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| Nicholas Ciriello, Geneva Geneva athletics photo |
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Games of Nov. 14-15, 2025
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 27th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Bubba Mustain, So., Merchant Marine
Mustain accounted for five of the Mariners' touchdowns on Saturday in their dramatic 39-38 Secretaries' Cup victory over Coast Guard at Fenway Park. The sophomore carried the ball an astonishing 46 times for 274 yards with three TDs on the ground, including the go-ahead score with just 20 seconds remaining, while also completing 6-of-8 passes for 150 yards with two touchdowns in the air on passes of 44 and 58 yards (both in the first half). He was 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions throughout the game, three coming with his feet and the other on the 58-yard TD pass.
OL Mike Malzahn, Gavin Grech, Adante Bianchino, Aiden Olsen, Carson Tessitore, Utica
The Pioneer offensive line delivered another outstanding performance in the team's comeback win over Brockport, keeping a clean pocket as they allowed zero sacks and zero quarterback pressures, enabling quarterback Tyler Szalkowski to throw for more than 300 yards yet again. Utica's front five has been a major reason for the team's five-game win streak, as they've yet to allow a quarterback sack since Oct. 4 against Cortland, five weeks prior to Saturday's game.
RB Jacob Schuh, Sr., Pacific Lutheran
Schuh ran for 285 yards and scored three touchdowns and threw for another in PLU's 55-21 victory over George Fox. Schuh averaged 11.4 yards per rush and also had one catch for 25 yards. Schuh's day helped him eclipse 1,000 yards on the season, becoming the first Lute to do so since 2014.
RB Markys Bridgewater, Jr., Endicott
Bridgewater posted a career day when it mattered most, as he led Endicott to a 45-17 victory over Curry for the Conference of New England championship. Bridgewater rushed for 236 yards and two touchdowns on just nine attempts (26.2 yards per carry). He also hauled in one catch for 18 yards. His first touchdown was a 90-yard house call up the right sideline to break a 17-17 tie with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter. Bridgewater capped his career day in the fourth via a 47-yard dash at the 12:31 mark of the quarter to lift the Gulls to a 38-17 advantage. His 236 rushing yards on the afternoon shattered his previous career high of 130, set earlier this year against UNE.
WR Darius Bailey, So., Puget Sound
Bailey had a great weekend for Puget Sound, finishing with 14 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown. This was all against Whitworth, the Northwest Conference champion.
WR Ethan Abberger, So., Adrian
Abberger had 13 catches for 241 yards and two touchdowns as Adrian took Alma to the brink before losing, 35-34, in the Bulldogs' season finale.
TE Logan Frederick, Sr., Utica
Frederick posted another high-volume outing against Brockport as he racked up 11 catches for 92 yards, even while battling poor passing conditions against one of Division III's better secondaries. Frederick helped the Pioneers come from behind and steal a 28-20 win in the final few minutes.
Defense
DE Peter Johanik, Sr., Wheaton
Johanik made the most of his four tackles on Saturday at North Park as the were all solo tackles and all for lost yardage. He had four tackles for loss in the game for a total of minus-13 yards, including three sacks for minus-12 yards. His fourth TFL on the day gave him 51 for his career to set a new Wheaton career record for tackles for loss, surpassing the 50.5 career tackles for loss by former Wheaton All-American and NFL draft pick Andy Studebaker (2004-07). Two of his sacks on Saturday were strip sacks that led to Thunder touchdowns.
DE Jeremiah Belizaire, So., Westminster (Mo.)
Belizaire had four sacks, seven tackles for loss, and 10 total tackles in the Blue Jays' win over Northwestern. His tackles for loss accounted for 40 yards of lost yardage. He also forced two fumbles.
DT Trent Cakerice, So., Central
Cakerice was in on 14 tackles, including three tackles for loss in a 13-7 loss to Coe. He had a pair of solo sacks and a tipped a ball that a Central defensive back intercepted.
LB Nicholas Ciriello, Sr., Geneva
Ciriello led Geneva's defense in a 43-16 win over Case Western Reserve, the Golden Tornadoes' first win over the Spartans in ten tries. Ciriello posted 12 tackles, including 11 solo stops, two tackles for loss, one sack, and he recovered a fumble and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter.
LB Bill Westerby, Sr., TCNJ
Westerby had a huge performance in the final game of his career, racking up 12 tackles (1.5 for loss) and a pair of forced fumbles against No. 7 Christopher Newport. One of the forced fumbles was on a strip-sack that was recovered by teammate Darian Ghahary.
LB Anthony Henriquez, Sr., Rowan
Henriquez posted a game-high 12 tackles, with 2.0 sacks, an interception, forced fumble, and 2.5 tackles for loss in Rowan's 47-34 win at Kean. His third quarter pick led to a Rowan score on the next offensive possession.
LB Kyle DaMore, Jr., St. John Fisher
DaMore led the Cardinals' defense with a career-high 14 tackles, recorded a sack and snagged his team-leading second interception of the season in a 41-14 win over Alfred State.
CB Trent Cherry, Jr., UW-River Falls
Cherry had interceptions in back-to-back UW-Stout drives in the first quarter on Saturday, leading to an early Falcon lead as they eventually won 29-19 to clinch the WIAC title outright. He also finished with three tackles, all solo, and broke up two passes.
S Zaire Prioleau, Sr., Anderson
Zaire Prioleau picked off three passes, recording the 12th 3-plus interception game in Anderson history. Prioleau also contributed 5 tackles in Anderson's win against Manchester.
S Eli Douglas, Sr., Utica
Doublas had eight tackles (four solo), three pass breakups, and a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play from scrimmage to help cement the 28-20 win against Brockport. Douglas helped lead a defensive effort that held the Golden Eagles to just nine completions and exactly 100 passing yards during the regular season finale.
CB Eric Lyons Jr., Sr., Gustavus Adolphus
Lyons capped off his collegiate career with a 100-yard interception return late in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on a 38-14 victory for Gustavus on senior day. He also had three pass breakups and seven total tackles for the Gusties in the win.
Special teams
K Dominic Bourgeois, Jr., Susquehanna
Bourgeois added two more field goals to his record season total against Moravian in Saturday's 48-7 win, making him 16-of-16 on the year. He finished with six points on field goals and six extra points. To get his first field goal against the Greyhounds, Bourgeois needed some trickery. As he lined up to punt near midfield, he instead caught Moravian off guard and threw a pass to Connor Daly to convert on fourth down. He then booted a 28 yarder to give Susquehanna 17-0 lead in the second quarter. His next field goal came just moments before halftime as the River Hawks squeezed 10 more points in during the 1:46. Bourgeois' attempt from 40 yards gave SU a 27-7 lead at halftime and was his fourth field goal of the season from 40 yards or more. is 6-for-6 on extra points makes him 53-of-54 on the year.
P Buddy Gomez, Sr., DePauw
Gomez tied the DePauw single-game record for punting average (minimum 5 punts) with a 49.8-yard average in a Monon Bell win against Wabash. Each of the punts was at least 42 yards with a long of 66
RET Shayde Shultz, Fr., Albright
Shultz made five returns for a Middle Atlantic Conference season high 231 yards. The freshman's most electrifying runback came in the fourth quarter on a 99-yard return for a touchdown in a 38-35 loss to Lebanon Valley. The 99-yard touchdown was the second longest in Albright program history and the longest in the MAC this season.
ST Cade Petty, Sr., Berry
Petty blocked two punts with one being recovered in the end zone for a touchdown as the Vikings dominated Southwestern to end the season.