CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The accolades continue for the University of New Haven football team as head coach Chris Pincince and senior Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) were honored by the New England Football Writers (NEFW) with Coach of the Year and Gold Helmet honors, respectively.

Both Pincince and Patterson, along with Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) and Dan Iannone (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) will all be honored at the NEFW Captains and Awards Banquet on Thursday, December 6 at Rosaria Restaurant and Function Facility in Saugus, Mass. Tickets for the event are $60 per person and are available at https://newenglandfootballwriters.com/captains-%26-awards-banquet.  

Patterson earns the College Division Gold Helmet award after leading the Chargers to the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship. The senior quarterback threw for a career-high 2,878 yards, completing 216 of his 336 passes for a 64 percent effort. Additionally, a career-high 29 of his passes went for touchdowns.

In the regular season finale against LIU Post, Patterson threw a career-high 366 yards and within that performance passed Ryan Osiecki as the all-time leader in career passing yards. All told for his career he threw for 10,128 yards, the first person at New Haven and just the third in the Northeast-10 to register 10,000 or more passing yards. Patterson also set the school record for career completions, doing so in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Championship against Slippery Rock.

Pincince earns his first NEFW Division II/III Coach of the Year honors after leading the Chargers to their first NCAA postseason appearance since the 2012 season. Under his leadership, 13 players were recognized by the NE10 with postseason accolades while Patterson, Williams and Iannone all picked up NEFW All-Region distinction.

Overall, the Chargers offense ranked second in the Northeast-10 with an average of 402.3 yards per game while the 2,883 passing yards led all NE10 programs. The Blue and Gold's offensive line was among the best in the nation, allowing just three sacks through the regular season, while allowing the running backs to rack up 1,944 total yards on the ground.