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| Defenders saw a lot of Eric Cowan's back, as the Montclair State tight end racked up a number of big catches. Montclair State athletics photo |
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Games of Oct. 6-8, 2022
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 24th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Ryon Thomas, So., FDU-Florham
Thomas had a career day in a 30-17 victory over Widener. Thomas registered a career-high four touchdown passes, 294 passing yards and added 128 rushing yards to his stat line in the victory.
OL Lookman Balogun, Matt Beyer, Mattheau Gaudet, Michael Garafola, Alexander Byron, Bridgewater State
The offensive line paved the way for more than 500 yards of total offense for the second consecutive game. The Bears put together seven scoring drives in a 45-0 win against Worcester State including a six-play, 69-yard drive, a 13-play, 88-yard drive, a 12-play, 55-yard drive, a seven-play, 86-yard drive and a five-play, 74-yard drive. The BSU offensive had an advantage of more than seven minutes in time of possession.
RB Michael Fiore, Jr., Union
Fiore put together a career day in Union's 44-7 win over St. Lawrence. He racked up 126 yards on the way to four trips into the end zone, becoming the first Union player to score four rushing touchdowns in a game since 2008.
WR Mark Tocco, Sr., Albion
For the fifth time this season, Tocco had 100-plus yards, racking up a career-high 169 yards and three TDs on nine catches. His day helped No. 22 Albion beat Hope 30-10 and remain undefeated.
WR Dakota Romantino, So., Waynesburg
Romantino exploded for his best game of the season and also set the mark for most receiving yards in a game by any player in the PAC this year during Waynesburg's near upset of then-No. 18 Carnegie Mellon. He hauled in a game-high six catches for 213 yards and the two scores during a 27-20 setback against the Tartans.
WR Mason Cunningham, Fr., Hampden-Sydney
Cunningham had game-and career-highs of 163 yards receiving on 13 receptions and three touchdowns during a 35-16 road win at Ferrum. The freshman standout had touchdown receptions of 18 yards in the first quarter, 36 yards in the second quarter and 42 yards in the third quarter from fifth-year quarterback Tanner Bernard.
TE Eric Cowan, Jr., Montclair State
Cowan finished with four catches for a career-high 161 yards and two touchdowns. He recorded a 77-yard touchdown and two additional catches of more than 40 yards in a 23-22 setback to Kean.
Defense
DE Alex Keith, Sr., Washington & Jefferson
Keith matched a game-high with nine tackles in a 17-14 victory at Westminster (Pa.). Keith finished with 3.5 tackles, which included 2.5 sacks, and three additional quarterback hurries. Keith led a defensive unit that held the Titans to just 11 first downs, 71 yards rushing and 123 yards passing. They had four sacks and forced 11 Titan punts on the day. The victory helped W&J snap a four-game losing streak to Westminster in the series.
DT Dan Lester, Fr., North Central
Lester recorded multiple tackles for loss for the fourth straight week, with three TFL in a shutout win against Carroll. Lester finished with five tackles, three solo.
DE C.J. Mustain, Sr., Merchant Marine
Mustain led all players in the Mariners' 19-7 home NEWMAC win over Norwich with 4.5 tackles for losses of combined 22 yards, including 3.5 sacks. All four sacks that he was a part of came in the fourth quarter to prevent a potential comeback for the Cadets. The senior also forced a fumble on Norwich's opening drive and also broke up a pass late in the fourth quarter on the Cadets' last drive of the afternoon. The Cadets were held to minus-2 rushing yards.
LB Johnny Smith-Rider, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Smith-Rider led the Cru with four tackles for loss against the Tigers, totaling eight yards lost. He totaled eight tackles in the game with four solo takedowns.
LB Robert Coury, Jr., Carnegie Mellon
Coury headed a defense in the Tartans' 27-20 win at Waynesburg. He led the Tartans defense with 11 tackles, including a career-best nine solo stops. He also registered six tackles for loss, two sacks, forced a fumble and added a pass breakup.
