Four Engineers Receive NEFC Postseason Awards

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The MIT football team collected six honors from the New England Football Conference (NEFC) this week. For the second year in a row, senior running back DeRon Brown was named the Boyd Division Offensive Player of the Year while defensive lineman Alex Rubino was the recipient of the Hal Chalmers Award which goes to the senior scholar-athlete of the year.

Joining Brown on the Boyd Division First Team were Brian Doyle at defensive back and Peter Gilliland at linebacker. In back-to-back seasons, Rubino represented the Engineers on the Second Team.

Brown led the NEFC in all purpose yards (166.4) and finished second in rushing (151.4). He closed his career as MIT’s all-time leader in rushing yards (4,141) and rushing touchdowns (38). Last year, Brown set the Institute standards for rushing yards in a season (1,816), rushing yards per game (181.6), and rushing touchdowns (22). In addition to his pair of Offensive Player of the Year and Boyd Division First-Team accolades, he was named to the Boyd Division Second Team in 2007.

Rubino was MIT’s fifth winner of the Hal Chalmers Award was the second straight defensive lineman to earn this honor as David Nackoul ’09 received plaudits for the Engineers. Rubino led the Cardinal and Gray in tackles for loss, notching 12 tackles that yielded 37 yards. He finished the season with 43 tackles, one sack, one interception, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble.

Doyle collected his first conference accolade after tying for fifth in the league in interceptions and ranking among the top 10 in punt and kick returns. Gilliland, another first-time honoree, paced the NEFC in tackles, amassing 117 and an average of 13 per game.