PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 1 Sunday, September 8, 2013 2:30 PM PSAC Football AOW - 1 - 86 Gallery Can't view the gallery? Click here. WEEK 1 - SEPTEMBER 5-8 Standings | Statistical Leaders | Schedule/Results Football: Eastern Division Offensive Athlete of the Week Rondell White West Chester (Sr., RB) West Chester, Pa./Rustin West Chester’s Rondell White amassed 277 all-purpose yards in WCU's 45-14 victory over No. 12 New Haven Saturday. White rushed for 96 yards, caught for 94 more and returned a pair of kickoffs for 87 yards. He scored three touchdowns and nearly reached 100 yards in three different categories during West Chester's win over a nationally ranked opponent. White’s first touchdown, a 10-yard run, opened the scoring. His second touchdown of the game was a 13-yd pass that gave the Golden Rams a 10-point lead with just over three minutes to go in the half. After West Chester recovered a blocked punt and ran to the New Haven’s third-yard line, White trotted into the endzone on the ensuing play with under a minute left in the first half. Football: Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week Teron Dobbs East Stroudsburg (So., DB) Bridgeport, Pa. / Archbishop Carroll East Stroudsburg’s Teron Dobbs had a hand in at least six big plays, leading a defense that pitched a second-half shutout in a 21-14 win over NE-10 favorite American International. Dobbs nabbed two interceptions and a pair of pass break-ups against AIC. Late in the third quarter and ESU trailing by 7, Dobbs swatted away a touchdown pass. Dobbs also registered three tackles and a 4th-and-goal sack for a loss of 10 yards. In the fourth quarter Dobbs picked-off an AIC pass to halt the potential AIC game-tying touchdown. Football: Western Division Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week Ben Fiscus Clarion (Sr., QB) Indiana, Pa./Indiana Ben Fiscus accounted for five touchdowns in Clarion's come-from-behind overtime win over Kutztown 39-38. Fiscus completed 68% of his passes and threw for three touchdowns, while also running for two, including the game-tying overtime touchdown. He gave Clarion a 29-25 lead with 5:26 left on a 13-yard td pass to Mark Nicholas. With only 24-seconds left on the game clock, Fiscus marched the offense down field to a game-tying 45-yard field goal. In overtime he ran the read option right - cut up field and broke two tackles to score the game-tying touchdown, with kicker Phil Esposito clinching the game-winning extra point. Football: Western Division Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week Nigel Barksdale Slippery Rock (Sr, QB) San Jacinto, Calif./San Jacinto Senior quarterback Nigel Barksdale passed for a Slippery Rock-record six touchdowns and 465 yards to lead visiting SRU to a 51-36 season-opening win over Northwood University. Barksdale completed 27-of-48 pass attempts to make-up his 465 yards passing – the most by a quarterback in the PSAC this season. Barksdale shared the wealth amongst his receivers, as four receivers had four or more receptions in the contest. The six touchdown passes eclipsed the previous school single-game record of five touchdown passes previously held by Eric Denton vs. Shippensburg in 1986. Football: Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week Julian Howsare Clarion (Jr., DB) Altoona, Pa./Altoona Julian Howsare stepped-up in key moments for Clarion to help the Eagles to a 39-38 overtime victory over Kutztown. Howsare registered eight tackles on the day, including five solo stops. In the fourth quarter, Howsare forced a Kutztown fumble that made the Golden Bears punt and give Clarion the field position to take a 29-25 lead. Late in the third quarter he rushed the quarterback to force a Kutztown interception in the endzone. On the day Howsare recorded 3.5 tackles for loss of 17 yards, including two sacks of 14 yards. TEAM NOTES Bloomsburg The 18th-ranked Huskies racked up 457 yards rushing, led by 182 yards and three touchdowns from Franklyn Quiteh to defeat Stonehill, 41-13, in convincing fashion on Saturday. For Quiteh, it was the 18th straight game of over 100 yards rushing, stretching the all-time BU record. The senior rusher also crept closer to the all-time PSAC rushing record, moving to 5,510 yards for his career. He now stands just 180 yards from breaking the conference record of 5,689 yards held by BU alum Jamar Brittingham. Redshirt sophomore Dai’Shon Munger added a career-high 135 yards on the ground. Quarterback Tim Kelly threw for 166 yards and a touchdown while senior receiver Glenn Hutton Jr. caught a career-best five passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, redshirt freshman linebacker Andrew Harris led the team with eight tackles in his Husky debut. Saturday