PSAC Football Athletes of the Week - 11

Bookmark and Share

Can't view the gallery? Click here.


WEEK 11 - NOVEMBER 9-16   
Football: Eastern Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
Brandon Monk
West Chester (Jr. /RB)
West Grove, Pa. / Avon Grove

Monk scored three of West Chester's four touchdowns to lead his team to a 28-17 win at IUP.  The multiple-threat back rushed for 79 yards and a score, added a 13-yard touchdown reception and capped off West Chester's scoring with an 80-yard punt return touchdown.  In all, Monk totaled 200 all-purpose yards on 23 touches, giving the Golden Rams their first win at IUP since 1941. 
Football: Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Zachary Delp
Kutztown (So. /LB)
Whitehall, Pa. / Whitehall

Delp registered a team-high 14 tackles, four tackles for loss totaling -15 yards and added an interception as Kutztown battled back for a 41-35 overtime win at Clarion.  His first career interception thwarted a scoring opportunity midway through the third quarter as Clarion drove down to the Kutztown 11-yard line.  Delp closed out the season with 35 tackles in his final three contests, including the career-high total against Clarion.  
Football: Co-Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
fb
 Jared Buck
Slippery Rock (Sr. /QB)
McDonald, Pa. / West Allegheny

Buck compiled 315 yards of total offense against the PSAC's top rated defense, leading Slippery Rock to a 28-26 win over Bloomsburg in the PSAC Championship Game.  Named MVP of the contest, Buck completed 17 of 26 passes for 256 yards and two scores, and added 59 yards and another touchdown on the ground before a third-quarter injury forced him to leave the game.  The win marked Slippery Rock's first PSAC title since 2000 and its first Championship Game victory since the 1974 season.  
Football: Co-Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Week
Brock Jones
Gannon (Jr. /RB)
Peninsula, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit

Jones set a Gannon single-game record by racking up 321 rushing yards on 30 carries as the Golden Knights downed East Stroudsburg, 66-41.  Jones, who did not play past the third quarter, scored both of his touchdowns in the first, carrying 10 times for 128 yards in the stanza.  His total on the day was the third best in PSAC history, falling behind only Millersville's Ricke Stonewall (350, 1982) and Slippery Rock's Dorrian Glenn (335, 2001), and helped him set Gannon's single-season mark with 1,628 for the year.  
Football: Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Julian Howsare
Clarion (Sr. /DE)
Altoona, Pa. / Altoona
Despite a hard-fought loss to Kutztown, Howsare concluded his brilliant career at Clarion by compiling eight tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, two pass break-ups and a blocked punt.  His blocked punt came in Kutztown territory, leading to the first score of the game.  In the waning moments of the fourth quarter, Howsare's second sack of the afternoon generated a fumble as Kutztown was driving for a potential go-ahead score.  Instead, Clarion drove 76 yards for what looked to be the game-winning score before Kutztown rallied to force the game into overtime.    

TEAM NOTES

Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg fell in the PSAC Championship game 28-26 to Slippery Rock.
 
California
The Vulcans raced out to a 24-point lead in the first half on Saturday before closing out the regular season with a 45-31 victory over Lock Haven. Junior QB James Harris registered his fourth 300-yard game of the season and eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark for the season. Sophomore Garry Brown and junior Kowan Scott both totaled over 100 receiving yards in the victory. Scott posted a game-high 136 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including a 95-yard score in the second quarter. Brown added a 73-yard punt return for touchdown in the opening minutes of the game. Sophomore Nick Grissom set a career high with 135 rushing yards and senior Terrell Roberson added 59 rushing yards and two scores. Senior LB Jeff Knox, Jr. led the team with eight tackles and 2.0 sacks. The Vulcans were ninth in the latest NCAA Super Region One rankings.
 
Cheyney
Cheyney fell 56-18 to Seton Hill in the season finale for both teams. Rolando Ransom led the Wolves rushing attack with 53 yards on 14 carries. The Cheyney quarterbacks combined for 148 yards on 10-30 passing. The 30 attempts were a season high. Evan Beebe led the team in receiving with five catches for 79 yards. The Cheyney defense was able to come up with five turnovers (3 interceptions, 2 fumbles) but turned it over four times themselves. The sloppy game also features 23 penalties. Jamil Williams led the defensive unit with nine tackles. Cheyney did own the time of possession, keeping the ball for almost 33 minutes. Cheyney posted a season high 195 yards in return yards. 
 
