DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College football program placed 13 student-athletes on the 2016 New England Football Conference (NEFC) All-Academic Team.

Seniors Matthew Campbell (Sterling, Mass.), Jacob Foley (Canaan, Conn.), Matthew McEvilly (Wrentham, Mass.), Kyle Norton (Thompson, Conn.), and Samuel Yeadon (Groton, Mass.) were each honored for the third-consecutive season after the Bison posted their highest win total since the 2003 campaign (6-4) in 2016.

Campbell is a history education major who served as a blocking tight end for an offense which rushed for nearly 1,400 yards in 2016. Foley recorded eight tackles and is an economics major. Norton appeared in seven games on the offensive line and is a criminal justice major, as is Yeadon, who served as the backup to Campbell.

McEvilly, meanwhile, put forth one of the most successful seasons ever by a defensive player in program history in 2016. Named the Worcester Area Football Association co-Defensive Player of the Year, this NEFC First Team pick closed the regular season leading the conference and ranked No. 6 nationally in tackles/game (12.7); nationally, he is also No. 27 in solo tackles (6.3 tackles/game) and No. 32 in tackles for loss (1.7 TFL/game). A two-year captain, he recorded 127 tackles this season, registering 10-or-more in all but one game, and 16.5 tackles for loss. McEvilly opened the season with a 21-tackle performance against Westfield State and closed the season with 18 tackles in a double overtime win against MIT. McEvilly finished his career with 275 tackles and, following the season, was named the recipient of the Joe Zabilski Award as the best defensive player in New England at the Division III level, which is presented annually by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston. McEvilly will graduate in May with a degree in criminal justice.

Juniors Zackary Gorczynski (Sutton, Mass.), Michael Nolan (Coventry, R.I.), and Jeffery Perez (Quincy, Mass.) were each recognized for the second-straight season. Gorczynski is a sport management major who collected 11 tackles this past season, Nolan recorded two tackles on special teams while appearing in all 10 games as a criminal justice major, and Perez was a Worcester Area Football Association Second Team pick as an offensive lineman and a criminal justice major.

First-time honorees include sophomores Dylan Abercrombie (Palmetto Bay, Fla.), Maxwell Garrant (Palmer, Mass.), Vincent Pascal (Marlborough, Mass.), James Singletary (Marlborough, Mass.), and Dominic Zahn (Milford, N.H.). Abercrombie is an accounting major and the team's long snapper, and he caught a two-point conversion in a win over Curry on October 29. Garrant notched 29 tackles (three tackles for loss) and is an economics major, Pascal played in five games on the o-line and is an international business major, Singletary compiled 10 tackles in nine games and is a criminal justice major, and Zahn is a sport management major.

To qualify, student-athletes must have completed three semesters at the same institution with a 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale). A total of 193 student-athletes were honored this year, led by MIT with 40. Salve Regina and Western New England each had 32 student-athletes represented to tie for second. Endicott was next with 27, followed by Coast Guard (21), Curry (19), Nichols (13), and Maine Maritime (nine).