D3football.com All-East Region Team

Four Massachusetts State Collegiate Athlete Conference football student-athletes were named to the D3football.com All-East Region Team as announced by the organization earlier this week.

Jacob Maher of Worcester State was named to the first team offense, Jaquan Harris of Framingham State on the second team defense while Zach Ziemba of Plymouth State and Marvey Mathurin of UMass Dartmouth earned third team honors. 

Maher, a 6-3 sophomore tight end, finished the 2017 season with a league-best 14 receiving touchdowns for a team-best 84 points on the season. He totaled 986 receiving yards, averaging 98.6 yards per game for the second-best mark in the MASCAC. Maher also rushed 10 times for 13 yards. Last month, he was also named to the MASCAC All-Conference First Team.

Harris, the 12^th Ram to be honored with selection to the D3football.com All-East Region Teams, was a 2017 first team All-MASCAC selection and ranked among the nation's leaders in interceptions and interceptions per game after his senior season. Harris recorded a school-record nine interceptions on the year, including an NCAA record tying five in a single game.  Harris finished the season with 35 total tackles, including 29 solo, with a fumble recovery and nine pass breakups.

Ziemba, the MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference honoree, finished the year with 55 tackles, including 33 solo tackles, and was second in the MASCAC with two fumble recoveries. Ziemba added a pair of interceptions, two pass breakups and two blocked kicks, including one in the team's 16-13 overtime win against Framingham State that ended up securing the MASCAC title for PSU.

A First Team All-MASCAC selection, Mathurin is one of the most successful linebackers in UMass Dartmouth program history. He closes as the career leader in tackles for loss with 49, and re-set his own single-season record with 17.5 tackles for loss during the 2017 season. All-time, he closes his Corsair career sixth on the tackles list (284). As a senior, Mathurin put forth his most productive season, leading the UMass Dartmouth roster and ranking third in the MASCAC with 9.5 tackles per game (95 total). The senior put forth a single-game career high on Oct. 13 against Bridgewater State, leading all players with 15 total tackles (12 solo), including 2.5 tackles for loss. In every game on the season, he registered at least one tackle for loss and accumulated a career-high five sacks.

The teams, selected in balloting by East Region sports information directors and D3football.com staff, were chosen from 321 nominations by Division III member schools. A total of 77 players were chosen. Players nominated for All-Region are eligible to be considered for D3football.com All-America honors, which will be announced the evening of Dec. 15, in D3football.com’s pregame coverage for Stagg Bowl XLV.

Portions of this release courtesy of Framingham State, Plymouth State, UMass Dartmouth and Worcester State Sports Information