Team of the Week, Week 9 1999

Games of Oct. 22-23, 1999

Offense

QB Kevin Cahill, Springfield
Cahill carried 24 times for 180 yards and four touchdowns in Springfield's 52-17 win against Worcester Tech, previously undefeated in the FFC. The junior was also 1-for-4 passing for 62 yards and a touchdown.

OL Steve Jenkins, Chris Matthaei, B.J. Edwards, John Bianchi, Bill Beining, Derek Walter (TE), Gettysburg
The line that led Paul Smith to his NCAA all-divisions record-setting day (see below) protected Bullet runners to the tune of 366 rushing yards and only one sack attempt on the day in a 42-28 win against Muhlenberg.

RB Paul Smith, Gettysburg
Smith's 45 carries, 390 yards and six touchdowns are all Gettysburg records. The senior added 80 yards receiving, 46 yards in kickoff returns and 11 yards in punt returns to claim an NCAA all-divisions record with 527 all-purpose yards. Smith broke the Division III mark for career all-purpose yards and finished with 8,496, vaulting into second on the all-divisions list.

RB Joe Nicholes, Washington & Jefferson
Starting in place of injured tailback Jon Pons, the freshman rushed for 251 yards on 17 carries and five touchdowns in a 56-28 win against Waynesburg. His scores covered 10, 1, 74, 38 and 48 yards.

TE Jeff Erne, Ithaca
The senior caught five passes for 87 yards, raising his career total to 59 catches -- tying the school record for career catches by a tight end.

WR Kurt Casper, Wabash
The sophomore set school records for catches (17) and receiving yards in a game (184). He scored two touchdowns and added a 31-yard kickoff return in a 32-30 loss to Wilmington.

WR Jon Troy, Tufts
Tied Tufts single-game record with 15 catches, became the program's all-time leader in career receptions with 162, and nearly led Tufts back from a 28-14 deficit at Williams. Troy finished with a career-high 177 yards. With Tufts trailing 28-21 and a minute left in the game, the senior caught four consecutive passes for 60 yards to bring the Jumbos down to the Williams 5. He also caught a 17-yard pass on fourth and six to set up the TD that tied the score at 14.

Defense

DL Jeremy Benson, Aurora
The junior set a school record for sacks in a game with six in the Spartans' 33-21 come-from-behind win against Concordia (Wis.). Benson also set the season sack record with 13, breaking his own school record. He also added two tackles for loss among his nine solo tackles.

DL Justin Harris, Alma
Harris recorded four sacks against Kalamazoo to set a school record with 15. The junior had eight total tackles.

DL Jay Biondo, Lake Forest
From his nose tackle position, Biondo recorded 8 tackles, including 5 for loss and 2 sacks during Lake Forest's 27-7 victory at Illinois College. The senior played a major role in limiting Illinois College to 168 yards of total offense (238 yards under their season average) and 2.4 yards per play.

DL Jon Jones, MacMurray
The senior recorded 11 total tackles (five solo) in a 48-3 win against Concordia (Ill.). He added a sack and an additional 1½ tackles for loss.

LB Jeff Iuidice, Trinity (Conn.)
In a 26-0 win against Bowdoin, Iudice had 18 total tackles (nine solo), with three and a half tackles for loss, two and a half sacks and two takeaways (caused fumble and interception).

LB Ryan Deck, Trinity (Texas)
The senior registered seven total tackles, a tackle for loss plus one and a half sacks in a 38-0 blanking of Centre. Helped hold Centre back Kevin Chapman to minus-1 yard rushing (previously averaging 108.3).

LB Tom Eisenhower, Widener
Registered a game-high 14 tackles and recorded double figures in the statistic for the sixth time this season in a 45-14 win against King's. Helped hold King's running game 130 yards below its average, adding a sack, a pass broken up and a caused and recovered fumble.

DB Jack Prall, Carthage
Prall recorded 10 tackles (seven solo) and had a game-ending interception in Carthage's upset win against Millikin. The senior also added a tackle for loss.

DB Chris Swartz, RPI
Swartz picked off three passes (the third time this season he has had two or more) and now has nine on the season -- a school record. The junior had three tackles and broke up two more passes.

DB Bobby Hill, Lakeland
Hill had five total tackles and returned one of his two interecptions 45 yds. for a touchdown in Lakeland's 52-7 win against Eureka. The return was his second for a score this season.

DB Jason Dobry, Franklin & Marshall
The senior intercepted Western Maryland's Ron Sermarini twice on the afternoon (Sermarini had thrown one all season coming into the game), both times inside the Franklin & Marshall red zone. Recorded seven tackles (six solo) and added a pass breakup.

Special teams

K Eric Connelly, Lebanon Valley
Connelly only kicked one field goal on the afternoon, but it was a big one, splitting the uprights as time expired to beat Susquehanna 17-14. Susquehanna called two timeouts before the junior made his 18-yarder.

RET Mike Benson, Coast Guard
The junior racked up 211 return yards, including taking a punt back 54 yards for a touchdown in a 24-14 loss to Union.