WACO, Texas - Trinity junior kicker
Matthew Jumes and Tufts graduate student offensive lineman
Travis Cepalia have earned spots on the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-America Teams as released by the organization. Jumes was named a First Team honoree while Cepalia was chosen for the Second Team.
Jumes is the Bantams' first All-American selection since Chris Simmons in 2017, and the first kicker in program history to receive the honor. He connected on a perfect 14-of-14 field goal attempts, and 46-of-48 PATs on the season, converting 6-of-6 attempts from 20-29 yards, 5-of-5 attempts from 30-39 yards and 3-of-3 attempts from 40-49 yards. Against Middlebury, Jumes knocked through a career-high five field goals, including a career-long 44 yarder. Jumes was the only Division III kicker in the nation to notch a 100% conversion rate on his field goal attempts this season. Jumes was voted the top kicker in New England by the New England Football Writers (NEFW) in 2023, and also grabbed D3Football.com All-Region 1 First Team and All-NESCAC First Team selections.
Cepalia, who was an D3football.com Region 1 and All-NESCAC First Team honoree, was a D3football.com All-American in 2022 but earned his first national award by the AFCA. Cepalia becomes the Jumbos' second-ever AFCA All-American offensive linemen, joining Mike Brown from 1980. He also becomes just the seventh player in program history to pick up All-American honors by the AFCA, and the second in the last two seasons as Phil Lutz earned Second Team accolades in 2022 at wide receiver.
The Jumbo offense ranked second in the league for both scoring 31.1 points and gaining 420.4 yards per game. Cepalia helped lead a line that paved the way as Tufts topped NESCAC with 187.9 rushing yards per game. He did not allow a sack all season, and also helped pave the way for a pair of NESCAC Top 5 rushers in tailback Chartellis Reece and quarterback Michael Berluti. Also, heading into the final game of the season, Tufts had allowed just three sacks and surrendered only six for the entire season.
