University of Massachusets Athletics
Four Minutemen Named All-New England
December 02, 2002 | Football
Dec. 2, 2002
BOSTON, Mass. - Four members of the University of Massachusetts football team have been named to the 2002 All-New England team, as selected by the New England Football Writers. Junior defensive tackle Valdamar Brower (Florence, Mass.), senior center Maikel Miret (Miami, Fla.), senior punter David Sanger (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and senior wide receiver Adrian Zullo (Pompano Beach, Fla.) were all selected to the team.
Brower, who earns All-New England honors for the second straight season, was also named second team All Atlantic 10. He totaled 53 tackles in 11 games on the season, while ranking second on the team in sacks (seven for 48 yards) and fifth in tackles for loss (14 for 61 yards). Brower also recorded team-highs of three blocked kicks and 16 quarterback hurries, to go along with two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He recorded a career-best four sacks against American International College on Sept. 14, while making 10 tackles with three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry at James Madison on Oct. 26. During his three-year UMass career, Brower now has 167 total tackles, including 22 sacks and 49 tackles for loss.
Miret, who was also named first team All-Atlantic 10, started at center in all 12 of UMass' games this season, to extend his school-record streak of consecutive games started to 47. He also tied the school record for career games started with 47 (tying the mark Jerard White set from 1996-1999), and became the first Minuteman since Vaughn Williams (1988-1991) to start every one of the team's games during his four-year career. This year, Miret led the way for the UMass offense to average 166.1 rushing yards per game, while supplying pass protection to let the Minutemen throw for 203.9 yards per contest. Following the win over Maine on Oct. 12, Miret was named National Offensive Lineman of the Week by Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette.
Sanger earns All-New England honors for the first time, to go along with being named first team All-Atlantic 10. He punted 68 times on the season for 2,750 yards, with his average of 40.4 yards per punt ranking as the fourth best single-season mark in school history. Sanger also placed 24 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, and helped UMass to a net punting average of 35.5 yards per kick. In addition, Sanger recorded a season-best 68 yard punt at Richmond on Oct. 5, the 10th longest punt in school history. For his career, Sanger punted 236 times for 9,574 yards and a 40.6 yard average, with 77 kicks inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He set a new school record for highest career punting average, while ranking second all-time in career punts and career punting yards.
Zullo earns All-New England honors for the second time in his career, after being a first team selection in 1999. Also named first team All-Atlantic 10, he led the team with 52 receptions this year for 762 yards and nine touchdowns. With that performance, Zullo placed third on the UMass single season list for touchdown catches, seventh for receptions and eight for receiving yards. He also rushed nine times for 56 yards, returned 15 punts for 61 yards and brought back 13 kickoffs for 232 yards, while ranking second on the team with 1,111 all-purpose yards. Over the course of his career, Zullo caught 187 passes for 2,862 yards and 32 touchdowns, to set new UMass career records in all three categories. In addition, he ranks fourth all-time at UMass in both career all purpose yards (4,371) and career kickoff return yards (1,123).
UMass finished the 2002 season with an overall record of 8-4, and placed third in the Atlantic 10 with a 6-3 record.
