Five Bears Named to CSC Academic All-District® One Football Team

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Five members of the Bridgewater State University football program have been selected to the 2024 Academic All-District® One Division III Football Team by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).

Earning the honor from Bridgewater State are senior left tackle Matthew Leofanti, junior wide receiver Ryan Coonan, junior kicker Joey Naso and sophomore special teamers Derek Fitgerald and Lucas Lambert. Coonan and Naso are bothing making their second straight appearance on the CSC Academic All-District® One Division III Football Team.

The five Bears are among 14 student-athletes from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) to be named to the 2024 Academic All-District® One Division III Football Team. They are joined by Jonah Bassett Jr., Jack Claeys, Mitchell Cripps and Khari Whitehead from Plymouth State Universuty; Xaveir Lopes and Alex Santini from UMass Dartmouth; and Donovan Miller, Dominic Rienzi and Zach Soriano from Western Connecticut State University.

The 2024 Academic All-District® Football Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes football honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

To be eligible for all-academic honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or a key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director. A student-athlete must have also played in at least 90% of his team's contests for the 2024 season or started in 66% of the games.

Leofanti is a health science major with a 3.53 grade point average. The Franklin, Massachusetts product started all ten games at left tackle in his first season with the Bears after transferring from Ithaca College and helped pave the way for 3,009 yards of total offense including 1,767 on the ground. The BSU offensive line allowed just eight sacks all season long in 2024.

Coonan, who hails from Worcester, Massachusetts, currently sports a 3.77 GPA while majoring in business. Coonan has hauled in 39 receptions over 20 career games for 522 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 49 rushing yards on four carries.

A native of Hopewell Junction, New York, Naso is majoring in marketing and sports a 3.83 GPA. In 28 games over his first three seasons in a BSU uniform, Naso has converted 100 of 105 (.952) extra point attempts and is 6-for-9 in field goal tries. The two-time All-MASCAC First Team selection is the Bears' all-time leader in extra points and PAT percentage.

Fitzgerald resides in Norwell, Massachusetts and is an accounting and finance major with a 3.87 GPA. Lambert calls Oxford, Massachusetts home and checks in a with a 3.68 GPA while majoring in management. Fitzgerald and Lambert (11 tackles, nine solo) appeared in all ten games this season as they both contributed significantly on special teams

Leofanti, Coonan, Naso, Fitzgerald and Lambert helped the BSU football team post a 5-5 record in 2024 including a 5-4 conference mark.

2024 CSC Academic All-District® Division III Football Teams (PDF)