PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 10
 |
FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Eric Nickel
Kutztown (So. / QB)
Bridgewater, N.J. / Bridgewater-Raritan
Nickel got his second start of the season under center for KU and finished with 182 passing yards and four touchdowns through the air. The Sophomore also found the end zone on the ground while leading KU with 17 rushing attempts for 141 yards, a new school-record for most rushing yards by a QB. He found eight different receivers in KU's 62-10 win over Millersville, four of which caught touchdown passes. In Nickel's two starts in 2018, he has passed for 676 yards and nine TDs, adding a score on the ground in each game. |
 |
FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Dexter Jordan
Bloomsburg (Sr. / DB)
Wernersville, Pa. / Conrad Weiser
Jordan finished with six total tackles, a 17-yard interception return for a touchdown, and then recovered an onside kick with 45 seconds left in regulation to preserve a 34-31 Bloomsburg victory at West Liberty on Saturday to clinch the program's 20th consecutive winning season. Jordan picked off West Liberty's Zach Phillips and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 34-17 lead with 13:41 left in regulation. However, after two scores by the Hilltoppers cut the Huskies lead to 34-31, Jordan recovered an onside kick with 45 seconds left to seal the victory. Jordan now has five interceptions on the season and became the first player in the PSAC with more than one pick six on the year. |
 |
FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Andrew Chegia
West Chester (Jr. / PK)
Kennett Square, Pa. / Unionville
Chegia nailed a pair of field goals and converted all six of his extra-point attempts in West Chester's 48-14 victory over Lock Haven on Homecoming Saturday. Chegia finished with 12 points in the win. He made field goals of 36 and 24 yards in the first half. |
 |
FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Wes Hills
Slippery Rock (Sr. / RB)
Wildwood, N.J. Wildwood
Hills rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters on just 17 carries to lead Slippery Rock to a sweep of the PSAC West with a 48-7 win over Gannon. Hills became the only running back in the PSAC to rush for 200 yards in three different games this season and he has now topped 200 yards in three straight weeks. He averaged 12.2 yards per carry Saturday and now leads the league by a wide margin at 7.6 yards per carry on the year. |
 |
FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Rocky Owens
Mercyhurst (Sr. / LB)
North East, Pa. / North East
Owens recorded an interception and returned it 15 yards in Mercyhurst territory to snuff out a Clarion drive. The senior forced a fumble late in fourth quarter on Clarion’s final possession. Owens accumulated seven tackles, including five solo. The Laker registered a sack for a seven-yard loss. |
 |
FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jake Chapla
Slippery Rock (Jr. / PK)
Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum
Chapla made field goals of 26 and 40 yards on a cold, windy and rainy day to bring his season total to a career-high 12 made field goals and to bring his career total to 34 makes, just one shy of the SRU career record. He also made all six of his PAT kicks and booted four touchbacks on kickoffs in a win over Gannon that wrapped up a sweep of the PSAC West for SRU. |
Game Notes:
California: The Vulcans scored 35 first-half points on Saturday afternoon before finishing with a 49-34 victory at Seton Hill. Cal U closes divisional play with a 5-2 mark and finishes in a tie for second in the PSAC West standings. The victory also secured the 15th-consecutive winning season for the Vulcans, which is the longest streak in program history. Junior RB Nelson Brown scored three rushing touchdowns for the fourth time this season and now leads the PSAC with 18 rushing touchdowns. He has posted the most rushing touchdowns in a season since Brandon Lombardy totaled 19 scores in 2006. Brown also enters the last weekend of the season only 13 shy of a 1,000-yard campaign. Junior WR Jordan Dandridge and sophomore WR Tyson Hill both eclipsed 100 receiving yards and scored a touchdown in the victory, as the Vulcans featured multiple 100-yard receivers in a game for the second time this year. Junior LB London Cloud reached double-digit tackles for the third-consecutive game and now leads the team with 14.5 TFL this year, which is fourth-most in the PSAC.
