PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 6

PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 6

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9324 FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Collin DiGalbo
Kutztown (Jr. / QB)
Secane, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner

DiGalbo passed for a season-high 344 yards and and four touchdowns in undefeated KU's 35-33 victory over ESU. DiGalbo completed passes to 10 different receivers, going 26-for-39 through the air. The Monsignor Bonner-prep added 40 rushing yards on nine carries and completed touchdown passes of 23, 30 and 53 yards. 
 
9472 FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Ray Lopez
Millersville (Sr. / CB)
Willow Street, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg

Lopez intercepted two passes as Millersville held Lock Haven scoreless for the first 40 minutes en route to a 24-6 road win. Lopez, who now has four interceptions in the last three games, made a second quarter INT at the Millersville 10, stopping a Lock Haven drive. His second INT was returned 23 yards to the Lock Haven 19, setting up a Millersville touchdown. Lopez finished the game with two tackles.
 
9349 FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Tyler Morrissey
West Chester (Sr. / LB)
Springfield, Pa. / Springfield-DELCO

Morrissey blocked a 37-yard FG attempt by Bloomsburg with 5:36 left in the game to preserve a 17-14 lead and help No. 13 West Chester to a road win in conference play Saturday. Morrissey's blocked FG attempt capped a second-half comeback by West Chester in the game. It was the final straw in Bloomsburg's upset bid.
 
8169 FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Marcus Jones
Gannon (Sr. / RB)
Painesville, Ohio / RIverside HS

Jones continued his assault on the Gannon record books Saturday, rolling for 264 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a 48-28 victory over Seton Hill to move atop the Golden Knights' career rushing list. The senior piled up his yardage on just 28 carries, averaging 9.4 yards per tote, and his four scores covered 43, 12, 47 and 58 yards. It was the fifth career 200-yard effort for Jones, and the 14th time in the team's last 19 games that he rushed for at least 100 yards.
 
9474 FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Kyle Hall
Slippery Rock (Sr. / DB)
Canton, Ohio / Canton GlenOak

Hall recorded nine total tackles and two interceptions in leading the defensive effort for Slippery Rock in a 30-27 upset win on the road at No. 14 IUP on Homecoming, which snapped a streak of 18 straight regular season home wins for the Crimson Hawks ... Hall's picks both came in the first half and swung momentum in favor of SRU, which jumped out to a 20-6 halftime lead. The Rock defense held IUP to just 69 rushing yards, one year after IUP ran for 384 yards against SRU.
 
9475 FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Martell Davis
Gannon (Sr. / DB)
Columbus, Ohio /  Licking Heights HS

Davis turned in his second straight exemplary performance, recording 10 tackles, a fumble recovery and a 100-yard interception return for a score to help the Golden Knights record a 48-28 victory over Seton Hill Saturday afternoon. The senior ripped the momentum out of the Griffins' hands on the first drive of the second half, stepping in front of a pass to the end zone and sprinting 100 yards the other way for a 14-point swing to make it 27-7 in favor of Gannon.
 
8337 FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Jake Chapla
Slippery Rock (Jr. / PK/P)
Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum

Chapla scored 12 points in Slippery Rock's 30-27 upset win at No. 14 IUP on the Crimson Hawks Homecoming. He booted three field goals for the first time in his career with makes from 33 yards, 41 yards and 46 yards. His lone miss came from 49 yards. Chapla was a perfect 3-for-3 on PAT kicks to extend his region-leading streak to 61 straight made PATs, which ranks fourth in the nation. SRU punted only once all day at IUP and that punt from Chapla was a 75-yarder, which is the longest in the PSAC this year and is just three yards shy of the SRU record. Chapla's eight made FG are two better than any other player in the PSAC this year and he remains the only kicker in the league with a field goal over 44 yards (he now has the three longest kicks in the league this season at 51, 50, 46).

Game Notes:

California: Cal U extended its winning streak to four games following a 41-27 victory at Clarion on Saturday while also battling a two-hour lightning delay. The Vulcans are now in a two-way tie with Slippery Rock for first place in the PSAC West standings. Freshman QB Noah Mitchell threw first-half touchdowns before finishing with 204 passing yards on 19-of-32 attempts with no interceptions. Junior DB Lamont McPhatter II paced the team with a season-high 10 tackles and recorded a pair of turnovers, plus blocked a punt. McPhatter now has five interceptions this year, which already matches his team-leading total from last season. The Vulcans registered 7.0 sacks in the win with six players tallying at least 0.5 sack. It marks the most sacks for the program since Week 3 of the 2016 season. Cal U converted 10-of-15 on third downs after entering the weekend as the NCAA Division II leader in the category. The Vulcans scored on all seven of their trips to the red zone (five touchdowns, two field goals).

