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| Kendall Karcz picked off the most passes by a Green Knight in more than 60 years. |
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Games of Oct. 9, 2021
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 23rd season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Tyler Jarnagin, Sr., Benedictine
Jarnagain accounted for six touchdowns in Benedictine's 54-40 comeback win against Lakeland. He threw for 378 yards and ran for 37 more and another touchdown in the victory. Jarnagin completed 29 of 46 pass attempts and threw for five touchdowns.
OL Matt Theole, Matt Shimko, Colby McMillan, Derek Brown, Ty Reeter, Monmouth
The Scots ran for 302 yards and six touchdowns in a 40-37 win against Chicago. The Scots had two individuals rush for over 100 yards as running back Henderson Francois had 137 yards and quarterback Riley Fetterer had 123.
RB Brandon Cade, Fr., Berry
Cade, playing just his fifth game of his career, ran for a career-high 187 yards on just 10 carries, 18.7 yards per carry, and scored three touchdowns in a 49-21 road win at Millsaps. He also added two catches for 39 yards.
WR Matt Clarke, So., William Paterson
Clarke hauled in 11 passes, four for touchdowns, during a 48-28 victory against Christopher Newport. His 318 receiving yards broke the WP single-game record of 226 established by Joel Rivera (9/27/08, at Rowan). His 335 all-purpose yards also were a new top mark at William Paterson, besting the total of 275 by Hall of Famer Altarik White (10/16/93, vs. Montclair State).
WR Raequan Davis-Hereford, Jr., Hiram
Davis-Hereford caught 12 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns for Hiram as the Terriers kept Ohio Wesleyan to a one score game before OWU pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 34-17 win. Davis-Hereford added 10 yards on a couple of carries to pick up 299 all-purpose yards.
WR Tanner Schminke, Sr., Central
Schminke had a career-high 255 yards during a record-breaking day for Central's quarterback Blaine Hawkins. He also had career-highs with 12 receptions and three touchdowns in a 55-21 win against Coe.
WR AJ Harris, So., North Park
Harris's 11 catches for 245 total yards was the third-most in NPU history as the Vikings' furious fourth quarter was not enough in a 34-26 loss to Carroll. Harris had one touchdown, a 64-yarder which was NPU's second score of the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 34-13. He finished with 254 yards from scrimmage.
TE Zack Tencza, Sr., Illinois Wesleyan
Tencza turned in a career day for the Titans, as he hauled in a career-high eight catches for his first career 100-yard game. He finished the day with 113 receiving yards, including a 7-yard TD catch.
Defense
DE K.D. Melton, Sr., Ohio Wesleyan
Made eight stops, including two and a half sacks for 20 yards of lost yardage and four and a half tackles for loss of 28 yards, in a 34-17 win vs. Hiram. He recorded a sack on third-and-7 from the OWU 9 to stop a Hiram drive that resulted in a missed field goal late in first quarter. Melton dropped the Hiram running back for loss of 7 on second-and-10 from OWU 17 in second quarter and rang up back-to-back solo sacks from Hiram 36 and Hiram 25 to protect the lead after OWU had gone ahead, 17-10, in the third quarter.
DT Jordan Bartholomew, Sr., St. Olaf
Bartholomew had five tackles, three tackles for a loss, two sacks, a fumble recovery, and a hurry in St. Olaf's 23-14 win against Carleton. Midway through the first quarter, the fifth-year senior recovered a fumble inside the 10-yard line on special teams to set up the game's first touchdown. He added a tackle for loss on a fourth-and-one with 1:10 left in the first half to give St. Olaf the ball near midfield before the Oles put another touchdown on the board. Both of Bartholomew's sacks came in the second half in his first-career two-sack performance.
DE Michael Nobile, Jr., Delaware Valley
Nobile had a game-high seven tackles, three solo, and a career-high 3.5 sacks in three quarters of play as the Del Val starters were pulled at the start of the fourth quarter in a 48-15 win against King's.
LB Brendan Albert, Jr., Bridgewater State
Albert returned a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown and recorded a game-high 13 tackles (five solo), including 1 1/2 sacks, to go along with one pass breakup in the Bears' 49-13 MASCAC win at Worcester State. Albert's scoop and score was his second of the season.
