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| Luis Salgado Whitworth athletics photo |
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Games of Oct. 26, 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 Adam Moen, Jr., UW-Stout
Adam Moen completed a career-high 80% of his passes in Stout's 42-24 homecoming win over rival UW-Eau Claire to stay atop the WIAC standings. His five TD passes were also a career-high. He tied career-highs in completions (24) and yards (343). His 90 yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, broke the game open and set a stadium record for longest pass play. He also ran for 37 yards on six carries, twice picking up first downs with his feet.
OL Peter Simplicio, Ryder Smith, Matthew Pierotti, John Antolik, Kevin McDonald, Bates
The offensive line did a terrific job protecting quarterback Colton Bosselait as he completed 13 of 15 pass attempts, ensuring he was not sacked en route to a season-high 173 yards and three touchdowns and a 21-20 win against Middlebury. The Bates offensive line is accustomed to blocking for an option offense but made the switch to more pass protection and was only the second team this year to keep Middlebury from sacking its quarterback.
RB Luis Salgado, Jr., Whitworth
Salgado's day was better than his previous two best games of the season combined, as he ran for a school-record 354 yards on 26 carries in his team's 39-32 win against Pacific. Salgado's 354 yards are the most by a Division III player this season, by more than 100 yards. He also scored three touchdowns.
RB Montie Quinn, Jr., Curry
Montie Quinn exploded in the second half against Husson, rushing for two touchdowns and a game-high total of 258 yards in a 35-34 loss. Quinn's second touchdown put the Colonels on top 34-27 with 1:54 left in regulation. Quinn averaged 7.8 yards per carry.
WR Eli Aston, Fr., Mount St. Joseph
Aston hauled in nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown, his final catch of the day a 41-yarder tp put the Lions in position to score a game-winning touchdown with under a minute to play. That catch gave Aston 1,103 yards on the season, breaking a 20-year old school record for receiving yards in a season.
WR Dion Anderson, So., Alfred
Anderson broke multiple career-highs as he not only led the Saxons in receiving, but also rushing and all-purpose yards as Alfred won at Utica. Anderson scored three of the Saxons? five touchdowns on Saturday, including the game-winning, 12-yard touchdown catch with 26 seconds remaining in the game. His first score of the game was an 11-yard run to end the second quarter. Anderson had a long run of 53 yards as he totaled a game-high 93 yards rushing on five attempts. His longest reception was a 39-yard touchdown in the third quarter as he totaled a game-high 170 yards receiving on eight catches.
TE Reed Breckheimer, Jr., Carroll
Breckheimer accounted for 130 all-purpose yards, as he had six catches for 90 yards and five carries for 40 yards and a touchdown as Carroll defeated Elmhurst 45-14 on Saturday.
Defense
DE Peter Johanik, Jr., Wheaton
Johanik was a was a major reason why the Thunder led 27-3 through the first three quarters. He led all players with 12 total tackles, seven solo. He also registered three and a half tackles for loss, with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He made one of the biggest plays of the game on the Bears' second offensive drive of the first half he registered a 10-yard tackle for loss, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble as the his outstanding play gave Wheaton the ball at the Bears' 32-yard line and the Thunder responded one play later with a 32-yard touchdown pass that gave Wheaton a 21-3 lead midway through the third quarter. Johanik made his presence known on WashU's first offensive drive of the game as he had one and a half tackles for loss on the possession. He also had a tackle for loss late in the third quarter to force a WashU three-and-out.
DT David Kelley, Sr., Morrisville State
Kelley led Morrisville's defensive efforts Saturday in the loss against Brockport, posting a season high nine total tackles that included five for a loss of 12 total yards. Likewise, Kelley registered a sack for a loss of 4 yards in the contest, holding Brockport to their second lowest point total of the season in a 24-0 loss.
DT Dawson Dietz, Sr., Washington & Jefferson
Dietz put on a defensive showcase in a 48-7 win over Bethany. He recorded a career-high in sacks with three on the day while matching his season-best in tackles for loss with four and a half. He finished with nine total tackles while adding three quarterback hurries to his day's work and was single-handedly responsible for shutting down four Bethany drives through a sack or quarterback hurry within only three quarters of play.
DE Matthew Konkol, So., Johns Hopkins
In a 16-7 win at previously unbeaten Ursinus, Konkol led a Johns Hopkins defense that held the Bears to just the seven points -- 36 below their season average entering the game. He posted seven tackles, three and a half sacks and one pass breakup.
LB Shayne Leddy, Sr., Norwich
Leddy was integral in Norwich holding down a potent Coast Guard passing game, accumulating 13 total tackles, three for loss of 6 yards, a forced fumble and recovery as well as a quarterback hurry.
LB Noah Tack, Sr., George Fox
Tack led the George Fox defense in dominating fashion in their 28-7 win over Willamette. He accumulated nine total tackles, with five tackles for loss for 32 yards, and four sacks. Two of Tack's sacks were in crucial situations, with Willamette getting the ball on the GFU 5 yard line after an interception. The two sacks forced a Willamette field goal, which was ultimately blocked.
LB Hayden Sanders, Sr., St. John's
Sanders totaled seven tackles, including three and a half for a loss, one sack, and a forced fumble in the Johnnies' 34-0 shutout of Gustavus Adolphus. The Johnnies held the Gusties to 126 yards of offense.
CB Elijah Grooms, So., Brockport
Grooms put together a career day in the Golden Eagles' 24-0 win over Morrisville, helping the defense extend its program record with a fourth straight shutout. From the secondary he had two interceptions and forced a fumble in the game. His second interception sealed the win, as he ran it back 35 yards for touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Grooms also chipped in with three total tackles (2 solo), including 1.5 tackles for loss.
S Ben Butler, Jr., North Park
Butler had three interceptions, all of them in the final 3:30 of the game to help North Park defeat Illinois Wesleyan 28-24. All three interceptions came in North Park territory, with the final one coming at the goal line on the final play of the game to secure the victory and help the Vikings improve to 5-2.
S Joe Maurer, Sr., Springfield
Maurer tied a program record for interceptions in a game with three and also added a pair of tackles as he helped power the Pride to a 31-7 win at Salve Regina. Springfield shut out Salve in the first half and held them off the scoreboard for the final 23-plus minutes of the game as they improved to 7-0 on the year.
CB James Woods, Sr., Brevard
Woods had five tackles, four solo, and a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown as Brevard won, 25-21 at Huntingdon.
Special teams
K Greg Casimir, So., Montclair State
Casimir connected on field goals of 50, 31, 45 and 52 yards, going 4-for-4 on the day as Montclair State defeated William Paterson 39-6. Casimir set his career long twice in the same game and his 52-yarder was the longest for Montclair since Vin Doffont bonked one off the crossbar from that length with 2:25 left in a 20-19 win against Allegheny in the 2003 playoffs.
P Vicente Lyon, Jr., Hobart
Lyon punted five times for 237 yards Saturday, a 47.4 yard average. He launched two punts that traveled over 50 yards (51 & 55 yds), giving him a league-leading eight on the season. His final punt of the game was a 55-yarder that pinned the Garnet Chargers inside their own 20. Union managed one punt return, for 3 yards.
RET Damien Jones, So., University of New England
Jones returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown and returned a punt 62 yards for a score as well as the University of New England defeated Nichols 52-30. He's the only player in Division III this season with a touchdown on both a punt return and kick return in the same game. He also ran for a score in the win.
ST Dailan Brown, Fr., Westminster (Mo.)
Brown scored a touchdown after forcing a fumble-six on a punt and he had six tackles on special teams in a loss at Martin Luther.