|
| George Lampros kicked through five field goals, two of more than 40 yards, as Massachusetts Maritime edged Western Connecticut on Saturday. Massachusetts Maritime athletics file photo |
Presented by 
Games of Oct. 23, 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 Alex Cohen, Sr., Anna Maria
Cohen threw for five touchdowns for the second time on the season while rushing for a sixth during Anna Maria's 45-32 win at Dean, leading the AMCATs to their best start in program history at 5-1. Overall, Cohen went 24-for-40 for a career-high 451 yards passing and added 39 yards rushing. Cohen's passing total destroyed the previous single-game total in AMCAT history, which was set on Nov. 10, 2012, in which Santino Simone threw for 349 yards.
OL Cole McAlpin, Zay Stephens, Charlie Ballou, David Turner, Kendrioun Boatman, Belhaven
The Blazers line repeats as the O-line of the week, the first time that an offensive line has been named to the Team of the Week in consecutive weeks in the 23-year history of the award. Belhaven held the ball for 42 minutes, 31 seconds in a 24-10 win at Howard Payne, as the Blazers ran for 336 yards and went 5-for-5 on fourth down.
RB Nicholas D'Ambrose, Sr., Chicago
D'Ambrose posted 281 rushing yards, 8.8 yards per carry and two touchdowns in the University of Chicago's 38-14 win over Ripon. This marks the third game in a row that D'Ambrose has surpassed 200 rushing yards.
RB Daniel Romano, Jr., Hope
Romano rushed for a career-high 244 yards vs. Adrian, tying for the ninth-highest single-game total in Hope history. He secured the win that kept Hope tied for the MIAA lead with a 38-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Romano averaged 9.0 yards per carry.
WR A.J. Jackson, Jr., Lake Forest
Jackson broke the Lake Forest records for touchdowns and yards in a game with six and 275 respectively while only playing in the first half of the Foresters 79-0 win against Grinnell. His sixth touchdown reception day also broke the Midwest Conference record for TDs in a game.
WR Tyson Eilam, So., Westminster (Pa.)
Eilam led all receivers with 10 receptions for 172 yards and two fourth quarter touchdowns in the Titans' 23-18 win at No. 11 Washington & Jefferson. His receptions and yards were a career-high.
TE Isaac Coutier, Sr., St. Olaf
Coutier caught seven passes for 144 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in a 41-14 victory over St. Scholastica. Coutier ran for an 18-yard touchdown out of the wildcat on the Oles' first possession and added a 43-yard touchdown catch midway through the second quarter as St. Olaf scored touchdowns on its first five possessions to take a 35-0 lead.
Defense
DE Mitch Arendsen, Sr., Albion
Arendsen accounted for 37 yards lost on his five tackles for loss and had three and a half sacks among his 11 total tackles in a 38-17 win against Olivet. Six of his tackles were solo stops.
DT David Tomb, Jr., Lycoming
Tomb posted six tackles, three and a half for loss, half a sack and a forced fumble in a 28-7 win against Albright. He blew up two plays on Albright's second drive, including forcing a fumble to end the drive. His sack came with the help of Cole Senior on 3-and-23, forcing Albright to punt from six and set up Lycoming's third touchdown of the game. Five of his six tackles came for a loss or no gain.
DT Jordan Downing, Jr., Wartburg
Downing racked up six tackles, four and a half of them sacks in the Knights' 27-7 win against Dubuque. Downing also forced a fumble in the win.
DE Mario Scotese, Sr., Widener
Scotese was unstoppable on the defensive line for Widener in its game against Stevenson, racking up three and a half sacks and four tackles for loss, both of which were career highs.
LB Ben Burgan, Sr., Shenandoah
Burgan finished with 16 tackles, seven of them solo and had four tackles for loss for the Hornets. Burgan had four tackles for loss, the last of them on a fourth-and-3 from the Shenandoah 33 in the fourth quarter. The Hornets kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to beat Emory & Henry 9-7.
