Dawson, Cabral-Martin Collect NEC Football Weekly Honors
After a dominating win over the weekend, junior Aaron Dawson and freshman Jonathan Cabral-Martin of the Central Connecticut football team collected Northeast Conference weekly honors it was announced Monday. Dawson was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Cabral-Martin collected Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week honors. CCSU earned a 49-21 win at Merrimack on Saturday.
NEC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
AARON DAWSON, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT (RB, Jr., 5-10, 220 lbs., Westbury, NY / Milford Academy)
Week 9 Stats: 204 scrimmage yards, 164 rush yards, 36 rushes, rush TD, 3 receptions, 40 rec yards
Dawson delivered his best performance since 2018, carrying the load in Central Connecticut's 49-21 triumph over Merrimack. The veteran running back grinded out 204 yards from scrimmage in the Blue Devils' second NEC road win of the season. Dawson rushed a season-high 36 times for 164 yards and one touchdown in addition to totaling 40 yards on three receptions. He started with a 30-yard burst on Central Connecticut's first possession of the game. Dawson accounted for 36 rush yards on CCSU's second possession – a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown march. The 5-foot-10 ball carrier recorded seven first downs in the game, including three rushes of 22+ yards apiece.
NEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK // NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
JONATHAN CABRAL-MARTIN (S, Fr., 5-10, 190 lbs., Lynbrook, NY / East Coast Prep)
Week 9 Stats: 4 total tackles (4 solo), 1.0 TFL, FF, FR return TD, PBU
Cabral-Martin played the role of defensive difference-maker in Central Connecticut 49-21 road victory over Merrimack. Helping the Blue Devils snap a five-game slide, the freshman safety totaled four solo stops, one forced fumble, 1.0 tackle-for-loss, one fumble recovery for a touchdown and one pass break-up. The 5-foot-10 rookie scored on a 30-yard fumble return, extending the lead to 28-0 with 11:28 left in the first half. Cabral-Martin and Co. limited Merrimack to a NEC single-game season-low -38 net rush yards.
The Blue Devils host Bryant on Saturday in the league's ESPN3 broadcast. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
