WESTFIELD, Mass. – For the third consecutive season, UMass Dartmouth student-athlete
Dante Aviles-Santos has been named the Offensive Player of the Year in football by the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) coaches. It marks the fourth straight season of major year-end honors for the graduate student quarterback, who was the 2021 MASCAC Rookie of the Year as well. Additionally, Aviles-Santos becomes the first player in MASCAC history (since the conference was formed in 2013) to earn three Offensive Player of the Year awards.
It has been another incredible season for Aviles-Santos, who was also tabbed to the MASCAC All-Conference First Team for the third straight season, helping the Corsairs to a perfect 10-0 overall record. UMass Dartmouth notched a 9-0 record in conference play, clinching their third consecutive MASCAC Regular Season title.
A captain, Aviles-Santos has thrown for 2,462 yards during the 2024 campaign. In 10 contests, he has gone 190-of-286 in completions with just four interceptions for a 66.43 percentage. Aviles-Santos – who is a three-time MASCAC Offensive Player of the Week this season – has thrown 38 touchdowns, including a long of 73, with an average of 246.2 yards per game.
Aviles-Santos – who has also rushed for 214 yards on 32 attempts - has thrown at least two touchdowns in all 10 games this season, including a season-high six for 342 yards in a win over Worcester State. On the season, he leads all MASCAC quarterbacks in passing touchdowns, passing yards, passing yards per game, points responsible for (236) and points responsible for per game (23.6). He also ranks fifth in Division III in passing TD's and is eighth in both points responsible for and points responsible for per game.
Highlighting his outstanding season was a season-high 352 passing yard effort in a 60-10 win over Vermont State Castleton on September 28 as he went 21-of-27 with five touchdowns, including a long of 57. Aviles-Santos also recorded season-high touchdown throws of 73 yards twice in wins over Bridgewater State and Western Connecticut State University.
In his career thus far, Aviles-Santos has played in 43 games for the Corsairs, going 713-of-1,193 (59.8) with 10,209 career passing yards. He has also thrown for 112 touchdowns in that time, averaging 16.6 completions per game, 14.3 yards per completion and 237.4 passing yards per contest. Additionally, he has rushed 231 times for 924 yards with 14 touchdowns.
Aviles-Santos has had a record-breaking season as a senior in 2023, eclipsing four major marks as the starter in all 10 contests. A captain, he completed 156 of 276 passes (56.5%), throwing for 2,365 yards and 21 touchdowns with nine interceptions. In addition to his outstanding arm, Aviles-Santos also ranked third on the Corsairs squad in rushing, carrying the ball 49 times for 222 yards with two touchdowns.
Aviles-Santos became the Corsairs all-time career leader in both passing yards and passing touchdowns in the season-opening, 57-6 win at Nichols. Throwing for four touchdowns, he surpassed Cory Burnham '16, while his 282 passing yards against the Bison moved him past Stephen Gacioch '21 for the all-time record. Burnham recorded 53 touchdowns in his career, while Gacioch held the previous record of 5,382 yards.
The Corsairs quarterback went on to break the record for passing completions on September 30 at WestConn, eclipsing Burnham's mark of 432, while eclipsing the passing attempts mark of 811, previously held by Burnham, in a win at Westfield State.
In 2022, Aviles-Santos completed 219 of 362 passes (60.5), throwing for 3,189 yards and 28 touchdowns with only eight interceptions. He also broke the UMass Dartmouth single-season records for passing yards, TD's, completion percentage, passing yards per game, average yards per pass and total offense.
As a rookie, Aviles-Santos was named the MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, leading the MASCAC with 25 touchdown passes. He ranked third in the conference with 2,193 passing yards, leading the Corsairs with eight rushing scores. In 11 games, he went 148 of 269 with just four interceptions.
UMass Dartmouth, under the direction of second-year head coach and 2024 BSN Sports MASCAC Coach of the Year Josh Sylvester, returns to action on Saturday, November 30 at 12pm in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Corsairs travel to Springfield College, facing the 10-0 Pride in their first-ever appearance in the Second Round and third overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
