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| University of Chicago athletics photo |
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Games of Oct. 15-16, 2021
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 23rd season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Mateo Renteria, Sr., Wooster
Renteria completed 28 of 41 passes for a career-high 408 yards during Wooster's 44-41 win over previously undefeated Wabash. He was responsible for four touchdowns overall (three passing, one rushing), as Wooster put up the most points on Wabash in a game played in Crawfordsville, Indianam since 2008. Renteria's 408 yards marked the sixth-most in program history and the eighth time a Wooster signal-caller surpassed 400 yards.
OL Cole McAlpin, Zay Stephens, Charlie Ballou, David Turner, Kendrioun Boatman, Belhaven
Belhaven scored five rushing touchdowns, averaged 7.1 yards per carry, had seven different ball carriers, allowed zero sacks, went 7-for-7 in the red zone, and had 37:28 time of possession in a shutout victory over Sul Ross State.
RB Nicholas D'Ambrose, Sr., Chicago
D'Ambrose set a new career high with 297 rushing yards in a 47-21 win for the Maroons at Cornell College. He averaged 8.5 yards per carry and set a school record with five rushing touchdowns in the game. D'Ambrose now ranks third in the nation with 158 rushing yards per game.
RB Brennan Robinson, Fr., King's
In a 51-12 home win over Albright, freshman Brennan Robinson rushed for 230 yards on 22 caries for an average of 10.5 yards per carry. He totaled three rushing touchdowns and added a two-point conversion. He also recorded a 38-yard touchdown reception to record his fourth touchdown of the game. Robinson became the first Monarch to record a 200-plus yard rushing game since September 2012.
WR Ke'Vaughn Davis, Fr., Worcester State
Davis caught all three fourth quarter touchdowns in the Lancers' 21-point comeback for a 28-24 win against Massachusetts Maritime. It was the first three-touchdown game of Davis's career with catches of 36, 34 and five yards. He finished the day with a career-high 13 receptions for 190 yards.
WR Ben Dwyer, Sr., MIT
In a road loss at Merchant Marine, Dwyer pulled down nine receptions for a career-high 224 yards. Included in those catches was a 57-yard touchdown catch and another 60-yard reception that set up MIT's first touchdown. The 224-yard total was one yard shy of the MIT single-game record set 33 years ago.
TE Michael Lefever, Sr., Susquehanna
Lefever had another huge game for the River Hawks in a 47-7 win over Gettysburg, making only two catches but both ending up in touchdowns. His first catch was a 17-yard hookup with fellow senior Michael Ruisch for an acrobatic catch in the back of the end zone to get the scoring started for SU in the first quarter. He then busted a career-long for his second grab, taking a play-action pass right down the middle of the field for 78 yards and a score. He now has four touchdown grabs on the season, and three in the last two games.
Defense
DE Wyatt Lankford, Jr., Brevard
Lankford broke out for the Tornados accumulating six tackles (all solo), five tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in Brevard's 20-10 triumph over LaGrange.
DT Oliver Hunter, Sr., Centre
Hunter had the game of his life in Centre's clash with Birmingham-Southern. The senior nose tackle made himself comfortable in the opposing backfield all day long as he finished with eight tackles (six solo) to eclipse his season tackle total over the previous five games, and shattered previous career records with four sacks and five and a half tackles for loss.
DT Jake Holaday, Sr., Wheaton
Holaday was the leader for a Wheaton defense that registered eight total sacks last Saturday in a victory at Carroll. He recorded a team-high 10 total tackles, including seven solos. He also recorded three and a half sacks, including two and a half sacks in the first quarter.
DE Bricker Thiel, Jr., John Carroll
Thiel notched five tackles, three and a half sacks, three and a half tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in a 27-17 win over Ohio Northern. Played a huge role in limiting ONU quarterback Brody Hahn, who entered as the No. 1 quarterback in D3 in total offense.