Edinboro: Edinboro’s 24-6 loss at Mercyhurst marked the first time the Fighting Scots failed to score a touchdown since October 1, 2011, a 19-0 loss at Indiana(Pa.) … freshman Jake Monroe accounted for all of Edinboro’s points with field goals of 23 and 25 yards. The last kicker to boot two-or-more field goals in a game was Austin Reese in 2016 against Gannon … Edinboro was attempting to sweep local rivals Gannon and Mercyhurst for the second time in the last three years. They swept both in 2016. Edinboro has won both games against Gannon and Mercyhurst four times since they joined the PSAC in 2008, with it also occurring in 2009 and 2011. Edinboro had won the last two meetings with the Lakers …Alex Molik had started 29 straight games at left tackle before sitting out the Mercyhurst game. Redshirt freshman Justin Kasmierski made his first career start, giving Edinboro three redshirt freshmen starters on the offensive line … Ta'Nauz Gregory ended with 8 receptions for 65 yards, moving up one spot to sixth in career receptions with 146.The junior also moved up one spot to seventh in career receiving yards with 2,013. 

Lock Haven: The Lock Haven University football team fell to Millersville on Saturday 24-6 … With the loss, LHU moved to 1-1 in PSAC East play and 1-5 overall … Starting QB Cameron Tobias threw for 241 yards marking his third straight game with over 200 yards passing … LB Obadiah Asare made 12 tackles in the loss to Millersville … On the season, Asare has 52 tackles including 34 solo stops … Dontae Mason leads Lock Haven with four interceptions … The INTs are the fourth-most in the PSAC.

Mercyhurst: Running back Garrett Owens scored two touchdowns while the Mercyhurst defense recorded three second-half interceptions during a 24-6 win against Edinboro…Owens totaled 210 yards on offense, gaining 148 yards on 30 carries and 62 yards on two receptions. He had one TD on the ground and one through the air…Laker quarterback Doug Altavilla was efficient, completing 15 of 17 passes for 224 yards and two scores. He also had 11 runs for 46 yards…Defensive backs Henry Caldwell and Dante' Redwood and linebacker Corbin Kessler had second-half interception…Also on defense, defensive back Jake Tarasovitch had nine total tackles. Linebacker Rocky Owens added eight tackles, including two for-loss, while linebackers Chris Peluso and Kaz Struna recorded sacks…the Lakers are one of three PSAC teams that is 1.000 on PATs (11 of 11)…Garrett Owens ranks sixth in the conference in rushing (95.7 ypg) and sixth in all-purpose yards (130.2 ypg)…Mercyhurst has two kick returners ranked in the Top 10 in the PSAC: Dante’ Redwood (27.7 avg) and Cortez Watson (23.1 avg)…Redwood also leads the conference while ranking fourth in D-II in passes defended (2.17 per game)…the Lakers have the leading punt returner in the PSAC in Cortez Watson (16.8 avg) and the leading punter in Brendan Cole (43.9 avg)…Tarasovitch is tied for ninth in the conference in tackles (8.3 per game).

Millersville: Starting in the first quarter against ESU and ending with less than five minutes left against Lock Haven, Millersville's defense went more than six quarters without allowing a point scored. The 16 combined points allowed were the fewest given up in back-to-back games since September of 2007. Millersville intercepted four passes for the first time since the 2015 season opener. Ray Lopez picked off two passes--both of which were followed by Millersville touchdowns. Lopez has four INTs in the last three weeks. Tommy Halloway recorded his third sack in as many as weeks. Zac Button, playing against his former team, led with nine tackles, made a TFL and picked off a pass. Nolan Kilpatrick made his first career INT. Joey Farley made his fifth field goal of the season with his only two misses coming on blocks. He has made 10 of his last 12 since last season. Xavier Jenkins set a career high with seven catches and caught his first touchdown of the season. Tyrone Gibson totaled a season-high 73 yards rushing. Millersville rushed for two touchdowns--the highest single-game total of the season. After totaling 23 team rushing yards in the first four games combined, Millersville has piled up 354 yards in the last two games combined. Millersville has won the last two games with different starting quarterbacks.

Slippery Rock: SRU remains unbeaten in the PSAC West and in a tie with California for first place … The Rock have now won four of the last six meetings against IUP and improved to 40-51-2 all-time in a series that dates all the way back to 1907 … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz won his 20th career game and improved to 20-8 with the win, his first over rival IUP … Roland Rivers improved to 4-0 as the SRU starting QB and has now accounted for 16 touchdowns and three turnovers in the last four games … Jake Chapla extended his PAT streak to 62 straight dating back to midway through last year … he also kicked three field goals in a game for the first time in his career … it marked the first three field goal game by an SRU kicker since Mike Wainauskis made three against Kutztown in 2014 … Chapla now has 30 career made field goals and is just five away from the SRU record of 35 (CJ Bahr and Morgan Anderson) … he also has 123 made PATS and is closing in on the SRU record of 161 (Morgan Anderson) with the rest of this year and all of next year to play … Wes Hills returned to his starting role after missing three games with injury and rushed for more than 100 yards for the second time in two starts … SRU held IUP to just 69 rushing yards in the game after giving up 384 rushing yards last year to the Crimson Hawks ... the loss for IUP snapped a streak of 18 straight regular season home wins and marked the first time in the last 43 games that IUP had lost back-to-back games.