PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 9
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FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
A.J. Long
West Chester (R-Jr. / QB)
Bethlehem, Pa. / Friendship Christian (Tenn.)
Long was key in helping No. 12 West Chester clinch the PSAC Eastern Division title with a 38-21 win against No. 15 Kutztown. He was named the PCN Player of the Game after rushing for 133 yards while throwing three touchdowns passes. Long finished 10-for-17 and did not throw an interception in the win. He carried the ball 22 times, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, and finished with 221 total yards of offense in the win. |
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FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jake Klinger
Bloomsburg (Sr. / DL)
Berwick, Pa. / Central Columbia
Klinger had his top performance of the season on Saturday as he finished with seven total tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks, and a fumble recovery as the Huskies won their third straight, 38-14, over Millersville. He led the Huskies in total tackles and tackles for a loss and had two of Bloomsburg's eight sacks on the afternoon. Klinger was a significant part of a Bloomsburg defense that held Millersville to -8 yards rushing on the afternoon. It marked just the second time since the 2001 season that a Bloomsburg team held an opponent to negative rushing yards in a game. His big day gives him 10.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks this season after his All-American year in 2017. |
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FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Chase Yocum
Shippensburg (Sr. / QB)
Reading, Pa. / Exeter Township
Yocum totaled a career-high 140 kickoff return yards, including a 66-yard return to open the second half, as Shippensburg outlasted Lock Haven, 56-37. He also contributed from behind center with 56 rushing yards and two touchdowns. In the process, he became the SU record holder for career rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,289, passing former teammate Ryan Zapoticky (1,259). He ranks seventh all-time in PSAC history for the statistic. |
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FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Garrett Owens
Mercyhurst (R-Fr. / RB)
North East, Pa. / North East
Owens finished with 419 all-purpose yards as Mercyhurst defeated cross-town rival Gannon, 38-21. He posted 268 yards rushing on just 21 attempts (12.8 ypc). and added 36 yards receiving and 115 yards on kickoff returns. Owens had three touchdown runs as the Lakers increased their win streak to three over their rivals. |
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FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Eric Glover-Williams
Slippery Rock (Jr. / DB)
Canton, Ohio / Canton McKinley
Glover-Williams intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach in Slippery Rock's 44-21 victory at California that decided the PSAC West title. He also recorded a sack, two pass breakups, and three total tackles in the game, and held Cal's top-ranked PSAC West passing attack to just 39% completions for 184 yards with no touchdowns. Glover-Williams also opened the game with a 54-yard kickoff return that set up an SRU touchdown. |
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FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Naszhir Taylor
California (Fr. / WR)
Braddock, Pa. / Woodland Hills
Taylor recorded a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter in the Vulcans 44-21 loss to Slippery Rock at Adamson Stadium. He finished the game with 158 yards on four kickoffs to average 39.5 yards per return. Taylor, who had only one kickoff return in the past five games, posted the first kickoff return for a touchdown since Garry Brown in Week 3 of the 2016 season. |
Game Notes:
California: Cal U trailed by only three points at halftime before suffering a 44-21 loss to Slippery Rock in rainy conditions on Saturday. The loss dropped the Vulcans into a tie for second place in the PSAC West standings and marked back-to-back home losses in divisional play for the first time since 2004. The Rock amassed 345 rushing yards (205 second half) on 59 attempts and five touchdowns despite committing seven fumbles. Cal U allowed multiple 100-yard rushers for the first time since 2015. Freshman Naszhir Taylor recorded a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter, the program’s first kickoff return for a score since Week 3 of the 2016 season. Junior RB Nelson Brown finished with 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts. He is now tied for the lead in the PSAC with 15 rushing touchdowns, while ranking third in the league with 923 rushing yards. Junior LB London Cloud set season highs with 11 tackles and 4.0 TFL, plus added two forced fumbles, 1.0 sack and one blocked kick. He is tied for fourth in the league with 13.5 TFL in his first year with the program. By virtue of play on Saturday, the Vulcans will now close the season on Nov. 10 with a home game against Bloomsburg.
