|
| Noah Wheeler, Grove City Grove City athletics photo by Curt Equi |
Presented by 
Games of Sept. 4-6, 2025
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 27th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Tyler Szalkowski, Sr., Utica
Szalkowski dominated in his Utica debut to the tune of a program-record 528 passing yards along with 28 completions and four touchdowns in a 49-31 victory at Washington & Jefferson. The Division I transfer tore through the Presidents' secondary, launching a barrage of deep balls with precision as he notched passes of 33, 77, and even 82 yards en route to logging 13.2 yards per attempt. He shattered the previous program record passing yards mark of 467.
OL Thomas Wilson, Cash Topinka, Braden McIntire, William Stimmel, Jacob Pressinger, Hampden-Sydney
The Tigers' offensive line allowed no sacks on 25 pass attempts, plus blocked for 441 yards of total offense on 71 snaps. The line helped Hampden-Sydney defeat Delaware Valley, 38-9.
RB Harrison Hensley, Jr., Coast Guard
Hensley broke the Academy record for rushing yards in a game, as he ran for 324 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries in Coast Guard's 56-49 overtime loss to the University of New England.
RB Brian Stanton, Jr., UW-Whitewater
Stanton had a phenomenal game to lead the Warhawks to a 45-14 win in their season opener against Carleton. Averaging 28.7 yards per carry, Stanton went for 201 yards on seven carries, scoring two touchdowns in the victory.
WR Colin Hart, Sr., Christopher Newport
Hart had a memorable opening day of his senior season, catching seven passes, four for touchdowns, in CNU's 38-7 win over Trine. Hart posted 199 yards in receiving and averaged 28.4 yards per catch. His longest reception of the day came on a 62-yard scoring strike from Connor Barry.
WR Jereme Ombogo, Sr., North Park
Ombogo caught six passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns in North Park's 35-19 win at Ripon on Saturday. One of this touchdowns went for 98 yards, and he also added a 30-yard punt return.
TE Clayton Schwalbe, Sr., UW-Oshkosh
Schwalbe scored both times he touched the ball in UW-Oshkosh's 31-14 upset victory at Linfield on Saturday. He rushed for 1 yard into the end zone in the first quarter to put the Titans up, 10-0, and caught a 48-yard pass from Quentin Keene in the third quarter, making the score 28-7.
Defense
DE Brandon McGruder, Jr., Mary Hardin-Baylor
McGruder totaled five tackles in his UMHB debut. He had five solo takedowns with two tackles for 15 yards lost in the No. 8 Cru's 30-20 win against NAIA program Bethel (Tenn.). McGruder also had one 13-yard strip sack in the contest.
DT John Dixner, Jr., Norwich
Dixner was a standout on Norwich's defensive line with eight tackles, six solo, including three tackles for a loss of 12 yards and a sack for a loss of 8 yards. Norwich fell to St. Lawrence, 19-3.
DE Dominic Seibal, Sr., DePauw
Seibal shared the team lead in tackles with eight, four solow, and led the team with three and a half tackles for loss and three sacks. DePauw held Rose-Hulman to six first downs, 61 total yards and minus-6 rushing yards in a 40-0 road win.
LB Isaiah Thomas, So., Utica
Thomas chased the ball all afternoon, grabbing a team-high 12 tackles with eight of those being solo stops. He was also at the scene of a well-timed fumble, scooping up the loose ball and returning it 31 yards to set up a late Utica score. The linebacker also recorded a pass breakup during the contest.
LB Alex Buchwald, Sr., Montclair State
Buchwald was a force on the defensive side this week for Montclair and made school history on Friday night at Merchant Marine. He totaled a career-high 13 tackles with 12 solo tackles, but his school record came with his six tackles for loss, which stands alone as the Montclair State football single-game record. Montclair fell 29-15.
LB Aaron Nice, So., Bridgewater (Va.)
Nice recorded 4.5 tackles for loss in his first game back after a year away from the sport to attempt to qualify for the Olympics in powerlifting. He finished with nine tackles, eight of them solo, and one sack in a 32-27 loss to Stevenson.
CB Noah Wheeler, So., Grove City
Wheeler intercepted two passes Saturday to help Grove City earn a 31-14 victory at No. 10 Cortland. He intercepted a pass in the end zone with 1:03 left in the first half, preserving a 14-14 tie. On the third play of the second half, Wheeler picked off his second pass of the game and returned it 36 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
S Ben Butler, Sr., North Park
Butler had four tackles, three of them solo stops, then added an interception, which he returned for 56 yards, a tackle for loss, and two pass breakups as North Park defeated Ripon 35-19 to open the season.
S Justin Kurc, Sr., TCNJ
Kurc had two interceptions - one he returned for a touchdown and the other to seal the game - as the Lions edged Lycoming, 27-24, in Saturday's season-opener. Kurc's 37-yard pick-six, the second of his career, staked TCNJ to an early 10-0 lead, and his second pick of the game ended the Warriors' hopes of a rally after the Lions had gone ahead with 2:04 to play. The senior also added a pass breakup on the day.
S Brooks Brewer, Jr., UW-Stout
The D3football.com preseason All-American lived up to the hype, recording four tackles, a tackle for loss and returning an interception 66 yards for a touchdown to help the Blue Devils to a 38-35 win over Dubuque.
CB Ian Strusz, Sr., St. Scholastica
Strusz came away with three interceptions in the Saints' 41-27 season-opening victory against Wisconsin Lutheran. He is the only defensive player in any NCAA division with three interceptions in a single game so far this season. His three picks also match the single-game program record. He added three tackles in the win.
Special teams
K Dominic Bourgeois, Jr., Susquehanna
Bourgeois connected on 4-of-4 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points in Susquehanna's 33-14 win over Union. With the offense producing just two touchdowns, Bourgeois contributed to SU's lead with his 15 points on the day, with his longest field goal coming from 42 yards out to end the first half. His and the offense's contributions produced a 26-7 lead going into the fourth quarter before a River Hawks pick-six finished the team's scoring for the afternoon. His field goals were good from 21, 42, 22 and 26 yards.
P Caden Langley, So., Bethany
Langley consistently flipped the field for the Bison in Saturday's game against Sewanee. Of his seven punts, four traveled 50-plus yards for an average of 46.3 per boot, highlighted by a long of 60. Langley also pinned three punts inside the Sewanee 5-yard line, while recording no touchbacks.
RET Sammy Kunczewski, Fr., Berry
Kunczewski made a splash in his first career collegiate football game, returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in a 58-28 win vs. Huntingdon. He finished with 140 yards on three kickoff returns on the day.
ST Nick McCullough, Fr., Carnegie Mellon
McCullough played a huge role in the Tartans 20-0 win at the University of Chicago to open the season. In his first collegiate contest, McCullough recorded a blocked punt that set up the Tartans' final points of the game, a 38-yard field goal. He also recorded a deflection on another punt which went 18 yards.