was a strong start for interim head coach Paul Darragh, who earned his first win as head coach after taking over for the retired Danny Hale. California (Pa.) The Vulcans won its season-opener for the third time in four years, rallying for a 22-19 victory at Hillsdale on Saturday night. Sophomore QB Cody Schroder passed for three second-half touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 50 seconds left. Schroeder threw for a career-high 270 yards and connected with eight different receivers. Cal U was held scoreless in the first half for the first time since the 2011 season-opener. Senior DB Dewey McDonald tied his career high with 15 tackles in his debut with the Vulcans (played at Fairmont State from 2009-11). The Vulcans blocked a pair of field goals (33, 50) in the first half. Head coach Mike Kellar improves to 4-0 all-time in season-openers (two wins at Concord). Cal U has opened the season with a GLIAC opponent four times since 2009 (3-1). The Vulcans managed just 37 rushing yards, marking only their second game since 2006 under 50 yards (IUP, 2012). Cheyney After defeating Lincoln to start the 2012 and 2011 campaigns the Wolves fell in the 2013 season opener 33-28 at O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium in front of 3,061 faithful. Eugene Moten led Cheyney with 255 return yards to give the Wolves excellent field position but several ill-timed turnovers, penalties and missed fourth down opportunities was not the recipe that Coach Lockard called for on opening day. With four and half minutes to play Cheyney was once again were able to force a fumble and took over at midfield. Two and half minutes later Marcus Jones found the end-zone but the Wolves two-point conversion failed. With less than two minutes to play Cheyney was forced to attempt an on-sides kick but it went out of bounds the Lions were able to run out the clock. Clarion Clarion opened the 2013 season with an exciting 39-38 OT win over Kutztown. The game pivoted several times in the final quarter. Clarion led 29-25 when Ben Fiscus hit Mark Dietrick on a 13-yd td pass with 5:26 left. Kutztown went ahead 32-29 with only 24-seconds left, then Fiscus completed 2 passes for 55 yards to the KU 25, eventually setting up Phil Esposito's game-tying 45-yard field goal with no time left on the clock. Fiscus scored on a 10-yard run in OT - and the Esposito PAT provided the margin of victory. Fiscus completed 19 of 28 passes for 287 yards and 3 TDs, plus ran for 2 TDs. He now has 2,064 career rushing yards - ranking him 8th on the all-time rushing list. He has now completed 381 of 744 passes for 4,628 yards and 30 TDs . He ranks 3rd in completions & attempts, 7th in passing yard and 9th in td passes. Julian Howsare now has 20 career sacks and 27 TFLs in only two - plus seasons. Clarion hosts Lock Haven Sept. 14 at 6pm. East Stroudsburg ESU opened 2013 with a 21-14, come-from-behind win over American International on Thursday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium. Denny Douds began his 40th year as head coach and tied Woody Hayes for 25th on the college football wins list with 238. Warriors trailed 14-7 at halftime, but pitched 2nd half shutout and scored 2 4th-quarter TD. So. CB Teron Dobbs starred with 2 Int., 2 PBU, TD saving tackle and a sack on 4th-and-goal from the 1 with AIC looking for a 2 score lead early in the 3rd quarter. Dobbs was converted from WR to CB before starting 8 games as a true freshman. R-So. QB Matt Soltes, the PSAC East Freshman of the Year, had 263 total yards (215 passing, 48 rushing) after averaging 315.8 per game last year. R-Fr. TB Robert Healy (22-91, 2 TD) scored both TDs in 4th quarter, as ESU ran for 88 yards on 19 carries in the period. R-Jr. DL Bryan Thomson, the PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year, had 9 tackles. Douds is the 5th coach in college history to coach 40+ years, all at the same school. Warriors will be Seton Hill's first PSAC crossover opponent next week. they were also Gannon's first crossover foe in 2008 (W 23-10). Edinboro Cody Harris completed 36 of 47 passes for 304 yards and 4 TDs in the 35-34 win at Walsh, played at Fawcett Stadium, the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was Harris’ 17th career 300-yard passing game and fourth time he has thrown four or more touchdown passes. The senior moved into third place in career attempts (921) and fourth in career touchdown passes (51). He also moved into third place in career total offense (7,397). Scott Browning won his 50th game as head coach at Edinboro. Now in his eighth season, he becomes the third Boro coach to reach 50 career wins. Ben Eisel caught a career-high 11 passes, while Keven Sonnie hauled in a pair of touchdown passes. A pair of players scored their