LB Noah Jenson, Sr., Concordia-Moorhead
Jenson had 11 tackles, two forced fumbles, three quarterback hurries and returned a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown in Concordia-Moorhead's five-point loss against No.16-ranked Bethel. Jenson made a huge play in the fourth quarter when he stripped Bethel quarterback Jaran Roste of the ball, grabbed control and raced 58 yards for the TD that brought Concordia within five points and kept a possible upset attempt alive.
LB Court Coley, Sr., Birmingham-Southern
Coley recorded six total tackles, two and a half tackles for a loss for minus-21 yards, including two sacks. He helped hold the Centre offense to eight points in the second half in a 28-21 win.
LB Ryan Liszka, Jr., UW-Whitewater
Liszka tallied six tackles, one forced fumble and two interceptions, including a pick-six, during the No. 3 Warhawks' 32-13 victory at No. 18 UW-Oshkosh. Liszka's first interception, which occurred at the 3:00 mark of the second quarter, set UW-Whitewater up at the UWO 25-yard line and led to a touchdown that gave the team a 22-7 advantage. He forced a fumble on the Titans' first drive of the third quarter, but the ball was recovered by UW-Oshkosh. Early in the fourth quarter, Liszka stopped a receiver short on a third down to hold UWO to a field goal attempt. With 1:26 to play in the contest, he picked off Cody Staerkel and returned the interception 31 yards for a touchdown to account for the final score.
CB Juan Nieves, Fr., North Park
Nieves forced a fumble and recorded an interception, plus had two tackles for loss and a sack as North Park won at Carthage for the first time since 1992. He finished with eight tackles, all solo. Nieves has forced four fumbles this season.
S Jackson Buskirk, Sr., Moravian
Buskirk led the Moravian defense with 10 tackles including seven solo stops in the Greyhounds' 21-14 win over Dickinson on Homecoming. Buskirk also had a pass breakup and forced a fumble in the red zone in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
S Brice Butler, Fr., Westminster (Pa.)
Butler extended Westminster's lead to 17-7 with his second pick-six of the season, this time from 48 yards out, in Westminster's win over Waynesburg. Butler also had two tackles, including one for a loss, and a quarterback hurry.
CB Marcus Kimbrough, So., Augsburg
Kimbrough tied an Augsburg single-game school record with three interceptions in the Auggies' 37-29 win over Macalester. He tied a school record set four times previously. His first interception, late in the first quarter, stopped a Macalester drive at the Auggie 3-yard line. His second interception was at the Auggie 5-yard line, stopping a Scots' seven-play drive, and his final interception and 34-yard return with 1:19 left to play capped the Auggie win. He also had a pass breakup and four tackles (three solo). On the year, Kimbrough now has four interceptions.
Special teams
K Alex Koga, Jr., Lewis & Clark
Koga went 5-for-5 on field goals including his last, a 37-yarder, which gave the Pios a two-score lead with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter. The 43-34 lead was crucial, as Willamette scored again to make the final 43-41. Koga's kick was his second 37-yarder of the day. The Pioneers retained the Wagon Wheel for the fourth straight time, something they hadn't done since 1989-92.
P Matt Pardi, Jr., Wooster
Pardi averaged 55.5 yards over four punts as the Fighting Scots knocked off previously undefeated Wabash 44-41. Pardi was instrumental in the closing seconds by handling a high snap with great efficiency and getting off a 55-yard punt to Wabash's 20-yard line, as the Little Giants took over with just :25 remaining.
RET Donte Jamison, So., Kean
Jamison returned two punts for touchdowns as Kean improved to 3-0 in the NJAC. He returned punts of 63 and 70 yards, respectively, in helping Kean to a 17-0 halftime lead against TCNJ. He added 61 receiving yards as well as one kick return for 21 yards.
ST Jaydon Denmark, So., N.C. Wesleyan
Denmark blocked two punts with one leading to a return touchdown for the Bishops in a 31-26 loss to Maryville. His last blocked punt gave the Bishops the ball in the opponent territory late in the fourth.