LB Ernesto Mitchell, Sr., Morrisville State
Mitchell led the Mustangs defensive unit in a win against St. John Fisher, collecting a total 11 tackles on the day as Morrisville held Fisher to just three total points in the E8 contest. Mitchell posted five solo stops, while registering 3.5 tackles for a loss of 22 total yards, including two sacks for a loss of 19 yards. On the final drive attempt by Fisher, Mitchell secured the win by forcing the turnover on downs with a 16-yard sack.
LB Ashton Barton, Sr., Pacific Lutheran
Barton had two interceptions, including a 100-yard pick six, eight tackles (six solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss in Pacific Lutheran's dominating win over Lewis & Clark. Barton's coast-to-coast pick six sealed the win in the third quarter, turning a tight game into a blowout.
CB Michael Brown, So., UW-River Falls
Brown led the UW-River Falls defense to a 27-24 win over UW-Oshkosh, collecting a pair of vital interceptions in the fourth quarter to take away any Titan comeback chances while preserving UWRF's three-point lead. His second interception of the game and fourth of the season came with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation, forcing a UWO turnover and allowing the Falcons to run out the clock en route to victory.
S Aaron Moore, Jr., Bridgewater
Moore recovered a muffed kickoff to set up the go-ahead touchdown against previously unbeaten Shenandoh. That went along with 14 tackles (10 solo), two tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
S Anthony Pedro, Jr., Wittenberg
Pedro tallied a pair of interceptions in Wittenberg's pivotal 30-7 win at DePauw. Pedro's first interception of the day led to an ensuing score by Bryce Anderson, giving Wittenberg its first lead of the game. These were Pedro's first interceptions of the season, adding a pair of tackles on the day.
CB Elijah Diblich, So., Dubuque
Diblich intercepted two passes and returned one from 34 yards for a touchdown in a 66-14 win over Simpson. He led Spartans in tackles (six, all solo) and had one pass breakup.
Special teams
K Trent Ramirez, Sr., Carleton
Ramirez not only kicked a pair of field goals and made both PATs, but he added a pair of point-saving tackles in Carleton's 26-7 triumph over St. Olaf in the Battle for the Goat Trophy. His first tackle came as the last man to beat on a St. Olaf kickoff return, bringing down the Ole at the 41-yard line. In the third quarter, a fumbled snap on an extra-point attempt put the Oles in position to score a defensive two-point conversion, but Ramirez chased down the returner and forced a fumble that went out of bounds at midfield. Ramirez averaged 57.2 yards on five kickoffs, including a touchback and an onside kick that Carleton recovered.
P Eli Gehman, Jr., Trinity (Texas)
Gehman played a key role in the special teams as then-No. 5 Trinity edged Birmingham-Southern 23-20. Gehman punted five times for 213 yards, averaging 42.6 yards per attempt. He booted a pair of 50-yard kicks and dropped two punts inside the 20 during the game. His punting average also puts him in the top 25 in school history for a single game.
RET Rashad Tucker, Jr., Cortland
Tucker returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to give Cortland a 21-10 lead midway through the second quarter, and his 48-yard kick return set up a TD drive earlier in the quarter, during the Red Dragons' 42-24 win at Brockport. He finished with three kick returns for 142 yards.
ST Jeremy Bours Jr., Jr., Lebanon Valley
Bours celebrated his birthday by leading a strong special teams day for the Dutchmen in a 47-12 win at Misericordia. The junior blocked two punts in the second half. His first blocked punt inside the Misericordia 10-yard line was returned by Logan Grauer for a touchdown giving LVC a 33-6 lead. He then blocked a second punt in the fourth quarter giving the Dutchmen possession at the Misericordia 28. Bours handled the punting duties for the Dutchmen and had three punts for 129 yards with an average of 43 yards. He had a 67-yard punt that was downed at the Misericordia 13.