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| Jon Lewis Birmingham-Southern athletics photo by Mercedes Oliver |
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Games of Nov. 5, 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 Will Bowers, Sr., Wheaton (Ill.)
Bowers totaled 358 yards of total offense on Saturday in a key win at No. 25 WashU as he passed for 234 yards under windy conditions and he ran for a career-high 124 yards on the ground. Bowers' first touchdown pass was a 12-yard connection in the second quarter that gave the Thunder a 21-7 lead. His second scoring pass was a 17-yard touchdown pass late in the third made Wheaton's advantage 35-21. Bowers' final touchdown pass was a 42-yard TD toss early in the fourth quarter to make the score 42-28. Six of Bowers' 11 carries on Saturday were for more than 10 yards, including a first-quarter run of 31 yards.
OL Josh Keskinen, Max Schoening, Brian White, Logan Berandt, and John Schirger, UW-Oshkosh
UW-Oshkosh's line had a huge performance in a 45-0 win against UW-Stevens Point, their first shutout victory over the Pointers since 1978. They helped quarterback Kobe Berghammer to a season-high 115 rushing yards and a touchdown as the team rushed for a total 446 yards and three touchdowns. Two other Titans eclipsed 100 rushing yards, both of them also owning a touchdown on the day. Berghammer threw for 152 yards and three touchdowns, with the line only allowing five quarterback hurries and a single sack. The offense averaged eight yards per play and converted eight of 11 third down chances.
RB Jon Lewis, So., Birmingham-Southern
Lewis had 13 carries for 341 yards and had four rushing touchdowns in Birmingham-Southern's 41-21 win against Centre. He averaged 26.2 yards per carry, set the SAA record for rushing yards in a game and tied the BSC single-game record for rushing touchdowns. Plus, he made an impact on special teams with a blocked extra point.
RB Brandon Washington, So., Gallaudet
Washington ran for a career-high 228 yards on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Bison won their first Eastern Collegiate Football Conference title since 2013 as GU won 36-22 on the road at Alfred State to finish with a 5-1 conference mark. Washington averaged 9.9 yards per carry with a game long of 42 yards which set up his third touchdown of the game. After a scoreless third quarter, GU scored twice to add onto its lead in the fourth quarter. Washington broke free for 42 yards to get down to the Pioneer 3 and after a penalty scored from 1 yard out.
WR Bobby Inserra, Sr., Augustana
Inserra broke a school record with 16 catches for 240 yards and three touchdowns in Augustana's 37-30 loss to Carthage. The record was previously 12 receptions in a single game.
WR Wade Sheets, So., Dubuque
Sheets led the Spartans in receiving with 13 catches for 186 yards and three TD's in the Key City Classic game vs. archrival Loras. He caught the game-tying touchdown on a fourth-and-27 play, a 41-yard TD grab at the goal line with just 3:46 left in regulation. He went on to catch the game winning score in overtime from 1 yard out. The 27-20 win kept the Spartans alive in a chase for the league championship.
TE Aaron Sotelo, Sr., Texas Lutheran
Sotelo was a massive part of the TLU offense on Saturday, recording 12 receptions, the third most in a game in TLU history, for 123 yards and two TDs in the Bulldogs' 21-17 win over Southwestern.
Defense
DE Joey Asta, Jr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Asta racked up three sacks and forced a fumble as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps rolled over Redlands 42-0. It's the largest win in series history for CMS and allowed the Stags to clinch a share of the SCIAC championship. It's the third shutout of the year for a defense that didn't give up a touchdown at home and is giving up 6.9 points per game this season.
DT Jaylen Johnson, Jr., Lake Forest
Johnson figured prominently in the Foresters' dominating defensive performance as they held Beloit to minus-25 yards and 0 first downs on the day, tying an NCAA Division III record. Despite only playing in 17 total plays before substitutes were brought in, Johnson had five tackles, four solo, and three tackles for loss. The Foresters improved to 8-1 and tied for 1st place in the MWC with the 36-3 win.
DT Justin Grieff, So., Wartburg
Grieff led the Knights' defense with five total tackles, which included three and a half tackles for loss and a sack. He also had a fumble recovery as Wartburg defeated Simpson 81-9 and won its 17th consecutive home game.
DE Michael Nobile, Sr., Delaware Valley
Nobile had a game-high seven tackles with three sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in the Aggies' 42-7 home win over FDU-Florham. Nobile had a strip sack and fumble recovery on the same play in the second half. He also added a quarterback hurry.
LB Zayd Sadiq, Fr., Western New England
Sadiq picked off two passes, returning one of them 89 yards, and recorded three tackles in a 33-0 win against the University of New England.
LB Sam Vibral, So., Dubuque
Vibral led the Spartans with eight solo tackles including four tackles for losses of 15 yards and two sacks in Dubuque's 27-20 overtime win against Loras.
LB Samuel Adkins, Jr., Bridgewater
Adkins tied the school's single-game record with four and a half tackles for loss to hold one of the most prolific running offenses of the season to nearly 100 yards below its average in a 13-6 win against Washington & Lee.
CB Devin Williams, Fr., Bethel
Williams provided late-game dramatics for Bethel picking off Augsburg's potential game-winning two-point conversion with 31 seconds left and returning it 100 yards for the two-point score. In the Royals' 30-27 victory over the Auggies, which sent them to the MIAC Championship game, Williams also added four tackles.
S David Babb, So., Allegheny
Babb helped Allegheny earn a 20-17 overtime win against Bethany in its 2022 finale. Babb had seven tackles, four solo, and had two third-quarter interceptions. His picks helped Allegheny hold Bethany scoreless in the second half and overtime.
S Zach Barber, Jr., King's
In a 14-0 shutout win over Misericordia in their final home game and MAC matchup of the 2022 regular season, Barber picked off two passes, both in the first quarter, and had a key breakup to go along with three tackles.
CB John Kohler, Sr., St. John's
Kohler intercepted two passes, both in the endzone to prevent Carleton scores, in the Johnnies' victory over the Knights on Nov. 5 to secure a spot in the conference title game. Kohler intercepted one pass in the first quarter and came away with his second in the second quarter to help put the game out of reach.
Special teams
K Joshua Hernandez, So., Alma
Hernandez had a career day against Adrian. He connected on three field goal attempts: from 31, 50 (fourth longest in Alma histrory), and 56 (second longest in Alma history). He also converted all three extra points as Alma defeated Adrian 30-10.
P Grant Gonya, John Carroll
Gonya notched a 47.0-yard avg on seven punts despite a strong wind in Alliance, Ohio. Gonya let loose with an 82 yarder, tied for the longest in D-III this year, which completely flipped the field. Mount Union then went three-and-out, had a much more average punt, and John Carroll started at its own 46 and drove for a TD to tie the game at 14 on its ensuing possession. Three of punts pinned Mount Union inside their own 20.
RET Dalton Thelen, Sr., Gustavus Adolphus
Thelen posted 310 all-purpose yards -- including a MIAC-record 261 on kickoff returns -- to help Gustavus hold off St. Olaf, 49-37. Thelen's 93-yard yard return for a touchdown late in the contest helped seal the game for the Gusties. He also caught five passes for 53 yards and a 26-yard touchdown in the win.
ST Connor Fordham, Sr., Belhaven
Fordham blocked two punts in a 20-7 win over Brevard. Both of the punt blocks led to Blazer touchdowns, one immediately and the other one play later. In addition to his two blocked punts, he totaled 15 tackles on defense.