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D3football.com Team of the Week

Sep 04, 2017

Presented by Scoutware

Games of Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2017

Montel Lee file photo
Defensive lineman Montel Lee had a game-deciding strip and fumble recovery that led to Ferrum rallying past Emory & Henry.
 Ferrum athletics file photo

The D3football.com Team of the Week is our weekly honor roll, started in 1999. It recognizes the top individual performance at each position, drawn from nominations provided by schools.

Offense

 QB Billy Pine, Sr., Hartwick

Pine threw for career highs of 539 yards and seven touchdowns in Saturday's 48-47 loss to Western Connecticut. He completed 24 of 38 passes on the day and rushed for another 14. Pine completed 12 passes for 316 yards and four scores in the first half alone.

OL Sterling Clark, Lane Hacker, Saul Boysel, Nick Moore, Kelvin Valdez, Wilmington

After averaging just 74 rushing yards per game last season, Wilmington tied a school record, set in 1993, with 381 yards rushing in a 49-20 win vs. Earlham. The victory snapped a 19-game losing streak. Two players went over 100 yards, and another player finished with 77 yards.

RB Joey Valdivia
Sr., Lake Forest

Valdivia ran for 295 yards and two touchdowns and added another score through the air as Lake Forest defeated Beloit 37-27. He finished with 331 all-purpose yards on the afternoon, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.

RB Nick Savant
Sr., Muhlenberg

Savant set a school record with 351 all-purpose yards and tied a school mark with five TDs in a 62-19 win vs. Wilkes. Savant scored on runs of 41, 54, 1 and 50 yards and also reached the end zone on a 70-yard pass play. His 271 rushing yards came on 18 carries.

WR Malik Pressley
Sr., FDU-Florham

Pressley became the FDU career leader in receptions when he hauled in his second catch Friday. Pressley made 16 catches for 271 yards and three touchdowns as FDU topped TCNJ 38-24.

WR Koree Reed
Sr., Hartwick

Reed registered a career-high 290 receiving yards in the loss to Western Connecticut. He made nine catches to average 32.2 yards per reception and scored three TDs. Reed, who had an 89-yard reception on the day, had six catches for 214 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

WR Alec Beatty
Jr., Macalester

Beatty registered five catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns in Macalester's 31-20 victory at Carleton. On back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, Beatty connected with Christian Adams on a 64-yard TD pass and a 68-yard TD pass that put the Scots ahead for good, 24-13.

Defense

DE Tucker Garner
So., Susquehanna

Garner helped the defense hold Lycoming scoreless for the final three quarters of the game in a 7-6 win, recording seven tackles, two tackles for loss and recovering a fumble.

DT Montel Lee
Sr., Ferrum

With 1:11 left to play and Ferrum trailing Emory & Henry 8-6, Lee stripped the ball from an E&H runner at 1:11 and returned it five yards to the E&H 23. That play set up Ferrum's winning score with 37 seconds left. Lee had five tackles, including four for loss, three sacks, and the forced fumble and recovery.

DE Andrew Joseph
Sr., Cornell

Joseph posted a game-high 12 tackles, nine solo, in a win vs. Iowa Wesleyan. He had two and a half tackles for loss, becoming the program's career leader with 44.

 

LB Mark DeLuise
Jr., Cortland

DeLuise led Cortland with a career-high 16 tackles (12 solo), and added an interception, in a 34-32 win vs. Augustana. His pick set up a TD drive late in the first half that gave Cortland a 24-16 halftime lead. DeLuise has recorded double-figure tackles in each of his last five games.

LB Trent Holt
So., Rhodes

With Willamette in possession on first down at the Rhodes 41, Holt sacked Willamette's quarterback for a 13-yard loss and forced a fumble with 29 seconds remaining. Rhodes recovered and ran out the clock on a three-point win. Holt had two tackles for loss on the night.

LB Kaelen Garner
Sr., Rose-Hulman

Garner had nine tackles and three sacks to lead the Rose-Hulman defense in a 33-32 win at Illinois College. He recorded four tackles for loss, for minus-24 yards.

LB Nick Wright
Sr., Delaware Valley

Wright's big performance against No. 11 Wesley included a 70-yard fumble return for a touchdown (DelVal was up 10-3 at the time with Wesley driviing) and a safety in the fourth quarter to put DelVal up 24-12 in a 24-19 win. Wright ha 10 tackles, with two sacks.

 

CB Isaac Evans
Jr., Bridgewater

Evans led Bridgewater with 10 tackles in a 27-24 win vs. Gettysburg. He made several huge plays down the stretch, including a tiptoe interception at the sideline of a deflected pass with 11:06 remaining. Broke up a third down pass to end a drive later in the fourth quarter, and then broke up a deep ball on Gettysburg's last-gasp chance after a BC go-ahead TD with 50 seconds left.

S Julian Cuthbertson
Sr., Guilford

Cuthbertson shared game-high honors with 12 tackles (11 solo) in the Quakers' win at Huntingdon. He led the Quakers with three tackles for loss and had two tackles during Guilford's goal-line stand that kept the Hawks out of the end zone after four tries from inside Guilford's 9-yard.

S Jack Gray
Fr., Gallaudet

Gray caused three turnovers in a 40-14 loss at Shenandoah. Both of Gallaudet's scores were set up by Gray's takeaways. Gray tackled a Hornets ball carrier at the 2-yard line and caused a fumble out of the end zone for a touchback. Ten plays later, Gallaudet scored its first touchdown. Late in the game, Gray intercepted a Shenandoah pass in the red zone. GU marched down the field, 81 yards on 11 plays to convert its second TD. Gray had a second forced fumble in the game as well, adding seven tackles and a pass breakup.

CB William Phillips
Fr., Sewanee

With Sewanee trailing 7-0 in the second quarter to Kenyon, Phillips scored the first points of the season for the Tigers on a 98-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, the longest in school history. That sparked the offense to go on a 24-7 run in the second quarter en route for a 45-20 win. The freshman also picked off the Kenyon quarterback twice for 46 total yards, with one leading to a touchdown drive.

Special teams

K Nathan Hierlihy, Jr.
Redlands

Hierlihy hit four field goals, including a 55-yarder to help lead Redlands to a 32-7 win vs. Trinity (Texas). He also connected on field goals of 25, 40, and 50 yards. Hierlihy averaged nearly 50 yards per punt and 64.4 yards per kickoff.

P Turner Geisthardt, Jr.
UW-Oshkosh

Geisthardt averaged 41.5 yards on six punts and ran for a game-clinching first down to help No. 4 UW-Oshkosh win at No. 8 John Carroll. Geisthardt had five punts downed inside the JCU 20. After John Carroll cut the lead to 23-17 with 3:24 left, UW-Oshkosh faced a fourth-and-2 from its own 44-yard line. Following JCU's last timeout, Geisthardt broke a tackle and ran 4 yards out of punt formation to seal the win.

RET Joel Reighard, Jr.
Juniata

Reighard returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown and had another punt return of 50 yards in a 42-31 win vs. Grove City. (He also was 6-for-6 on extra points.)

ST Xadrian Wilkins, Sr.
MacMurray

Wilkins grabbed a blocked extra point attempt and advanced it into the end zone for a two-point conversion as MacMurray defeated Rockford 22-14.
Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
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