CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) of the Saint Anselm College football team was the recipient of the prestigious New England Football Writers Association Gold Helmet Award on Sunday.

The accolade is presented weekly by the Jack Grinold/Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the National Football Foundation to top-performing student-athletes from FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III institutions throughout New England.

Against Millersville in his team's 28-10 victory on Thursday, Willoughby was 30-for-42 through the air for 349 yards, hooking up with three different receivers for touchdowns. He also became just the seventh quarterback in Saint Anselm history to reach 3,000 career passing yards, entering the day just 197 yards away from that milestone.

With the help of Willoughby, the Hawks won their season opener for the first time since 2014 and defeated a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference for the first time since 2012. He is the first from Saint Anselm to receive a Gold Helmet Award since Eric Fairweather on Nov. 17, 2019.

Quarterback Matthew Sluka from Holy Cross was the other award recipient to open the 2022 season. Michael Vega from the Boston Globe picked this week's winners.

The Hawks look for their second consecutive victory on Saturday, Sept. 10, welcoming American International to the Hilltop for a 3 p.m. showdown in what is a non-conference tilt.