Edinboro: Walter Fletcher carried a career-high 36 times against 22
nd-ranked IUP, finishing with 186 yards. He accounted for Edinboro’s lone touchdown on a one-yard run. Over the last three games, the redshirt junior running back has rushed for 757 yards on 90 carries with 6 TDs. He has been thrown for a loss in that period. Fletcher now has 1,504 yards rushing, the seventh-highest single-game total. He has 16 TDs, which is tied for fifth in a season. He has moved into third place in career rushing with 3,793 yards, and now has 40 career rushing TDs. That is just two shy of the school record. Fletcher now has eight 100-yard games this season and 18 for his career. He has scored a touchdown in nine of 10 games this year … Derek Dorr keyed a defense that limited IUP to 257 total yards. The senior defensive tackle had a career-high 10 tackles, including 2.5 TFL and 2 sacks, matching his career high …Edinboro wraps up the 2018 season hosting another ranked team, as 21
st-ranked Kutztown plays the Fighting Scots. It will be the first meeting between the two since 2013. Edinboro will recognize 17 seniors before the game on Senior Day.
IUP: IUP defeated Edinboro 13-6 to improve to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC West … This was the third straight game IUP has held an opponent under 300 yards of total offense … It's the second straight game IUP has picked off three passes, doubling its season total over the last two weeks … Lloyd had a game-high 13 total tackles, with Pietropola and junior safety
Shaq Jones each adding 10 … Junior end
Dondrea Tillman had a sack to increase his season total to a PSAC-best 10.5 … The six points allowed is the fewest since Gannon managed just three points in a 48-3 IUP win on October 3, 2016 … IUP head coach
Paul Tortorella improved to 21-3 (.875) in his two seasons.
Lock Haven: The Lock Haven University football team fell at No. 11 West Chester Saturday … The loss moved LHU to 1-9 overall and the Bald Eagles finished PSAC East play at 1-5 … 1-4 on the road for the year, Lock Haven will close out the 2018 season November 11 at Gannon … The game at West Chester Saturday marked Lock Haven’s fourth game this season vs. a nationally-ranked opponent … As a team, LHU rushed for 107 yards marking the first time any team had rushed for over a 100 vs. West Chester this season … Lock Haven’s lone win thus far came back in the PSAC East opener at East Stroudsburg.
Slippery Rock: Slippery Rock finished off a 7-0 sweep of the PSAC West, marking the first sweep of the division for SRU since the 1999 season (6-0) … The Rock won their fifth straight game against Gannon to improve to 8-6 in the all-time series … SRU improved to 44-6 in its last 50 home games and 31-2 at home since the beginning of the 2013 season … Wes Hills ran for 207 yards and three TD in less than three quarters of work for his third straight 200-yard rushing effort … no other player at SRU at least since 2002 (when SRU game-by-game box scores are available from) has rushed for 200 yards in three straight games … Hills also went over 1,000 yards on the year and is now at 1,113 yards, despite missing basically three full games … if you take out the two snaps he played at Shippensburg, Hills is averaging 158.3 rushing yards per game in the seven games he's played more than two plays in this year … he has rushed for 661 yards and eight touchdowns in the last three weeks and has now scored at least one TD in every game he has played, except the Shippensburg game he left after the second play … Roland Rivers III improved to 8-0 as the SRU starting QB … he has thrown for 1,987 yards and 21 TDs with 6 INT in just eight games … Rivers ranks 6th at SRU in single-season TD passes, is up to 11th in single-season passing yards and ranks ninth in single-season total offense (2,424 yards) … Mike Merhaut caught three passes to extend his current streak of games with at least one catch to 20 … Jake Chapla made two field goals to bring his season total to a career-high 12, which ties for fourth all-time at SRU … he also brought his career tally to 34, just one shy of tying CJ Bahr and Morgan Anderson for the career record for made field goals (35) … Chapla has now made 145 career PATs and is now 16 shy of the career record of 161 … Kye Hall recorded his 10th career interception to move up to a tie for 11th all-time at SRU, one shy of moving into a tie for ninth … SRU will host No. 11 West Chester for the PSAC title next Saturday … it marks the fifth PSAC championship game SRU will have played in since 2011, the most in the PSAC.