Team of the Week

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Games of Oct. 22-23, 2010

Offense
QB Mitch Niekamp, Sr., Illinois College
Niekamp led Illinois College to two fourth-quarter TD drives (98 and 85 yards) to beat Ripon. His 98-yard touchdown pass to Brock Thompson closed the score to 35-34 and a 7-yarder to Brett Eschman put the Blueboys ahead. He finished with 432 yards on 26-for-41 passing with one interception.

OL Matt Santora, Andrew Weiss, Gino Arnold, Mike Valenti, Andrew Mortati, Trinity (Conn.)
The Bantams line helped three freshman ball carriers total 330 yards on 54 carries in Trinity's 31-14 win at Bowdoin. Trinity possessed the ball for 36:33 of the game and came back from a second quarter deficit of 14-3.

RB Antwan Anderson, Sr., UW-Whitewater
Anderson had a career-high 38 carries and 240 yards in a win at UW-River Falls, including three touchdowns.

RB Germany Woods, Fr., Heidelberg
Woods led Heidelberg to its third consecutive win against Marietta with his first career triple-digit rushing game. He ran for 231 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries in the victory.

WR Rico Wallace, Jr., Shenandoah
Wallace caught nine passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, setting school records for receptions and yards in a 56-20 loss to Ferrum.

WR Sam Wernick, Jr., Johns Hopkins
Wernick had touchdown receptions of 74, 68, 35 and 34 yards in Johns Hopkins' 49-24 win at Susquehanna. His 250 receiving yards (on seven receptions) are the second-best total in school history. He finished with 341 all-purpose yards.

TE Shawn Evans, Jr., Lewis and Clark
Evans caught three touchdown passes, the last with 1.7 seconds left to lift the Pioneers past Puget Sound 68-64. He had 180 yards on eight receptions.

Defense
DE Aaron Nauer, So., Westminster (Pa.)
Nauer had five tackles, three solo, and broke up three passes as the Titans posted their first shutout since 2003, beating Thiel 35-0.

DT Julian Paksi, Jr., Albion
Paksi had eight tackles, five solo, with four and a half tackles for loss and two and a half sacks. All of his sacks came in the first half as Albion took a 35-3 lead and cruised to a 42-24 win against Olivet.

DE Riley Mitchell, Jr., Lewis and Clark
It might seem odd to select a defensive player from a team which gave up 64 points, but without Mitchell it would have been worse. Mitchell had three sacks for a loss of 26 yards and caused two fumbles in the 68-64 win against Puget Sound.

LB Antonio Harris, Sr., North Carolina Wesleyan
Harris had 11 tackles, six solo, in a 34-16 win against Maryville (Tenn.). He returned an interception for 72 yards for a touchdown and had two and a half tackles for loss and a sack.

LB Devin Worthington, Fr., Hobart
Worthington recorded nine tackles, eight solo, three and a half for loss and two and a half sacks in the Statesmen's 40-33 win against Merchant Marine. He also recovered two fumbles.

LB Kyle McGivney, Jr., Luther
McGivney made 15 tackles (10 solo), broke up two passes, recovered a fumble and forced another on the second half kickoff that was returned 25 yards for a touchdown in a 26-20 victory at Buena Vista.

LB Danny Polaneczky, Jr., Chicago
Polaneczky made 13 tackles, nine solo, including 1.5 for loss, and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown as the Maroons defeated Kenyon 35-14. His runback marked the Maroons' fifth blocked punt return for a touchdown this season, matching the NCAA Division III record set by Widener in 1990.

CB Ed Doberning, Fr., Lake Forest
Dobernig recorded two fourth quarter interceptions in a 35-14 win against Lawrence. His first one ended a Lawrence drive at the 20 yard line while the score 21-14. The interception sparked the Foresters, and the offense turned the interception into a touchdown. His second interception, with 1:22 left, was returned 39 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career. He had five tackles, four solo.

S Phil Tsopanides, So., Western New England
Tsopanides intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game and returned it 36 yards as Western New England held on for a 14-6 win against Plymouth State. He also compiled a team- high 10 tackles in the contest, all solo, and had one pass breakup. This was the Golden Bears' first win ever over the Panthers in 13 meetings

S Aaron Selking, Sr., Trine
Selking recorded 14 tackles, 11 solo, and broke up two passes in a 31-10 win against Hope. He also returned two punts for an average of 21 yards.

CB Harry Melendez, Sr., Trinity (Conn.)
Melendez thwarted two Bowdoin drives with interceptions in his own end, including one inside his own 10-yard line. He added three solo tackles.

Special teams
K Richard Marteney, Fr., UW-Stout
Marteney was 3-for-3 on field goals, two of them in the final 18 minutes (34 yards, 2:30 of third quarter; 30 yards, 3:51 of fourth quarter) helped hold off a UW-Eau Claire comeback attempt. He was 4-for-4 on PATs and is 23-for-23 on the season.

P Kurtis Brondyke, Sr., Central
Brondyke averaged 48.4 yards on five punts in Central's 27-6 win against Loras. Among his kicks was a career-best 86-yarder that ranks as the second-longest in school history, trailing only an 88-yard punt by Vern Boelkens in 1956.

ST Cornelius Jenkins, So., Huntingdon
Jenkins blocked and returned a Webber International punt 20 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hawks a 21-10 lead in the first-half. Jenkins recorded three solo tackles on special teams in the 35-23 win over the NAIA's 17th-ranked team.

RET Kentel Noel, Fr., Christopher Newport
Noel shattered the USA South record for punt return yardage in a game when he exploded for 206 yards and two TD on five punt returns against Greensboro. His first TD return was a highlight-reel run for 67 yards (video), in which he broke four tackles including two spins out of the opponents grasp as well as tip-toeing his way down the sideline. The run was followed up almost immediately (less than two minutes of game clock) by a 62-yarder on the very next Greensboro possession, down the opposite sideline. Noel nearly broke a third before finally getting tracked down on the 11-yard line after a 55-yard run.