Clarion
Clarion lost a heart-breaking 41-35 overtime decision to Kutztown in the 2014 season finale at Clarion. Clarion rallied from a 21-7 deficit in the second quarter – and then while behind 28-21, scored two, fourth quarter td’s to take a 35-28 lead with only 24-seconds remaining. Both td’s were passes from Connor Simmons to Jaron Moorer. The first was for 25-yards and the final was for 41-yards. Kutztown hit a 32-yard td pass on the game’s final play to send the contest into overtime where the Golden Bears prevailed. Senior All-America Defensive End and 2013 PSAC-West Player of the Year Julian Howsare, went out with another great game. He posted 8 tackles, 23 sacks for -156 yards, caused a fumble that prevented a KU late 4th quarter score, blocked a punt to lead to Clarion’s first score, and had a qb hurry leading to a Cory Lauer interception, He also had 2 broken up passes on the day. Howsare finished his career with 256 tackles, 39 sacks, 57 tfl’s, 14 break-ups, 10 blocked kicks, 9 fumbles caused, 3 int’s and 2 fumbles recovered. Senior running back Bobby Thomas posted 109 yards and 1 td in his final game. He finished his career 12th at Clarion in rushing yards with 1,688 and 13 td’s. QB Connor Simmons passed for 337 yards and 4 td’s. Clarion honored 10 seniors on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium.
 
East Stroudsburg
ESU finished 2014 with a 6-5 record after a 66-41 loss at Gannon (9-2) on Saturday.  The Warriors completed their 41st season under head coach Denny Douds (250-176-3), who entered the top 10 in NCAA history in games coached and currently ranks 9th (429 games).  He is also 3rd in DII history and 1st in PSAC history with 250 wins.  R-So. QB Bruce Campbell was 22-for-36 for 375 yards and 2 TD in his 3rd career start.  In 3 starts replacing 2013 Harlon Hill candidate R-Jr. QB Matt Soltes, Campbell threw for 250.0 yards per game against Bloomsburg (10-1), West Chester (10-1) and Gannon (9-2).  Sr. WR Dusty Reed (8 catches, 145 yards) and R-Jr. WR Jon Schnaars (5 catches, 119 yards, TD) both went over 100 yards receiving, and R-So. TB Robert Healy had 112 rushing yards and 2 TD.  Reed finishes his career 3rd at ESU in receptions (183) and yards (2,820), and 5th in receiving TD (24).  Schnaars (58 catches, 807 yards) leads the PSAC with 14 receiving TD, and has a TD in 7 straight games - the 2nd-longest streak in ESU history.  Healy broke his own ESU record for yards from scrimmage by a back with 1,388 yards (817 rushing, 561 receiving) and scored 14 total TD.  He had 1,333 yards from scrimmage as the 2013 PSAC East Freshman of the Year.  R-Sr. DE Brandon Gattelli (23.5) and R-Sr. DL Bryan Thomson (21.5) both finished in ESU’s career top 10 in sacks.  Thomson holds the school record with 16 blocked kicks.  ESU opened 6-1 before dropping its last 4, coinciding with Soltes’ injury on Oct. 25.  He will enter 2015 ranked 8th in PSAC history with 9,928 career yards total offense and 10th with 85 career pass TD through just 3 years.  He was the only DII QB in the top 10 in total offense (3rd, 381.8), passing (3rd, 347.3 ypg) and pass efficiency (6th, 165.5) last week and leads the PSAC in all 3 categories.
 
Edinboro
Edinboro ended the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2010. Ten seniors were recognized prior to the game, but it was youth that played a huge role in the game. Redshirt freshman Corey Beck intercepted his first career pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, while freshman Ryan Harkness, the third string tailback, scored on a two-yard run for his first career TD. The defense ended up forcing six turnovers (three interceptions, three fumbles)( and recorded six sacks. Cody Harris capped a brilliant career by completing 18 of 31 passes for 221 yards with one touchdown. He concluded his career ranked second in career passing yards (9,605), career touchdown passes (73), and career total offense (10,147). In addition, he ended the season with 2,344 yards, good for sixth in a season. Harris’ touchdown pass was a 16-yarder to Darren Massey. The sophomore caught 4 passes for 56 yards to end the year with a school-record 80 receptions, along with 900 yards receiving, which stands fifth in a season. His 11th TD reception is third in a season. Ben Eisel caught a pair of passes for 30 yards. The senior ended his career with 126 receptions for ninth place, along with 1,525 yards, which ranks 13th.
 