LB Steffon Canady, Sr., Brevard
Canady caused havoc all day for the Maryville offense, forcing two fumbles while recovering one of them himself. He sacked Maryville quarterbacks three times for 18 yards lost, and totaled five tackles while also logging three quarterback hurries in the 31-0 shutout for the Tornados.
LB Kyle Kornovich, Sr., St. John's
Kornovich totaled seven tackles (four solo), including two for a loss, two sacks, and his first collegiate interception in the Johnnies' 50-0 win against Augsburg. He also recorded a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in the game. Kornovich was part of an SJU defense that posted its second consecutive shutout, held the Auggies to a success rate of 27.3 percent on third down, and limited Augsburg's top-10 air attack to 128 passing yards.
LB Skyler Metzger, Sr., Illinois Wesleyan
Metzger tied for the team lead with 10 tackles, including a career-high four tackles for loss. He also added a 7-yard sack for an IWU squad the leads the CCIW in QB takedowns. Nine of his 10 tackles were solo stops.
CB Nick Freiwald, Sr., Washington & Jefferson
Freiwald intercepted a pair of passes in No. 12 W&J's 63-22 win against St. Vincent. Both interceptions by Freiwald led to W&J touchdowns on the ensuing possession. The Presidents defense forced five takeaways in the victory.
S Kendall Karcz, Sr., St. Norbert
Karcz recorded four interceptions in St. Norbert's 68-0 win over Wisconsin Lutheran. Karcz had three interceptions in the first quarter alone. He also returned two interceptions for touchdowns, only the second time in St. Norbert history that has happened. Karcz's four interceptions were the most for a St. Norbert player since 1957, and one shy of a school record. Karcz's four interceptions is only the second time in NACC history that has happened and his two "pick sixes" are a NACC single-game record.
S Trevor Beck, So., Grove City
Beck helped lead a defensive effort that held Geneva's No. 7-ranked rushing attack (289 yards per game) to 26 yards on 35 carries. He forced two fumbles and also intercepted a pass while adding two tackles for loss to his seven total stops.
CB Kevin Arcia, Jr., Carnegie Mellon
Arcia played a huge factor in the Tartans' 34-10 upset win over 24th-ranked Westminster (Pa.). He recorded a career-best eight tackles, seven solo, while adding a career-high three pass breakups and forcing a fumble.
Special teams
K Andrew Kibler, Sr., Manchester
Kibler went a perfect 5-for-5 on field goal attempts in Manchester's 22-0 win over Defiance. The senior knocked in kicks from respective distances of 41, 38, 25, 34, and 25 yards. He also connected on his lone extra point attempt of the day to finish the game with 16 of his team's 22 points.
P Bobby Haggerty, Sr., Methodist
Haggerty's leg was a well-used weapon in Methodist's 34-17 victory over LaGrange, as he punted three times for a 48-yard average and pushed LaGrange back behind its 20 to start all three of those ensuing drives. His first punt was a 61-yarder that flipped the field and left the Panthers starting on their own 14. Later in the 1st quarter he dropped in a 46-yarder that went out of bounds at the LaGrange 2 yard line. Not asked to punt again until the fourth quarter, Haggerty finished his day with a 37-yarder that rolled out of bounds at the Panther 15-yard line. And all three times they were piined, the Panthers were forced to give the ball back and Methodist came down and scored on each ensuing possession.
RET A.J. Jackson, Jr., Lake Forest
Jackson had two second-half punt returns for touchdown in the Foresters' 48-13 victory over Illinois College. The two-time All-America returner had touchdown returns of 50 and 65 yards. With his second return, the sixth of his career, he broke the 29-year-old Midwest Conference career record for punt return touchdowns. He finished with three punt returns for 133 yards.
ST Danny Baker, Jr., Lake Forest
As much as Jackson made the Illinois College punt team's life difficult from the return perspective, Baker did the same up front against the Blueboys. Baker blocked two punts on the day in the Foresters' 48-13 win and both led directly to Lake Forest touchdowns.