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| Dawson Dietz Photo for W&J athletics by Martin Santek Photography |
Presented by 
Games of Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2024
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 26th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Nathan McCahill, Sr., DePauw
McCahill broke DePauw's school record and tied the North Coast Athletic Conference record with seven TD passes in just three quarters of the Tigers' 65-0 win at Kenyon. He completed 26 of 37 passes for 482 yards and the seven touchdowns, averaging 13 yards per pass attempt.
OL Jeske Maples, Nick Fehrle, Jerred Durian, Sam Pryor, Ryan Kennelly, North Central
The Cardinals established a season high in rushing yards as North Central gained 10.4 yards per carry in a 56-3 win vs. Carroll. Allowed two tackles for loss, for a total of minus-3 yards. North Central has not allowed a sack in 364 offensive snaps, dating back to Sept. 28 vs. WashU.
RB Ryan Lynskey, So., Bates
Lynskey's game started out slow, with just 5 yards on his first five carries, but he finished the day as the NESCAC single-game record holder in rushing yards, going for 344 yards on 20 carries and scoring three touchdowns for the Bobcats.
RB Isaiah Simmons, So., Brockport
Simmons set a career-high with 259 rushing yards for two touchdowns on 30 carries in Brockport's win vs. Utica, 20-10. He averaged 8.6 yards per carry in the contest. Simmons had six runs of 10-plus yards, including a long of 76 yards for the day. His pair of scores came on a 1-yard rush in the second and a 32-yard play in the fourth.
Eight running backs with more than 200 rushing yards were nominated on Saturday.
WR Evan Liggett, Sr., Whitworth
Liggett caught seven passes for a career-high 225 yards in a 48-9 win over Lewis & Clark, averaging 32.1 yards per catch. He caught a pair of touchdown passes to increase his season total to 16, breaking Whitworth's single season record of 15 previously held by All-American Michael Allen.
WR Dawson Schaffer, Jr., Hamline
Schaffer caught nine passes for 219 yards and three touchdowns in the Pipers' 37-35 win over Macalester on Nov. 2. Schaffer caught touchdown passes of 72 yards, 22 yards, and 35 yards in the game, which brought Hamline the Paint Bucket trophy.
TE Zach Cernuto, Sr., Washington & Jefferson
Cernuto headlined the W&J offensive attack in its 34-21 win vs. Case Western Reserve. Cernuto logged two career-highs with 14 receptions and 123 receiving yards with seven of his receptions going for first downs in the win. He also tacked on his fifth receiving touchdown of the season, as his 11-yard scoring reception in the second quarter broke a 7-7 tie and gave W&J a lead they would not relinquish.
Defense
DE Devonte Brown, Jr., Franklin
Brown was a menace to the Anderson offense, as he recorded career-highs with 11 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in a 35-14 Franklin win. Brown also forced two fumbles and was credited with one quarterback hurry.
DT Dawson Dietz, Sr., Washington & Jefferson
Dietz finished the day with three and a half sacks, three and a half tackles for loss and a team-high seven tackles in the win against Case Western Reserve. Dietz exceeded his career-high in sacks against the Spartans after just setting the new career mark against Bethany last week.
DT John Sullivan, Jr., North Central
Sullivan recorded four of North Central's six tackles for loss to post a single-game career high. He also recorded a sack and forced a fumble in the win against Carroll. The Cardinals limited Carroll to 161 yards and nine first downs.
DE Eric Cowan, Sr., Montclair State
Cowan recorded 10 tackles on the day for Montclair State against Rowan, while also notching three sacks for 19 yards, and 3.5 tackles for loss for 20 yards in the Red Hawks' 16-10 double overtime loss.
LB Joe Copp, Sr., Alfred
Copp broke the Alfred record for career tackles, bringing his total to 416. He totaled 10 tackles (eight solo) with one sack for a loss of 5 yards, two forced fumbles, one interception and three quarterback hurries. Copp's efforts helped the Saxons to a 34-31 win over St. John Fisher.
LB Khalil Johnson, So., Lycoming
Johnson had three tackles and intercepted two passes, which he returned for a total of 98 yards. He also forced a fumble in Lyco's 45-0 win over Juniata, as he was involved in three of the team's five takeaways.
LB Jonathan Bruder, Sr., DePauw
Bruder had 10 tackles, five of them solo, as DePauw held Kenyon to minus-4 yards overall and minus-51 rushing yards. He had a sack and forced a fumble on the DePauw 1-yard line to preserve the Tigers' shutout in a 65-0 win.
CB Malachi Baker, So., Salisbury
Baker led the Sea Gulls in tackles with eight total while also picking up two interceptions and forcing a fumble in the team's 52-35 win vs. TCNJ. This win for Salisbury clinched the automatic bid from the NJAC.
S Carson Bourdo, So., Johns Hopkins
Bourdo had seven tackles, two interceptions and one pass breakup in a key 26-13 win over Muhlenberg. His two interceptions both came in the fourth quarter and both came in Blue Jay territory. His second interception came on the final play of the game as the Mules were looking for a game-tying touchdown and he returned it 70 yards for a touchdown as time expired to seal the victory.
S Nate Tofilon, Jr., Wheaton
Tofilon led all players in total tackles with eight in a win against Elmhurst. He forced two fumbles, the second of which was recovered by teammate Chase Smith who returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Tofilon also had a pass breakup in the win.
CB Alden Steele, Sr., Baldwin Wallace
Steele tallied a career-high 11 tackles and forced a career-best three fumbles, including one on the BW 1-yard to line to prevent a Muskingum touchdown in a 54-17 win. Seven of his tackles were solo stops and he also added a pass breakup.
Special teams
K Logan Navis, So., Concordia (Wis.)
Navis broke the Concordia (Wis.) and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference record with a 54-yard field goal as time expired to help the Falcons retain the Cheese Bowl with a 37-34 victory. He also made a 25-yard field goal with 4:04 left to tie the game. Navis went 3-for-4 on field goals, connecting on kicks from 42, 25 and 54, and missed from 38. He was also 4-for-4 on extra points.
P Austin Burns, Sr., Central
Burns placed three of his five punts inside the 20-yard line Saturday, including having one downed on the 1-yard line. He averaged 42.8 yards per attempt in a 45-7 win over Loras.
RET Ja'Shawn Harris, So., Greensboro
Harris had three kickoff returns for 156 yards on Saturday, including a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 23-21 loss to N.C. Wesleyan.
ST Cade Petty, Jr., Berry
Petty blocked a timely punt and returned it for a touchdown early in the second quarter in a 28-21 win against Centre.