first career touchdowns, as redshirt freshman WR Darren Massey pulled in an 11-yard scoring pass and freshman TE Nick Helmick caught a three-yard TD pass. The game featured 115 passes, including 68 by Walsh, a school record for an Edinboro opponent. Gannon Gannon defeated Lake Erie in the opener by the exact 36-33 score for the second consecutive season. The Golden Knights scored the game-winning touchdown last year on a pass with 1:05 remaining and tallied the game-winner on a pass this year with 1:06 remaining. Redshirt senior Jansen Jones set a career-high with 218 rushing yards, finishing with the fifth-highest single-game rushing total in school history. Jones jumped into Gannon's all-time top 10 in rushing and moved all the way to ninth place with 1,453 career rushing yards. Gannon set a school record with 639 yards of total offense. The Golden Knights didn’t turn the ball over for the first time since a 24-20 victory against Slippery Rock on November 6, 2010. Three receivers produced 100-yard in the same game for the first time in school history. Redshirt sophomore Liam Nadler moved into fourth place on Gannon's all-time passing chart with 3,308 yards despite playing only 12 career games. Sophomore Quad Law set career-highs in catches (6) and receiving yards (101) while recording his first career 100-yard game. IUP The 10th-ranked IUP Crimson Hawks outlasted Southern Connecticut State 30-20 in their season opener on Saturday. It was their eighth consecutive season-opening victory as they move to 8-0 in the all-time series with the Owls. IUP held off several second half surges by the Owls, finally putting them away with an interception by Sr. DB Marco Pecora with under 2:00 left. IUP racked up 500 yards of total offense (296 pass, 204 rush), while giving up 378. Sr. QB Mike Box threw for all 296 yards and 2 touchdowns while Sr. WR caught 8 passes for 162 yards. Pecora had 6 tackles and 2 picks. Sr. LB Carl Fleming had a career-high 15 tackles while Sr. LB Alexander Berdahl added 13. Sr. RB De’Antwan Williams finished with 135 yards on the ground. Earlier in the day he was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. IUP hosts Cheyney (0-1) in the annual IUP Athletics Hall of Fame game next Saturday. Kutztown Kutztown scored the go-ahead touchdown pass with 24 seconds to play in regulation, but eventually fell in overtime in Clarion last week. Alec Werner, a true freshman starting in his first collegiate game, passed for 394 yards on 40-for-57 passing for an impressive 70.1 completion percentage. His completions and attempts are the second-most in a single-game in school history, and his 394 yards were the most by a freshman since Kevin Morton threw for 451 in 2010. Werner is the first true freshman quarterback to start the season opener for Kutztown since 1998. Alex Tonnies caught a school-record 17 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. It rates tied for second in PSAC history. Kutztown remains on the road next week when it travels to California (PA) for its second non-conference game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 14. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Lock Haven For the first time since 2005, Lock Haven opened the season with a win after downing West Virginia State on Saturday, 31-13 in front of a standing-room-only crown. Dating back to last season’s finale, LHU has now won two straight games. The Bald Eagles 2012 season-finale win over Cheyney (15-7) snapped a 52-game losing streak. It was the longest losing streak in the nation, regardless of NCAA affiliation. Lock Haven’s 28-point third quarter was the difference Saturday vs. the Yellow Jackets. It was the most points LHU scored in a quarter since a 28-point second quarter vs. Cheyney in 1999. The last time LHU won a season-opener at home was 2004 and the 31 points scored were the most since a 33-30 win over Mansfield in the during the same season. RB Brandon Brader rushed for 66 yards on 19 carries and two TDs in the win. More importantly the 66 yards moved him to 1,893 for his career, which is now seventh on Lock Haven’s all-time career rushing list. Brader is 19 yards away from the sixth spot and just 107 away from 2,000 Mercyhurst Mercyhurst dropped its second consecutive season opener on Saturday with a 17-16 loss at Bentley in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Lakers are now 22-11 lifetime in season-openers, but just 5-7 under head coach Marty Schaetzle. Mercyhurst is 10-8 against first-time opponents under Schaetzle and is now 5-3 lifetime against teams from the Northeast-10 Conference. Senior QB Anthony Vendemia threw for 207 yards and a touchdown and then ran for 20 yards in the loss. His 207 passing yards vaulted him into 4th on the all-time list