LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its Football Athletes of the Week for Week 4 of the 2024 season. In the Western Division, California's Davis Black was named the Offensive Athlete of the Week while IUP's Maurice Feazell was selected as Defensive Athlete of the Week along with Edinboro's Reed Martin as Special Teams Athlete of the Week. In the Eastern Division, Bloomsburg's Jerry Griffen-Batchler and Kutztown's Steven Burkhardt were named Co-Offensive Athletes of the Week, while the Shepherd duo of JT Kouame-Yao (Defensive) and Miles Greer (Special Teams) also earned the honors.
PSAC Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
Davis Black
California
Quarterback
Senior
Byesville, Ohio / Meadowbrook
Black accounted for 347 yards of total offense and four passing touchdowns on Saturday, as the Vulcans rolled to a 49-7 victory against Gannon in the opening week of PSAC West play. He set a season high with 297 passing yards on 23-of-31 attempts with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Black also led the team with 50 rushing yards on six attempts in the win. The Ohio native completed passes to eight different players and led the offense to touchdowns on five of his seven drives.
PSAC Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Maurice Feazell
IUP
Defensive End
Redshirt Senior
York, Pa. / William Penn
Feazell was a key cog in IUP's shutout of Clarion, 31-0, last Saturday night. He tallied six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss (three solo), and 2.5 sacks (two solo). His sack with 2:51 left to go in the game forced a fumble that was recovered by the Crimson Hawks to help preserve the shutout.
PSAC Western Division Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Reed Martin
Edinboro
Punter
Senior
Plum, Pa. / Plum
Martin continued to be a field-flipping weapon for the Scots. Against No. 9 Slippery Rock, he punted five times -- averaging 49.2 yards per punt with a long of 62 yards. He pinned the Rock inside the 20 three times including a punt that was downed at the one. He also had two punts of 50+ yards as Edinboro fell just short of a comeback in last Saturday's 28-23 loss to The Rock.
PSAC Eastern Division Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week
Jerry Griffen-Batchler
Bloomsburg
Wide Receiver
Junior
Norristown, Pa. / Germantown Academy
Griffen-Batchler had another monster game for the Huskies as he finished the day with 154 receiving yards on nine catches and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead TD catch with 27 seconds to play. Griffen-Batchler's 154 yards are the most in his career and it is the second game this season he has caught two touchdown passes. JGB caught a 15-yard pass to begin the game-winning touchdown drive before hauling in the critical 24-yard pass in the back corner of the end zone in tight coverage to win the game. Griffen-Batchler caught his first touchdown pass of the game on the Huskies' first drive as the junior hauled in a pass from KJ Riley at the WCU 25-yard line and took it the rest of the way for the score. He also had a one-handed catch on the sideline on a 3rd-and-10 to keep a drive alive in the third quarter in which Bloomsburg eventually scored on an 11-yard run by Riley to take a 14-0 lead.
PSAC Eastern Division Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week
Steven Burkhardt
Kutztown
Running Back
Redshirt Sophomore
Gloucester City, N.J. / Gloucester City
Burkhardt did a little bit of it all offensively to help No. 8 Kutztown storm back and take down East Stroudsburg on the road in its first PSAC Eastern Divisional game, 27-21, last Saturday night. Burkhardt finished with career-highs in rushing attempts (22) and yards (96) and also tied a career-best with two touchdowns on the ground. He also added a six-yard touchdown reception for a three-TD night. All three of his scores came consecutively in the second and third quarters. His first tied the score, his second gave KU its first lead of the game and his third put the game into a two-score margin.
PSAC Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
JT Kouame-Yao
Shepherd
Linebacker
Junior
Centreville, Va. / Westfield
Kouame-Yao recorded a game-high 13 tackles with six solo stops in Shepherd's 38-0 win over Shippensburg. He added 4.5 tackles-for-loss (-12 yards) and a sack (-7 yards). The Shepherd defense limited Shippensburg to 21 rushing yards and 177 total offensive yards in the shutout.
PSAC Eastern Division Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Miles Greer
Shepherd
Return Specialist/Defensive Back
Sophomore
Springfield, Va. / South County
Greer had three punt returns for 75 yards, including a 61-yard return for a touchdown in Shepherd's 38-0 win over Shippensburg. With under a minute to go left in the half and the Rams leading 21-0, Greer pushed the lead even further with his 61-yard scamper to make it 28-0 heading into halftime. He added five tackles (four solo) on defense.