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PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 7

Sunday, October 19, 2014 2:35 PM

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Football: Eastern Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
	Sean McCartney West Chester (Sr. /QB) Doylestown, Pa. / Archibishop Wood Senior quarterback Sean McCartney tied a career-high with his second five-touch down passing game this season, while throwing for 393 yards and completing 17-of-29 passes in No. 10 West Chester's 55-28 win over Shippensburg. He surpassed 8,000 yards passing for his career and moved into fourth place all-time at West Chester in both categories.
Football: Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
	Justin Shirk Bloomsburg (Sr. / LB) Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin No. 12 Bloomsburg's Justin Shirk led the Huskies to a 31-13 win over Kutztown on Saturday. The senior linebacker recorded a team-high 13 tackles, including three tackles for a loss of 14 yards. Shirk also added two sacks that totaled a loss of 11 yards. The Huskies limited Kutztown, the 5th-ranked offense in the PSAC entering the day, to just 12 first downs and 228 total yards in the road win and held the second-ranked PSAC passing offense to only 148 yards through the air.
Football: Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
	Brendan Boylan Mercyhurst (Jr. / QB) Independence, Ohio / Holy Name Redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Boylan threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns to lift the Merycyhurst Lakers to 31 unanswered points and a 45-23 victory over Slippery Rock at Michigan Stadium. Over his last three starts, Boylan has completed 65-of-106 passes (61.3%) for 1,072 yards and 11 touchdowns without throwing an interception. The redshirt junior completed 24 of his 37 pass attempts against The Rock, while also adding another 27 yards on six carries on the ground.
Football: Western Division Co-Defensive Athlete of the Week
	Jawan Turner California (So. / DL) Pittsburgh, Pa. / Woodland Hills For the second time this season, California's Jawan Turner tallied a team-high three sacks, while also forcing one fumble in the Vulcans' 21-13 Coal Bowl victory over IUP. The sophomore defensive lineman racked up seven tackles, four solo tackles, and three tackles for a loss of 14 yards. His forced fumbles was one of five turnovers forced by the Vulcans, as California limiting the Crimson Hawks to 111 rushing yards, which was over 70 yards less than IUP's season average.

Football: Western Division Co-Defensive Athlete of the Week

Brandon Short Clarion (Jr. / DE) New Brighton / New Brighton Clarion's Brandon Short put-up outstanding defensive numbers despite the 30-16 loss at Seton Hill. The junior defensive end had a career day, racking up 11 tackles, including eight solo stops, two sacks for 20 yards and six tackles for a loss of 30 yards. Short's six tackles for loss was part of a 15 tackles for loss effort from the Golden Eagles.

 
Clarion dropped to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the PSAC West with a 30-16 loss at Seton Hill on Saturday. The Clarion defense had a quality game with defensive end Brandon Short leading the way with 11 tackles, (8 solo), 2 sacks for -20 yards and 6 tfl’s for -30 yards. It was the best game in Short’s Clarion career. Travis Day had nine hits, Julian Howsare nine tackles, one sack, a fumble caused and recovered and Kwame Bell one sack and two TFL. Howsare leads the team with 49 tackles, plus has six sacks, nine TFL, two fumble recoveries, one fumble caused and a blocked kick. Bell has seven sacks and 12 TFL, and Short now has seven sacks and 13 TFL. Safety Cory McNamara had two interceptions at Seton Hill. Howsare now with 219 career tackles, 50 TFL and 34 sacks. Clarion hosts PSAC-West leading California on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. 

East Stroudsburg
ESU (6-1, 5-1) overcame a slow start for a 35-13 win at Millersville Saturday. Warriors led 14-13 at halftime before outscoring Marauders 21-0 in 2nd half. ESU head coach Denny Douds improved to 250-172-3 in his 41st season, becoming the 20th NCAA coach and 3rd DII coach to reach 250 career wins. Douds tied Bear Bryant for 9th on the NCAA all-division list for games coached (425). Redshirt sophmomore TB Robert Healy had a career-high 232 yards from scrimmage - 117 rushing and 115 receiving - and was just the 2nd ESU player under Douds with 100+ yards rushing, receiving in a game, joining Joe Pawloski at Bloomsburg in 1996. Redshirt junior QB Matt Soltes gained 389 total yards, throwing for 354 yards and 5 TD and rushing for 35 yards. Soltes is tied for the DII lead with 29 TD passes. He was 3rd in DII in passing and total offense entering the week. He moved into 9th in PSAC history with 9,688 career yards total offense and 10th with 84 career passing TD. He is on pace to be the 2nd-most productive PSAC QB through 3 years behind ESU’s Jimmy Terwilliger, the 2005 Harlon Hill Award winner as a junior. Redshirt junior WR Jon Schnaars (8 catches, 108 yards, 3 TD) had his 3rd 100-yard game of the year and has 10 TD. Redshirt senior TE Steven Jones caught his 20th career TD. Redshirt senior DL Bryan Thomson had two blocked kicks (1 PAT, 1 FG) - giving him six this year and extending his school record to 16. ESU opponents are 0-for-4 on field goals this season with Thomson blocking three attempts. ESU hosts Kutztown for Homecoming next Saturday at 3:05 p.m. 

