Ryan Named Football Gazette Super Region 1 Freshman of the Year
WALTHAM, Mass. – Following a standout first collegiate season, Bentley University wide receiver Austin Ryan (Foxborough/Foxborough HS) was named the Don Hansen Football Gazette Super Region 1 Freshman of the Year.
Ryan was also the only freshman selected for the Football Gazette All-Region first team. In addition, Bentley was represented on the All-Region team by sophomore cornerback Peter Thorbahn (Norwell/Xaverian Bros. HS), a third-team All-Region honoree.
Ryan finished his rookie season tied for the Division II lead in touchdown catches with 16, a total only nine college football players nationally exceeded in 2017. He also ranked third in Division II in yards per reception (25.2) and fifth in receiving yards per game (123.7).
Ryan reached the end zone on nearly a third of his 49 catches with a career-best four in the Falcons' 35-31 win at eighth-ranked Assumption in the season finale, a game in which he had a school-record 284 receiving yards. In addition, he had two games with three TD catches (LIU Post, Southern Connecticut) and had at least one reception that went for 50 yards or more in five different games.
Ryan, whose 1,237 receiving yards was the third highest single season total in program history, was previously named the NE10 Rookie the Year, first-team All-Northeast-10, second-team D2CCA All-Super Region 1 second team, and New England Football Writers Division II-III All-Star.
Thorbahn was a second-team All-Northeast-10 honoree for the second straight year after finishing with 52 tackles and three interceptions. He's averaged over five tackles a game during his career and has seven career interceptions and two defensive TDs.
The Don Hansen team carries out the legacy of long-time small college football advocate Don Hansen, who passed away at age 75 on Aug. 29, 2010. Hansen, from Brookfield, Ill., started and published Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette for three decades, selecting NCAA Division II All-America teams for the first time in 1988. Don Hansen's FB Gazette began selecting Division II All-Region squads in 2003.
The first-team and second-team All-Region selections advance to a national ballot from which the 2017 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America team will be named later this month.
Bentley finished the season with a 6-4 record, including two victories over teams ranked in the top ten at the time.