Gannon
Gannon ended the regular season with a 66-41 victory against East Stroudsburg in the snow last Saturday. The Golden Knights won their fifth consecutive victory, representing the program’s longest win streak since taking six straight during a streak that spanned the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Gannon finished 9-2 overall, tying the school record for victories set by the 2003 NCAA Division II Independent squad. The Golden Knights broke single-game school records for points (66), combined points (107) and first-half points (42). Produced the second-most total yards (672) and rushing yards (482) in school history. Junior Brock Jones shattered the school's single-game rushing record and all-purpose yard mark with 321 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. Gannon broke the school’s single-season records for total points (414), total offense (5,146) and fewest turnovers (14) despite playing one less game due to the California (Pa.) forfeit. Jones broke or tied the school’s single-season records for rushing yards (1,628), rushing touchdowns (16), 100-yard rushing games (9), points (108), total touchdowns (18) and all-purpose yards (1,826). Redshirt junior Jesstin Hamm set single-season records in receiving yards (917), receiving touchdowns (11) and 100-yards games (5). Redshirt senior Luke Rankie led the Golden Knights with nine tackles, jumping Owen Rhodes (2000-03) and into Gannon's all-time top five with 280 career tackles. Redshirt junior Liam Nadler tied his own school record for passing touchdowns in a season with 21.
 
IUP
IUP fell to West Chester 28-17.
 
Kutztown
Kutztown defeated Clarion in overtime 41-35.
 
Lock Haven
The Bald Eagles closed the 2014 season with a 45-31 loss at California (Pa.). Lock Haven was in search of its third win of the season. The loss drops Lock Haven to 2-9 overall (2-8 PSAC). Last season, the Bald Eagles went 3-8, marking the most wins since 2004. Highlighting Saturday’s game was senior defensive back George Christas and redshirt-sophomore quarterback Caleb Walton, who hit career milestones in the final game of ’14. Christas, a 2014 Preseason All-American capped his career with a bang, finishing with a game-high 10 tackles. The 10 tackles give Christas 100 on the season, the most in a single season for a Bald Eagle player since 2007.Highlighting the day was Christas' 85-yard interception TD. The interception was the 13th of his career, tying him for the fifth-most in school history. Walton passed for a career-high 273 yards and three touchdowns. The 273 passing yards give him 2,164 for the season becoming the first Bald Eagle quarterback since 1995 to throw for over 2,000 yards in a season. It's just the seventh time in school history where a Lock Haven quarterback has surpassed the 2,000-yard passing mark in a single season. Walton now has 3,320 career passing yards, the seventh-most in school history. His 24 passing TDs are No. 5 in school history.
 
Millersville
Against Edinboro, Malont'a Patterson caught six passes for 88 yards, finishing his rookie season with 515 yards. He is the first Marauder freshman to lead the team in receiving yards. Similarly, Kevin Wiggins, who caught three passes Saturday and finished with 43 on the year, is the first Marauder freshman to lead the team in catches. Sean Dugan totaled a career-high nine tackles to go with 2.0 sacks and 3.5 tackes for loss against Edinboro. He helped Millersville hold Edinboro to -17 yards rushing and 204 yards of total offense--the fewest against Millersville since 2006. Millersville's six sacks were the most since 2005. He wasn't the only freshmen to star in the game. Phil Vass rushed for a career-high 150 yards and Tyler Zilen caught his first career touchdown pass. 
 