Edinboro
Edinboro played its first Thursday night game at Sox Harrison Stadium since 2008 when the Fighting Scots hosted Gannon. Edinboro will play on Thursday night again this week, meeting Mercyhurst at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium. It marks the fourth night game of the season. Darren Massey caught 10 passes against Gannon, the second time this year with double-figure receptions. The sophomore entered the game ranked seventh in the country in receptions per game. He now has 57 catches, good for third in a season and just seven shy of the school record … freshman Anfreenee Williams had his second 100-yard game with 112 yards on 17 carries. Gannon ended the night with 601 yards, the fourth-highest total ever against an Edinboro team. Cody Harris made his 40th career start at quarterback vs. Gannon.

Gannon
Gannon snapped a two-game skid with a convincing 52-7 victory against Edinboro during a special Thursday night game. The Golden Knights have out-scored Edinboro 107-21 during the last two seasons, defeating the Fighting Scots 55-14 last year. Gannon's 52 points fell four points shy of the school record (56) set against Ashland in 1950. The Golden Knights tied a school record for most points in the first half with 38, accomplishing it for the fourth time in school history. Senior Justin Caliste recorded his ninth career 100-yard receiving game with 123 yards on nine catches. Already Gannon's all-time leader in career 100-yard receiving games, Caliste broke Gannon's career record for receptions with 175 catches for 1,993 yards. The Golden Knights out-gained the Fighting Scots 601-276, including a 305-126 edge on the ground. Gannon’s total offense represented the fifth-highest single-game total in school history, finishing 38 yards off the school record. Junior Brock Jones rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries, becoming the third Golden Knight in school history to have a pair of 200-yard rushing games in the same season. Jones recorded the sixth 1,000-yard rushing season in school history with 1,067 yards through seven games.

IUP
The Vulcans picked off a pass attempt by Chase Haslett with less than a minute remaining to end IUP's threat as the Crimson Hawks fell to 25th-ranked California 21-13 in the sixth annual Coal Bowl on Saturday afternoon at Adamson Stadium.

Kutztown
Kutztown drew its largest crowd of the year on Saturday. Prior to the football team's 31-12 setback to 12th-ranked Bloomsburg University, KU's home facility was dedicated in honor of Golden Bear alumnus Andre Reed '05 and renamed to University Field at Andre Reed Stadium.

Lock Haven
The Bald Eagles picked up their first win of the 2014 season and snapped a nine-game losing streak that dated back to last season with a 28-0 win over Cheyney, spoiling the Wolves Homecoming festivities Saturday. With the win, LHU moves to 1-6 overall and 1-5 PSAC. The shutout was the first for LHU in 12 years, with the last coming vs. Cheyney (34-0) on October 5, 2002. It was a total effort for LHU as the defense limited Cheyney to just one first down in the second half and forced four total turnovers. Senior defensive back George Christas was all over the field for LHU. The Preseason All-American made two tackles, an interception and recovered two fumbles. Christas’ 63 tackles have him ranked No. 7 in the PSAC with nine per game. It marked the 20^th time in the last 23 games were LHU has forced a turnover. Lock Haven also recorded a long list of firsts today. Beau Swales rushed for over 100 yards for the first time in his career and Jeff Dincher, and Farrell Boyd both made their first career touchdown catches to spark Lock Haven's offensive attack. Dincher's TD catch came from backup quarterback Shaun Jones, marking his first career touchdown pass. For Swales, 63 of his career-high came in the first half. Coming into today's game, Swales' previous career-high was 78 yards from Week 1 vs. West Virginia State. He finished with 116 yards on 24 carries today. Starting QB Caleb Walton finished with 181 yards and two TDs. He was 21-for-31 passing. David Cook made eight catches for 69 yards and one touchdown.

Millersville
Millersville held East Stroudsburg to its second-lowest offensive point total of the season and was within one point (14-13) at the end of the first half. Quarterback Matt Misley, who had completed 6-of-8 passes for 70 yards and had passed and rushed for two scores, left the game with an injury at the end of the second quarter and did not return. Millersville managed 101 yards of offense the rest of the game and reached ESU territory just once without him. Running back David Coates set career highs with 85 yards on 20 carries. Three true freshman caught passes. Malont'a Patterson, Kevin Wiggins and Evan Brooks totaled eight of Millersville's 11 catches. Wiggins caught his team-leading fourth TD reception of the season. Patterson totaled 50 yards receiving and added 24 yards rushing. P.J. Santos recorded his second interception of the season. Aaron Walker recorded his second sack of the season. Reggie Slaton totaled 10 tackles, giving him double digits in six of seven games. 

