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| Juan Bertaud Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
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Games of Sept. 28, 2024
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 26th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Dante Aviles-Santos, Sr., Mass-Dartmouth
In the Corsairs' 60-10 MASCAC victory over Castleton, Aviles-Santos had a stellar outing going 21-of-27 for 352 yards and five touchdowns. He threw a 29-yard pass on the opening drive of the game, following it up with a 5-yard toss to put the Corsairs up 14-0. Aviles-Santos went on to throw a 30-yard bomb, followed by an 8-yard and then a 33-yard pass giving the Corsairs a 41-7 advantage. Aviles-Santos played three full quarters in the contest and the opening drive of the fourth before exiting the game.
OL Peter Simplicio, Ryder Smith, Matthew Pierotti, John Antolik, Kevin McDonald, Bates
With four of the five starters underclassmen, the Bates offensive line was outstanding on Saturday, opening up huge holes for running back Ryan Lynskey, who scored on touchdown runs of 24 and 59 yards. They did not allow a sack, and successfully picked up a pressure on third and long that resulted in the longest forward pass in Bates football history, an 86-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Colton Bosselait to receiver Ryan Gleason. It was also the driving force that helped Bates pull off a clock-killing drive in the fourth quarter that took nearly eight minutes off the clock before the Bobcats hit a 38-yard field goal to go up by 11 with 1:50 to play. It was the first win at Wesleyan for the Bates football team since 1981. Simplicio is a senior, while the rest of the line is made up of sophomores and freshmen.
RB Kwanir Edwards, Jr., FDU-Florham
Helping secure the 48-26 win for the Devils against fellow conference unbeaten Lebanon Valley, Edwards had 193 yards on 20 carries, as well as two touchdowns on the ground and a third one through the air. His longest run this season of 72 yards, resulted in a touchdown.
RB Chance Strickland, Sr., Hope
Strickland recorded season-highs in rushing yards and carries during the 34-13 victory at Alma. His 2-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left in the second quarter gave Hope a 24-0 halftime lead. Strickland's 10 rushing touchdowns lead all of Division III after four weeks.
WR Talsen Smith, Sr., Merchant Marine
Smith's Academy record-setting 31st career receiving touchdown early in the fourth quarter at SUNY-Maritime proved to be the game-winner as the Mariners defeated their rivals, 23-20, on the road on Saturday in the NEWMAC opener. The senior hauled in 11 catches for 197 yards and the one score, which came on a 21-yard pass play. This is the fourth time Smith has been named to the Team of the Week, once in each of the previous three years.
WR Noah Cracraft, Fr., Simpson
Cracraft continued his streak of scoring in every game this season -- and in every game in his young collegiate careers -- with a pair of touchdowns in Simpson's 66-14 win over Loras. It was his third straight week scoring multiple touchdowns. His first touchdown was for 12 yards, while his second was from 46 yards out as he finished with 13 catches for 178 yards on the day.
TE Alex Coffey, Jr., Alfred
Coffey was an all-around menace for the Saxons in their 45-15 win over visiting Catholic. The transfer junior was the go-to option on short yardage plays, subbing in to take direct snaps, rushing five times for 18 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He was targeted once for a 37-yard touchdown catch and it was the longest passing play of the day.
Defense
DE Osman Kamara, So., King's
Kamara led the defense with 10 total tackles, including three sacks for a loss of 20 yards in a thrilling 28-25 victory over Widener. Kamara was in on three out of the four sacks the Monarchs had against the Pride's trio of quarterbacks on Saturday afternoon, and all three came in the Pride's second drive of the game that resulted in a punt. It was also the first win for the Monarchs over Widener since 2009.
DT Nicolas Canales, Sr., Bridgewater State
Canales notched eight tackles (five solo) including a career-high four sacks and four and a half tackles for loss to go along with a pair of quarterback hurries in the Bears' 41-0 shutout over MASCAC foe Framingham State. He helped limit the Rams to just 129 yards of total offense (minus-14 rushing).
DT Chance Knight, Sr., Marietta
Knight made the most of his five tackles in Marietta's 54-10 win over Capital as he had three and a half tackles for a loss including three sacks. One sack was in the end zone for a safety and he forced a fumble on another sack.
DE Frank Walker, Fr., Greensboro
Walker had a career-high five tackles, including two and a half tackles for loss and one and a half sacks as Greensboro defeated Southern Virginia 42-23 for its first win of the season.
LB Ben Adelsberger, Sr., Coe
Adelsberger anchored Coe's defense that stifled the Dubuque offense on Saturday, holding the Spartans to minus-30 rushing yards. He had a team-high seven tackles, three solor, adding half a tackle for loss. He also broke up three passes and registered one quarterback hurry.
LB Matt Conroy, Jr., Shenandoah
Conroy made a game-high 13 stops (nine solo) in a 62-27 win against Juniata on Saturday. He also had two tackles for loss, notched his first career quarterback sack, broke up a pass, and forced a fumble.
LB Caleb McClung, So., Wheaton
McClung led the Wheaton defense with two and a half tackles for loss on Saturday in a 22-10 Thunder win at Carroll. McClung finished with five total tackles. One of his two solo tackles for loss came on third down to stall a Carroll offensive drive.
CB Zachariah Twardosky, Sr., Endicott
Twardosky's 47-yard pick-six locked up Endicott's come-from-behind 28-20 victory over RPI on Saturday. Twardosky tied his career high with 10 tackles, seven of them solo. The pick-six, which came in the fourth quarter and was the final score of the day, was the second of his career.
S Collin Murphy, Sr., Denison
Murphy put together a stellar all-around day in Denison's 35-0 shutout of Hiram. Murphy hauled in two interceptions, blocked a field goal and added three tackles in the win. Murphy returned a second quarter interception 62 yards for a touchdown. He later intercepted a third quarter pass in the end zone on a fourth down play to help the Big Red defense post its second consecutive shutout.
S Aaron Smith, Sr., FDU-Florham
Smith had eight tackles from his safety spot, five of them solo stops, and added his first career interception as the Devils defeated Lebanon Valley 48-26.
CB Juan Bertaud, Jr., Hamline
Bertaud registered three interceptions for 36 yards, and notched four solo tackles in a 24-14 loss to Carleton. Two of those interceptions occurred in the fourth quarter, which kept Hamline within striking distance.
Special teams
K Caleb Balderas, Jr., Austin College
Balderas drilled all three of his field goal attempts with each coming from more than 40 yards out, in a 34-9 loss to McMurry. Balderas, who accounted for all of Austin College's points, hit from 43, 44, and a career-best 49 yards, and also had a pair of touchbacks while putting all four of his kickoffs into the end zone.
P Ben Mills, Sr., Carnegie Mellon
Mills had six punts that averaged 45.2 yards with a long of 59 in a 30-27 overtime win against Washington & Jefferson. He placed three punts inside the Presidents 20-yard line with no touchbacks, including two inside the 5-yard line, one on the 1-yard line and the other of the 4-yard line.
RET Trey Johnson, Sr., Rochester
Johnson made his one kickoff return count on Saturday, going 95 yards for a touchdown in Rochester's 42-21 victory over the University of New England. The kickoff return TD was the first for a UR player since 2016.
ST Adam Acker, Jr., Lebanon Valley
Acker blocked an extra point and returned the kick to the end zone for two points in Lebanon Valley's 48-26 loss to FDU-Florham. His blocked kick gave the Dutchmen their first two points of the game and gave them momentum to cut a 27-0 lead into a 27-16 halftime deficit.