushed for 931 yards and 11 touchdowns as an All-Liberty League First-Team running back, was sensational in returns and on special teams coverage. He returned a league-leading 28 kicks for an average of 23.4 yards per return as he also topped the conference in all-purpose yardage (185.1 YPG), finished the season second in rushing yardage (103.4 YPG) and third in total touchdowns (13).

Mello was also honored as the Liberty League Special Teams Player of the Year and recently he was named to the First-Team of the D3football.com All-East squad as a special teams specialist. Mello has eight career blocked kicks to his credit.

Offensive Freshman of the Year -  Kevin Bumpus, Assumption, QB

Bumpas has been recognized as the the 14th Assumption student-athlete, offensive or defensive, to be honored with the award  as he is also the first Freshman of the Year at quarterback since Worcester State signal caller Cean Okstanish was garnered with the award in 2000.

Bumpus earned All-Northeast 10 Rookie Team accolades for accounting for 1,550 yards of total offense and 10 touchdowns in eight starts at quarterback for the Greyhounds. The rookie passed for 1,220 yards and five scores while he also completed 51.7 percent of his passes.

His best performance of the season was a 41-10 win over Pace that saw him scamper for 154 yards and two touchdowns while he completed eight of 12 for 94 yards and one score.

Defensive Freshman of the Year - Tyler Asum, Worcester State, DE

Asum has been tabbed the third Worcester State Freshman of the Year as he is the first defensive rookie since lineman Steve Hathaway was recognized in 1993.

Asum, who was also named NEFC Bogan Division Defensive Rookie of the Year, helped pace the Lancers defensively as he ended the year with 43 tackles (30 solo) with 12 tackles for a loss with three sacks. In addition to adding a pair of forced fumbles, two pass breakups, one fumble recovery he was second on the team in tackles for a loss.  

As a team Worcester State finished the season with 23 team sacks, which was fourth in the NEFC.

Coach of the Year - Brien Cullen, Worcester State

Coach Cullen has been named the Worcester Area Football Association Coach of the Year for the 11th time in the 21 years that the area sports information directors have named a team. Cullen helped direct his squad to an 8-3 campaign, their first winning season since 2004. The Lancers also earned their first ECAC Bowl bid since the 2003 season.

Coach Cullen was also selected as the NEFC Bogan Division Coach of the Year for the fifth time and he captured his 150th career triumph in a 27-13 upset victory over division champion Framingham State on the final day of the regular season.

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