LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its Football Athletes of the Week for Week 8 of the 2024 season. In the Western Division, Seton Hill's Ky'Ron Craggette was named Offensive Athlete of the Week while Gannon's Zaire Allen (Defensive Athlete) and California's Clayton Rosensteel (Special Teams) were also selected. In the Eastern Division, Bloomsburg's Owen Anderson and West Chester's Cooper Jordan are your Co-Offensive Athletes of the Week and are joined by Kutztown's Brandon Strausser (Defensive) and East Stroudsburg's Adam Noll (Special Teams).
PSAC Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
Ky'Ron Craggette
Seton Hill
Running Back
Redshirt Junior
Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville
Craggette led the Griffins to a PSAC West victory over Clarion, 31-16. Craggette rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns in the win with a long run of 50 yards. He went over the 1,000 yard mark for the season in the victory and had TD rushes of 2, 4 and 14 yards.
PSAC Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Zaire Allen
Gannon
Defensive Back
Graduate Student
Johnson City, Tenn. / Archbishop Spalding (Md.)
Allen was one of the key players in Gannon’s last-minute 25-21 win at Edinboro on Saturday. A graduate student defensive back, Allen recorded a career-high eight tackles, four of those solo. He had 1.5 TFL, including his first career sacks for a 10-yard loss, and also forced a fumble. Allen was part of a Gannon defense that limited the Fighting Scots to 305 total yards and recorded five sacks. The Golden Knights scored the winning touchdown with 26 seconds left then recorded an interception to clinch the victory.
PSAC Western Division Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Clayton Rosensteel
California
Punter
Junior
Donora, Pa. / Ringgold
Rosensteel placed two punts inside the five-yard line on Saturday, as the Vulcans registered a 16-13 overtime victory in the Coal Bowl against rival IUP. The win secured California a berth in the PSAC Championship and at least a share of the PSAC West title. Rosensteel pinned the Crimson Hawks at their own 4-yard line on their opening drive of the game. The Ringgold product again placed a punt at the 4-yard line midway through the second quarter before recording a 51-yard punt in the final minute of the first half. Rosensteel also served as the holder on the 39-yard, game-tying field goal with five seconds left in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
PSAC Eastern Division Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week
Owen Anderson
Bloomsburg
Wide Receiver
Senior
Cogan Station, Pa. / Jersey Shore Area
Anderson not only had a career day for the Huskies but a historic one as well in the team's 20-10 win over Shippensburg last Saturday. Anderson finished the day with five catches for 199 yards, the most receiving yards for a Husky since Rocco Forgione at Millersville in 2002 --when Rocco had seven catches for 234 yards and four touchdowns. On Saturday, Anderson had two of the three Bloomsburg touchdowns, including his career-long catch of 93 yards for a score. Of Anderson's 199 yards, he had 175 after the catch on his five catches. Anderson's 93-yard touchdown reception is the second longest in Bloomsburg history. In the 1985 state title game with IUP at Redman Stadium, Joe Dowd had a 94-yard reception for a touchdown from quarterback Jay DeDea.
PSAC Eastern Division Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week
Cooper Jordan
West Chester
Quarterback
Junior
Downingtown, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan
Jordan rushed for a career-high 218 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 131 yards and three more scores to lead West Chester to a 41-23 victory over visiting Millersville on Homecoming last Saturday afternoon. Jordan threw a 36-yard TD pass and a 47-yard TD pass in the third quarter and then added a 47-yard scamper and a 60-yard scamper in the fourth to account for all 28 second-half points and break open a tight 13-3 ballgame. In all, Jordan was responsible for five touchdowns in the game and amassed 349 yards of total offense. He became the first QB in West Chester history to rush for more than 200 yards in a game, and his 218 rushing yards in a game is the most by a quarterback in Division II this fall. It is also the single-game high in the PSAC for any rusher.
PSAC Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Brandon Strausser
Kutztown
Linebacker
Redshirt Junior
Reading, Pa. / Governor Mifflin
Strausser registered a game-high eight tackles (five solo) and returned an interception 15 yards for a game-changing touchdown as the No. 4 Golden Bears blanked Shepherd, 24-0, on Saturday. Strausser set new career-highs for total and solo tackles while collecting his first career interception. Kutztown took a 14-0 lead when Strausser stepped in front of a Lek Powell pass and took it back for a pick six, just two plays after the Kutztown offense had scored to make it a 7-0 game. The Golden Bears put forth another dominant performance defensively, totaling five takeaways (four interceptions) and five sacks in recording their third shutout of the season --the first time that's happened since 1964. KU is allowing just 6.6 points per game over eight games this season.
PSAC Eastern Division Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Adam Noll
East Stroudsburg
Punter
Redshirt Freshman
Robesonia, Pa. / Conrad Weiser
Noll averaged 59.67 yards per punt on three punts, with two inside the 20-yard line in East Stroudsburg's 38-35 win over Lock Haven last Saturday. He booted punts of 61, 69 and 49 yards in a season-best performance by the freshman.