Mercyhurst
Redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Boylan had another huge afternoon on Saturday, throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns, lifting the Lakers to 31 unanswered points and a 45-23 thumping of Slippery Rock University in front of 15,121 fans at Michigan Stadium. The "Big House Battle" proved to be Mercyhurst's third consecutive victory. The Lakes improved to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC West standings. Mercyhurst improved to 4-3 lifetime against Slippery Rock, avenging a 58-34 loss at the hands of The Rock last season. Over his last three starts, Boylan has been impressive. He has completed 65-of-106 passes (61.3%) for 1,072 yards and 11 touchdowns (zero interceptions). The redshirt junior from Independence, Ohio completed 24 of his 37 pass attempts on Saturday afternoon, accounting for 385 yards and four touchdowns while also adding another 27 yards on six carries on the ground. Meanwhile, redshirt junior Brandon Brown-Dukes tied a Mercyhurst record with his 14th career 100-yard game on the ground. He finished with an even 100 yards on 25 carries while also posting career-highs in receptions (4) and receiving yards (46). Mercyhurst, which entered the game 12th in the PSAC in total offense, racked up 536 yards of total offense against The Rock defense. The Lakers were 15th out of the 16-team conference in total offense prior to last Saturday's victory over Gannon. But, Mercyhurst has totaled 1,144 yards of offense over its last two games. Slippery Rock, which entered third in the conference with nearly 515 yards of offense per game, was held to 361 for the contest, but just 83 yards in the second half. Mercyhurst will have a short week as it gets set to entertain Edinboro at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium on Thursday night, October 23. It is the second installment of the "ALL IN vs ALS" game in which proceeds from ticket sales, program sales, 50-50, and raffles throughout Thursday's contest will be donated to the local chapter of the ALS Foundation. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Mercyhurst and Edinboro have split ten prior meetings, with Mercyhurst having won the last two and five of the last eight.

Seton Hill
Seton Hill defeated Clarion at Offutt Field on Saturday by the score of 30-16. It was the first PSAC Western Division victory for the Griffins in school history and the first home victory since Oct 9, 2010 when they defeated WV State. Dan Pietrangelo threw three TD passes to FJ Williams in the win. The three TD catches tie a SHU single game record. For the third straight week, the Griffins had more first downs (23-10) and more total yardage (385-247) than its opponent.

Shippensburg
The Shippensburg University football team took to the ground on Saturday, running for its most yards in a game since November 2011, but could not stave off a powerful attack from No. 10 West Chester, falling 55-28 on an overcast and breezy afternoon from Farrell Stadium. Senior running back Blair Brooks ran 18 times for a career-high 171 yards, averaging 9.5 yards per carry, in addition to his fourth two-touchdown game of the year. Brooks is now sixth all-time in career rushing yards at Shippensburg (2,176) and eighth in all-purpose yards (3,695). Junior Andrew Smith, who entered Saturday ranked No. 3 in Division II for kickoff return yards, added 141 to his total despite the Golden Rams squibbing their kickoffs in the second half, and his 219 all-purpose yards mark his SU career high. Senior Trevor Harman was limited to a career-low eight receiving yards on three catches, and SU's 142 passing yards are its fewest since its game at Millersville in October 2011 that was played in a snowstorm. For the second straight game, SU did not commit a turnover. The Red Raiders entered last week's game at Lock Haven having won the turnover margin just once in 14 games but have now done so in back-to-back contests. 

Slippery Rock
The Slippery Rock University football team scored first and led 23-17 at halftime, but Mercyhurst University put together a dominant second half and rolled to a 45-23 victory Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Michigan Stadium.

West Chester
With West Chester's win over Shippensburg on Saturday, the Golden Rams lead the all-time series, 25-10-1 and are now 12-5 at home against the Red Raiders. West Chester is now 8-4 on Homecoming Weekend under Bill Zwaan. The win marked the first time in four years that the home team won the meeting between these two rivals, it also marked the first time in three years that the school celebrating Homecoming in the matchup won the game. Senior quarterback Sean McCartney tied a career-high with his second 5-TD passing game this season while also throwing for 393 yards. He surpassed 8,000 yards passing for his career and moved into fourth place all-time at West Chester in both categories. Junior tightend Tim Brown caught four passes for a career-best 143 yards. West Chester held the PSAC leading wide receiver Trevor Harmon to just three catches for eight yards. West Chester's secondary also did not allow a TD pass, ending a streak of 16 straight games in which Shippensburg had thrown at least two TD passes. Senior middle line backer Ronell Williams returned to the starting lineup, after missing the last three games with a knee injury suffered in the Seton Hill game. He made seven tackles and was in on two sacks. West Chester scored on its first play from scrimmage in each half. West Chester stopped Shippensburg on 4th down twice in the first half – once inside the 10-yard line.