UMass Dartmouth junior quarterback Stephen Gacioch was named as the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Football Offensive Player of the Year on Wednesday afternoon, as he is one of six Corsairs tabbed to this year's all-league squad in a vote of the conference coaches.
Gacioch, a native of Tiverton, R.I. and a graduate of Tiverton High School, threw for 2,221 yards and 20 touchdowns despite missing the final 11-plus quarters of the season, as he suffered an injury that ended his campaign in the opening quarter of the Week #8 game at Western Connecticut. A two-time New England Football Writers Association Division II/III Gold Helmet recipient during the year, Stephen amassed 2,577 yards of total offense and accounted for 26 total touchdowns, as he ranked in the top 10 in eight different NCAA Division III categories nationally that included leading the country in total offense for two weeks.
Gacioch tied the school single-game mark with six touchdown tosses in a 54-7 season-opening win over Alfred State, and he was on pace to shatter both the single-season passing yards and touchdowns mark before suffering his injury. The 2017 MASCAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, Stephen will enter his senior campaign ranked second in career passing yards (5,384) and third in career passing touchdowns (46).
Gacioch was joined on the first-team all-MASCAC squad by senior linebackers Tony Slaughter (Springfield, Mass./Chicopee) and Connor Russ (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) along with junior defensive back Jacob Burkhead (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North). A three-time all-conference selection, Slaughter set the school single-season mark with 21 tackles for losses of 83 total yards, and he ranks fifth nationally in that category at 2.1 per contest after leading the nation earlier in that category earlier this fall. Tony, a two-time MASCAC Geico Defensive Player of the Week honoree who was named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week on November 5th, notched 67 total tackles (47 solo) and a team-leading 7 ½ sacks on the year, as he also recorded four pass breakups and blocked two kicks while finishing his career with an even 250 total tackles.
Russ paced UMass Dartmouth defensively 77 total stops (58 solo) that included 14 tackles for losses of 58 yards and 4 ½ sacks. Connor, who was tabbed as the MASCAC Geico Defensive Player of the Week this past Monday, added an interception, a pass breakup and a blocked kick along the way, and he recorded 122 total tackles in two seasons in a Corsair uniform. Burkhead, the 2017 MASCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year, earned all-league accolades for a second straight campaign after notching 61 total tackles (40 solo) and recording a team-leading six pass breakups. Off the field, Jacob was named to the 2019 CoSIDA Division III Football Academic All-District team for a second straight season and is looking to repeat his Academic All-America honor of a year ago.
Senior wide receiver Abbi Bamgbose (Worcester, Mass./Fitchburg) and sophomore defensive lineman Jay Bast (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) round out UMass Dartmouth's all-MASCAC selections, as both collected second team all-conference honors. Bamgbose led the Corsairs with 50 receptions for 646 yards and eight touchdowns this fall, as he graduated as the program's career leader in all three major receiving categories with 168 catches, 2,732 yards and 35 touchdowns. The all-league accolade was the third of Abbi's career, as he was previously feted in 2016 and 2017. Bast registered six sacks on the defensive line during his inaugural season in a UMass Dartmouth uniform in 2019, as he finished the year with 27 total tackles that included 21 solo stops. Jay also notched 12 tackles for losses of 42 yards, and he recorded a pair of interceptions along the way.
Head Coach Mark Robichaud's Corsairs recorded their highest single-season win total in 15 years this fall with a 7-3 overall mark that included a 5-3 MASCAC slate. The Corsairs finished the year ranked 10th in the Grinold Chapter New England Division III poll and were ranked in 12 different team and individual NCAA national categories throughout the course of the campaign.