Edinboro: Edinboro rode a strong defensive effort and another big outing by Walter Fletcher for a rainy 14-7 win at Clarion. The defense limited Clarion to 228 total yards and recorded six sacks. Three of those came on Clarion’s final series after Edinboro had taken the lead on an 80-yard run by Fletcher. That capped a 33-carry, 243-yard effort by the redshirt junior, who matched his career high for carries. Fletcher had his sixth career 200-yard game. The 243 yards ranks seventh in a game, and he now has five of the top 13 single-game rushing performances. He has seven 100-yard rushing games this season and 17 in his career. Fletcher boosted his career total to 3,607 yards rushing, moving into third place all-time. He ranks fourth in career rushing attempts (570) and now has 39 career rushing TDs, which ranks third. He moved up six spots into eighth place in season rushing with 1,318 yards. Fletcher's 15 TDs rushing is tied for sixth in a season. In addition, he caught five passes to give him 92 career receptions. That breaks the record of 89 held by Elbert Cole … Zuril Hendrick tied the school record for career interceptions with his 20
th against Clarion. He ties the record held by Chris Avery … the front four of Myles Turner (1.5 sacks), David Ballew III (1.5), Derek Dorr (1), and Ethan Upperco (0.5) combined for four of the six sacks … after missing the last two games with an injury, quarterback Andrew Tomko returned, but as the punter. He averaged 40.0 yards on five punts, with a long of 65 yards … Edinboro returns home for its final two games, hosting Indiana(Pa.) and Kutztown, after playing six of the first nine games on the road.
Lock Haven: Despite a number of individual standout performances on Saturday (Oct. 27/Week 9), the Lock Haven University football team fell to visiting Shippensburg University, 56-37, in a thrilling PSAC East shootout … Senior QB Cameron Tobias threw for 256 yards and three TDs, TE Jalen Jackson hauled in two TD passes and RB Chantz Swartz rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns … Defensively, LB Obadiah Asare had 11 tackles (8 solo, 3 TFL) … LHU is now 1-8 overall, 1-4 PSAC East … The game marked Lock Haven’s final home game of the 2018 season … Swartz’s 172 rushing yards vs. Ship marked a career-high and served as his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season … It marked Tobias’ fourth game with over 200-yards passing … The Bald Eagles final two games of the season will come on the road.
Mercyhurst: Running back Garrett Owens set a new program record with 419 all-purpose yards as the Lakers defeated cross-town rival Gannon, 38-21, to claim the Niagara Cup for the third straight year…Owens finished with 21 carries for 268 yards and also recorded three receptions for 36 yards. He ran back four kickoffs for 115 yards. The sophomore from North East, Pa., had three touchdowns -- all of which via the running game. He had TD carries of 53, 4 and 74 yards…The 419-yard output broke the previous record by running back Richard Stokes, who had 361 all-purpose yards (244 rushing, 26 receiving, 91 kickoff returns) in a 42-23 victory over Ferris State on Sept. 8, 2007…Owens ranks 22
nd in NCAA Division II and fifth in the PSAC in rushing yards despite missing one game (883)…linebacker Chris Peluso had seven tackles, including two sacks, while fellow linebacker Corbin Kessler was the leading tackler with 11 stops, including a sack, versus Gannon…defensive back Dante’ Redwood leads the PSAC and ranks third in D-II in passes defended (2.0 per game) …Redwood ranks second in kickoff returns (32.1 avg).
Slippery Rock: Slippery Rock claims its fifth PSAC title since 2011 (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018) and the first in the tenure of third-year head coach Shawn Lutz … The Rock will play in the PSAC title game for the fifth time since 2010, three more than any other program in the PSAC West as SRU distances itself as the top program in the league over the last decade … Only Bloomsburg in the PSAC East has reached three PSAC title games since 2010, while no other teams have played in more than two … SRU handed Cal its second straight home loss, marking the first time since the opening two weeks of the 2009 season that the Vulcans have lost two straight at home in the same season … Cal also lost the last game of 2010 and the first game of 2011 to mark the last time it had dropped two successive home games … Wes Hills rushed for a season-high 248 yards and four TDs to become the first SRU running back to top 200+ yards in back-to-back weeks since Ryan Lehmeier did it against East Stroudsburg and Clarion in 2007 … Hills has now rushed for 100 or more yards in all but one full game he has played in and he has rushed for 668 yards the last four weeks after returning from injury (167.0 yards per game) … the 248-yard effort is the 10th most rushing yards in a single-game in program history … the four TD rushes are the first time an SRU back has ran for four or more in a single-game since Akeem Satterfield ran for four against C.W. Post in 2010 … Roland Rivers III improved to 7-0 as the SRU starting QB … his 106 rushing yards mark the first time an SRU QB has topped 100 yards on the ground since Nigel Barskdale ran for 125 yards against Cal U in 2013 … Jake Chapla made his first four PAT kicks Saturday, but had his fifth kick blocked, snapping a streak of consecutive made PATs that spanned more than a year at 77 … he moved up to second all-time at SRU in career PATs with 139 and is closing in on the record of 161 set by Morgan Anderson in 2000 … he also moved up to seventh in career scoring at SRU and now has 235 points … his short FG was his 10th make of the year and his 32nd career made FG, which is now just three shy of the career record of 35 held by Anderson and CJ Bahr.