with 3,665 career yards. Mercyhurst had 10 different receivers on Saturday catch a pass, led by sophomore Jaquan Williams who had five. The Lakers had 12 different receivers all of last season. Mercyhurst did not turn the ball over on Saturday - something that happened just three times all of last season. Mercyhurst will host Millersville in the team's home opener next Saturday. The Lakers are 1-0 lifetime against the Marauders after a 45-7 win in week two last season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM. Millersville Millersville played without senior wide receiver Dominic Sanders, who missed the game with an ankle injury. It was the first missed game of his Millersville career, snapping a consecutive games streak at 33. Dante Barkley's eight catches were the most by a Marauder freshman since Omar Sanders totaled nine against Bloomsburg in 2003. Saturday was Connor Casey's third career start, and he has thrown for at least 218 yards and a touchdown in each start. He has completed 73-of-129 passes for 763 yards and five touchdowns in those starts. Five of Millersville's offensive players made their first career starts Saturday. Four defensive players made their first career starts, and Gilbert Ramos and Reggie Slaton made their first starts at different positions. Brent Collins caught his first touchdown passes since October of 2011, and Kevin Porter made his first career TD catch. Millersville dropped to 0-6 all-time against LIU Post. Millersville is now 51-57-9 all-time in season openers and 15-6-2 all-time in openers at Biemesderfer Stadium. Seton Hill Seton Hill dropped its first contest under new head coach Isaac Collins to former WVIAC and current MEC member Fairmont State by a score of 37-29. The Griffins trailed 37-10 early in the third quarter before scoring three TDs to trim the lead to 37-29. SHU got the ball back with just over a minute to play but could not move the ball down the field. Nick Halfhill replaced starter Andrew Jackson and was 27-42 for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns. Norman Darden pulled in 8 receptions for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns in his Seton Hill debut. Maurice Fisher and Edwards Collins each had 7 receptions. All American Tyler Zimmer again led the Griffin defense with 13 tackles including 2 for loss. Zimmer also recorded a first quarter interception. The Griffins will play their home opener next Saturday when they host PSAC East foe East Stroudsburg at 6 PM. It will be the first meeting between the two schools. Shippensburg No. 7 SHIP was humbled by No. 25 Shepherd in a season-opening loss to the Rams in the 16th Great Valley Classic.SU was shutout for the first time since Oct. 25, 2008, a span of 49 games. Senior QB Zach Zulli was limited to just 140 passing yards and had his school-record streak of 21 consecutive games with a touchdown pass snapped. Shippensburg has lost each of its last two meetings at Shepherd (2011, 2013) by 33 points. SHIP has won just one season opener in the last eight years. Five of SU's seven losses under Coach Mac (2011-present) have been to nationally-ranked opponents. Slippery Rock Sr. QB Nigel Barksdale set an SRU single-season record with 6 TD passes and recorded the second-highest passing yardage total in school history with 465. Barksdale broke TD passing record set by Eric Denton vs. Shippensburg in 1986 and finished the game 37 yards shy of the school record of 502 set by John Linhart vs. Clarion in 1992. Rock offense ran 110 plays from scrimmage and gained 675 total yards (472 passing, 203 rushing). Rock had four receivers catch four or more passes and gain 96 or more yards on receptions Saturday. Sr. CB Anthony Saunders recorded INT return for a TD when he took a pick back 28 yards to account for SRU's final points. Sr. P James McCombie averaged 53.2 yards per punt on four punts with a long of 74 yards that matched his personal-best mark and was two yards shy of the school record. West Chester West Chester defeated No. 12 New Haven, 45-14, in the season opener Saturday. It marked the first time that WCU opened the year with a win since 2009 (at Lock Haven). It was WCU’s first win over a nationally ranked opponent since last year’s win at California (Pa.). Rondell White registered 277 all-purpose yards and scored 3 TDs . White eclipsed 200 all-purpose yards in a game for the ninth time in his career. Sean McCartney went 20-for-26 for 290 yards and threw 3 TDs. McCartney’s 20 completions marked the first time that a WCU QB completed that many passes since McCartney completed 27 passes in his first college start against Shippensburg in 2010. R-Fr., Byron Cooper blocked a punt in the second quarter that led to a TD for WCU. Jr., LB Mike Labor registered 10 tackles.