CATZ football athlete Sean Smith earns national recognition

WALTHAM, Mass. - Bentley senior defensive back Sean Smith (Andover/Andover HS) has been selected as the Division II National Defensive Player of the Week by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette following his outstanding performance in Saturday’s game at American International.

Smith became the eighth player in the program’s history to pick off three interceptions in a game, the first to achieve the feat since Gregg Albano in 2001, also against AIC. He returned one to the AIC four and made another in the end zone to deny the Yellow Jackets a potential touchdown.

Smith was all over the field in the 21-18 loss. In addition to the three picks, he broke up a pair of passes and was in on a team-high 11 tackles.

Smith, who boosted his career total to 10 interceptions, was previously named the Northeast-10 and ECAC Division II Defensive Player of the Week. It was the third time in his last five games that he has been so recognized by the NE-10.

Bentley, 1-2 after consecutive losses to Southern Connecticut and AIC, will host Merrimack College Friday night at 7 p.m.