LB Steffon Canady, Sr., Brevard
Canady tied his own program record with four sacks while aiding a dominant Tornado defensive performance that included matching a school record nine sacks in BC's 7-3 victory over Southern Virginia. Canady finished with eight tackles, four solo, forced a fumble and had a pass breakup.
LB Dylan Porter, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Dylan Porter led Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to a 27-0 victory over California Lutheran. The senior registered 14 total tackles (nine solo) including a half-sack for a five-yard loss, and 2.5 total tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 10 yards. He anchored the Stags' defense which limited the Kingsmen to 143 yards of total offense and 2.5 yards per play.
CB Brayden Egli, Sr., Central
Egli picked off three passes and had a team-high seven tackles in a 53-19 win against Loras. He had a 70-yard return touchdown on his second interception called back on a penalty.
S Connor Caffrey, Jr., Merchant Marine
Caffrey had a huge game for the Mariners on defense in their 44-34 home win over Catholic. The junior forced two pivotal turnovers -- the first on a second-quarter interception that set up a go-ahead touchdown six plays later, and the second which was arguably the turning point of the game, forcing a fumble at the one-yard line with a seven-point lead in the third quarter that resulted in a touchback. The Mariners wound up marching upfield and cashed in on the turnover with a field goal to make it a two-possession game late in the third. Caffrey finished the day with five tackles.
S Kyle Koelblinger, Fr., UW-Whitewater
Koelblinger tallied four tackles, two interceptions and one fumble recovery in the Warhawks' 34-28 victory at UW-River Falls. He made his first tackle on the game's opening kickoff, limiting the Falcons' starting field position to the 16-yard line. On second-and-4 from the UW-W 25-yard line late in the second quarter, Koelblinger picked off Kole Hinrichsen at the 3-yard line and returned it 27 yards to thwart a Falcon scoring opportunity. In the third quarter, he registered a tackle to limit a kickoff return to 10 yards, and later broke up a fourth-down pass with UW-River Falls driving in UW-Whitewater territory. In the fourth, Koelblinger was part of two big turnovers. First, he recovered a fumble on a Falcon kickoff return to give UW-W the ball back with a 31-28 lead at the 2:40 mark. With 1:44 on the clock and the Warhawks clinging to a six-point lead, he recorded his second interception of the contest to end UW-River Falls' final drive.
CB Tobias Lafayette, So., Hampden-Sydney
Lafayette had six tackles and a game-high two interceptions to help H-SC to 42-28 home win past Ferrum. His first pick came on a fourth down play in the second quarter (though a penalty negated a long return of 60 yards into opponent territory), before his second interception came in the third quarter and he returned it 32 yards. Lafayette now has four interceptions in the past two games for an ODAC-best five on the season.
Special teams
K George Lampros, Sr., Massachusetts Maritime
Lampros made all five of his field goal attempts and his lone PAT in a 22-20 win over Western Connecticut. His field goals came from 18, 21, 28, 42 and 46 in the win. The 46-yarder came with just under three minutes left in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Buccaneers.
P Hunter Williams, Jr., Albion
Williams averaged 42 yards per punt, landing three of his six punts inside the 20 in a 38-17 win against Olivet. He also made a touchdown-saving tackle on a kickoff return.
RET Chris Stewart, Sr., Trinity (Texas)
Stewart tied a school record with two punt returns for touchdowns in Trinity's 66-7 win at Sewanee on Saturday. Stewart totaled 160 yards on four punt returns. He ripped off a 64-yard return wary in the second quarter, followed by a 67-yarder that is the eighth-longest in school history and put the Tigers up 52-0 early in the third.
ST Marco Toth, So., Case Western Reserve
Toth made a number of key plays on special teams to help lead the Spartans to a 42-38 win over Geneva. Toth put the Spartans on the board early in the first quarter when he blocked a punt and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown to give CWRU a 7-0 lead with 11:05 left in the frame. In the third quarter of the game, Toth forced a fumble on a Geneva kick return, setting up a 31-yard touchdown drive that gave the Spartans a 28-21 lead at the time. He had three tackles on special teams during the game, and also started at safety, finishing the contest with seven total tackles (six solo) including one for a loss.