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| Chartellis Reece Tufts athletics photo |
Presented by 
Games of Sept. 21-24, 2023
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 25th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Carter St. John, So., Alma
Carter had an outstanding week, keeping Alma humming on offense against a solid Wittenberg defensive unit. He passed for a career high 323 yards on 22 of 25 passing with five total touchdowns on the day. That included 51 yards and a touchdown running.
OL Kevin Lind, TJ Dipasquale, Thomas Evans, Patrick Enright, Mekhi George, Springfield
It was a historic offensive performance by the Pride as it rushed for a program record 686 yards on 71 carries, averaging 9.7 yards per rush, in a 63-14 win over Coast Guard. The performance bested the previous record of 676 yards that was set against Merchant Marine in 2010. In fact, it marked the most rushing yards by a Division III squad since Galludet churned up 716 yards vs. Anna Maria in 2017. The Pride finished the day with 33 first downs, all on the ground, as it held the ball for 35:44 and had nine student-athletes with at least 20 rushing yards.
RB Chartellis Reece, Jr., Tufts
Reece ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns on a rainy night in a 44-16 win against Bates. He averaged 8.9 yards per carry. The touchdowns were the first two of Reece's career.
RB Chancellor Lee-Parker, Sr., Brevard
Lee-Parker carried 23 times for 179 yards and two touchdowns in Brevard's triple overitme win against Maryville. His two touchdowns, both in the second half, came from 37 and 46 yards out.
WR Ryan Merrifield, Sr., Trinity (Texas)
Merrifield tied a Trinity single-game record with four receiving touchdowns in a lopsided 63-14 victory over Rhodes. He tallied six total receptions for a career-high 151 yards and the four scores in the first half alone, as many of Trinity's starters were pulled at halftime of a game that was 35-0 after two quarters. After scoring the first touchdown of the game for the Tigers late in the first quarter, Merrifield then went on to score three times in the second quarter -- including a career-long 82-yard reception that put Trinity up 28-0.
WR Charlie Wilson, Sr., Hamline
Wilson accounted for 319 all-purpose yards for the Pipers in their 31-27 loss at Carleton. He registered 12 receptions for 216 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson, who was responsible for all of Hamline's scoring in the game, recorded touchdown catches of 25, five, a season-long 75, and 27 yards.
TE Jon Adamson, Sr., Denison
In addition to finishing with two touchdown catches in the second quarter alone, Adamson totaled 69 yards on four catches in Denison's 55-24 win at Hiram.
Defense
DE Jake Phillips, Jr., John Carroll
Phillips led JCU's defensive effort with six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks in a 34-7 road win at Heidelberg. JCU limited the Student Princes to just 3.9 yards per play.
DT Josh Elm, Jr., Westminster (Pa.)
Elm had six tackles (five solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss in Saturday's 31-20 win at Waynesburg. He also had two sacks -- the first two-sack game of his career.
DE Brian Pritt, Jr., Benedictine
Pritt recorded three sacks in Benedictine's first win of the season over Concordia-Chicago including a 12-yard stop on a fourth-and-4 to end a CUC drive at the Benedictine 30. He finished with five tackles, including three and a half tackles for loss.
LB Joe Copp, Sr., Alfred
Copp played a leading role as part of a 9-6 non-conference win for Alfred at Catholic. Copp finished the game with a season-high 19 tackles, 10 of which were solo. Copp was additionally credited with two tackles for loss. In the third quarter, a fumble recovery from Copp resulted in a go-ahead touchdown drive. In the following quarter, Copp made a crucial solo tackle on fourth down to give the ball back to Alfred.
LB Jaydin Miller, Jr., North Park
Miller tied a season-high and led all tacklers with nine on Saturday to lead North Park to its biggest shutout win since 1999 as the Vikings defeated Millikin 38-0. He picked off a pass and accounted for three of the team's four sacks, as well as three of the four tackles for loss.
LB Hamsa Kahin, Jr., Augsburg
Kahin had an outstanding day in Augsburg's 33-31 win at Gustavus Adolphus, leading the Auggies with seven tackles (six solo), including two sacks, two of Augsburg's four sacks in the game. Kahin also had two fumble recoveries and a pass breakup. The Augsburg victory snapped a seven-game losing streak for Augsburg against Gustavus, dating to the 2013 season.
LB Tate Sauerwein, Jr., St. Olaf
Sauerwein had a game- and career-high 10 tackles (all solo), including 2.0 tackles for a loss, to go with one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry in St. Olaf's 38-13 victory over Macalester. The junior's pass breakup came on a fourth-and-2 play with Macalester at the St. Olaf 33-yard line in a 22-13 game late in the third quarter and, two plays later, the Oles scored a touchdown to break the game open. Sauerwein's play helped St. Olaf limit the Scots, who entered the game having scored 100 points in two games, to just one touchdown after the opening drive.
CB Michael LeFebre, Sr., Endicott
LeFebre aided Endicott to a 37-10 win over No. 5 Hardin-Simmons on Friday night with five tackles, including his first career sack, and his eighth career interception, which set up a field goal for the game's opening score. As a unit, the Gulls held the Cowboys to season-lows in nearly every offensive category in the contest.
S Cam Willis-Roberson, Fr., Southwestern
In the first start of his career for the Pirates, Willis-Roberson tallied three interceptions, against Birmingham-Southern in the Pirates 43-20 win, their first conference win since joining the SAA this season. Roberson returned the interceptions for a total of 29 yards while also notching two tackles in the game.
S Trace Holmes, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Holmes had a pair of interceptions which he returned for a total of 66 yards against McMurry. He finished with four tackles, two solo.
CB Nick Flegler, So., Hope
Flegler recorded his first multi-interception game, including one in the Hope end zone to thwart a Northwestern scoring drive. He helped limit UNW to 65 yards on the ground, recording eight tackles (seven solo) and a tackle for loss.
Special teams
K Laurence Miller, Jr., Franklin & Marshall
Miller was 2-for-2 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra points, accumulating 10 points during Franklin & Marshall's 34-9 win during the home opener against TCNJ. Miller connected with room to spare from 50 yards in the first quarter and 43 yards during the second quarter. The 50 yard field goal was the third-longest in F&M history. Miller additionally handled all seven kickoffs, recording five touchbacks while averaging 64.7 yards per kickoff.
P Ethan Klapatch, Jr., Millsaps
Klapatch sailed four punts 221 yards (55.2 yard average), with three going 50-plus yards in a 53-42 loss to Hendrix. He posted a long of 67 yards with two kicks landing inside the 20.
RET Isaiah Wright, Jr., Bridgewater State
Wright jumpstarted the Bears' scoring in a key 35-28 MASCAC win over Western Connecticut State with a school record-tying 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He tied Jim Pirello's program mark for longest kickoff return set in 1971.
ST Wyatt Lankford, Sr., Brevard
Lankford blocked an extra point in the first quarter of Brevard's 37-35 triple-overtime win against Maryville.