Mercyhurst
The Mercyhurst University football team, behind more record-breaking performances from redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Boylan and senior free safety Colin Kimball, concluded the 2014 regular season with a 42-21 victory over visiting Shippensburg University on a cold and snowy Saturday afternoon at Tullio Field. The Lakers finished the season with seven straight victories and a third-straight winning season (the longest such streak since having seven straight winning seasons from 1983 to 1989), ending with a 7-4 overall record. Boylan again took dead aim at the Laker record book on Saturday and ended up breaking a number of single-season marks after completing 26-of-38 for 409 yards and five touchdowns against the Shippensburg defense. With another 20 yards on the ground, Boylan finished with 429 yards of total offense on Saturday to give him a new Mercyhurst single-season mark of 3,105 yards of total offense, which broke the previous record of 3,070 by Matt Kissell in 1999. His five touchdowns passing gave him 29 on the season, also breaking the previous record of 27 held by Kissell in 1999 and duplicated by Mitch Phillis in 2007. He also broke the single-season record with his fifth 300-yard passing game of the season, again knocking Kissell from the top spot. But, despite all of Boylan's accolades on Saturday, the highlight of the afternoon, and the turning point of the game, was a record-breaking play by Kimball midway through the third quarter. On a 3rd-and-12 play from the Mercyhurst 19-yard line, Kimball picked off Shippensburg quarterback Chris Lawshe on the Laker goal line, with Mercyhurst only ahead by seven points. The senior, playing in his final collegiate game, weaved his way through would-be tacklers and used excellent blocking - most notably from seniors Garrett Wild and Michael Foster - to return the interception 100 yards to the Shippensburg endzone and to extend the Laker lead to 28-14 with 8:45 left in the third quarter. The 100-yard return for a touchdown was the longest return in school history, surpassing an 85-yard return by Casey Williams against Grand Valley State in 2000. It also tied Brian Haberstock's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Brockport State in 1988, for Mercyhurst's longest play in school history. At the time, Kimball's pick six, tied him with Jim Sturm (1981-84) with 14 career interceptions. However, Kimball was not done, as later in the third quarter, the free safety broke the career interception mark when he picked off Lawshe for the second time in the game. It was Kimball's fifth interception in the last three games. He also broke the school record for most interception return yards in a game (120), in a season (184), and in a career (335).
 
Seton Hill
Seton Hill defeated Cheyney 56-18.
 
Shippensburg
Shippensburg finished 6-5, its fourth-winning season in four years under head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski. Shippensburg (6-5), ranked No. 3 in Division II for plays per game (85.8) entering Saturday, ran 93 plays Saturday and extended its streak of games with three touchdowns and 21 points to 21-in-a-row dating back to the 2013 season opener at Shepherd. Junior WR Sheldon Mayer finished the year with 72 receptions for 1,099 yards – making him just the fifth player in school history with a 1,000-yard season...with one year of eligibility remaining, he moves into fourth place in school history with 164 career receptions and fifth place with 2,294 career receiving yards. Senior Trevor Harman finished with six catches for 56 yards to wrap up his eventual Hall of Fame career at Shippensburg. Harman finished 2014 with 98 catches, 947 yards and 11 touchdowns. Overall, Harman completed 46 games in a Red Raider uniform with 321 receptions, 4,249 yards and 61 touchdowns. Harman finishes third in Division II history for receiving touchdowns, fourth in career receptions, third in receiving touchdowns and 13th in receiving yards.
 
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock won its 10th PSAC outright title and its first since 2000. Slippery Rock and Bloomsburg are the only teams in the PSAC to reach the title game three times since it was reinstated by the league in 2008. The Rock improved to 5-4 in PSAC title games with its last win coming in 1974. Shamar Greene ran for more yards against Bloomsburg than any back this season at 116. Greene's season total increased to 1,459 yards, the second best single-season total in SRU history. He trails the school record by 142 yards. Jared Buck was named the MVP after throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for one TD. George Mihalik won his 185th career game in his 297th game as head coach. Mihalik won his fifth PSAC title and third in a state game as a representative of SRU as he was the quarterback of the championship teams in 1972 and 1973. Slippery Rock looks like a lock to earn a second straight berth in the NCAA tournament. The Rock ran for 233 yards, more than any other team against Bloomsburg all year. SRU put up more total yards of offense on Bloomsburg than any other team this year. Bloomsburg was ranked fifth in the AFCA Division II poll and sixth by D2football.com. Bloomsburg was ranked No 1 in Super Region 1. Slippery Rock was ranked No. 8 in Super Region 1. The home team has won all seven PSAC title games since it was reinstated in 2008. The NCAA selection show is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday.
 
West Chester
West Chester's 28-17 victory over host Indiana, Pa., marked the first time since 1941 that the Golden Rams defeated the Crimson Hawks on the road. WCU is now 2-7 all-time at Indiana, Pa. The win also marked head coach Bill Zwaan's 100th career victory on the Golden Rams' sideline. He is the second WCU mentor to reach 100 wins in a career. The victory was also West Chester's 599th career win all-time, dating back to 1920. Sean McCartney's two TD passes Saturday gives him 34 on the season, which ties his career-best from last season. He also has 2,998 passing yards heading into the playoffs and is within striking distance of eclipsing 9,000 yards passing in his career.