Team of the Week

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Games of Sept. 14-15, 2012

Offense
QB A.J. Springer, Sr., Sul Ross State
Springer tied a Sul Ross school record by throwing six touchdowns in a single game, the Lobos' 62-35 win against Trinity (Texas). He completed 32 of 41 passes (78 percent), throwing for 481 of the Lobos'655 offensive yards.

OL Quentin Rembert, Mac Wallace, Austin Hunter, Tyler Johnson, Mike Lehman, Heidelberg
Heidelberg ran for 261 yards, an average of 6.2 per carry, on Ohio Northern, showing it wouldn't miss a beat after the summer departure of a preseason All-American running back. They allowed just one sack in 42 opportunities.

RB Bobby Dougherty, Sr., Hobart
Dougherty rushed for a career-high 174 yards and three touchdowns to lead Hobart to a 45-26 win at Utica. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry against the Pioneers, who came into the contest allowing just 119.5 rushing yards per game. Dougherty's TD runs covered 6, 59, and 18 yards.

RB Dominique Carson, Sr., Sul Ross State
Carson had a combined 247 yards of offense and three touchdowns, rushing 19 times for 128 yards and catching five passes for 119. One of his scores was a 73-yard catch and run.

WR Brandon Boyle, Jr., Castleton State
Boyle was all over the field with a school-record 17 catches for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 56-35 loss to RPI. Seven of his catches resulted in first downs.

WR Jimmie Simpson, So., Hardin-Simmons
Simpson had just five catches but took them for 172 yards and scored four touchdowns in a 57-21 win. His scores covered 24, 32, 39 and 67 yards.

TE Denny Wilhelm, Jr., Castleton State
Wilhelm had a career-high 10 catches for 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Four of his catches were for first downs and Wilhelm also drew a pass interference on a third down play in the second half.

Defense
DE Tyre Coleman, So., Hobart
Coleman broke the 15-year-old Hobart game record for sacks with 4.5 in a 45-26 win at Utica, which also tied the school record for tackles for loss. The swarming Statesmen defense limited Utica to just 13 net yards rushing

DT Silvio Diaz, Jr., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Silvio posted three sacks among three and a half tackles for loss and forced a fumble for UMHB. Two of the sacks in the fourth quarter to help stuff Wesley's comeback bid. He led a defense that held the Wolverines to minus-4 rushing yards and 290 yards of total offense.

DE Ayo Idowu, Jr., St. Thomas
Idowu had a sack and 2.5 TFL among his seven total tackles with one QB hurry. His pressure helped forced St. John's into four second-half interceptions to help the Tommies top their archrival on the road 43-21. Idowu led a defense that held the Johnnies to 24 rushing yards on 24 carries (under their 182 yards per game average). The last 11 Johnnie possessions included five 3-and-outs and four intercepted passes with just one TD on a one-play 17-yard scoring drive.

LB Brian Hardenberg, Jr., Ithaca
Hardenberg had a career-high 12 tackles, including a school-record six tackles for loss, in his first career start. Tackles 11 and 12 were on Union's last two plays from scrimmage: He dropped the quarterback for a 2-yard loss on second-and-goal from the Ithaca 1, then notched a 10-yard sack (the first of his career) to drive the Dutchmen back to the 13 forcing them to kick an overtime field goal. He stopped Union's running back a yard short of what would have been a win-clinching first down with under two minutes to go, which forced Union to attempt a punt; their 30-yard loss on the punt snap set up Ithaca's tying score.

LB Cody Buresh, So., Wabash
Buresh tied a school record with five tackles for losses totaling 30 yards. His forced fumble in the second quarter led to the first Wabash touchdown of the game. He also brkoe up three passes.

LB Issa Diarra, Jr., Salisbury
Diarra had six tackles (five solo) for Salisbury in the then-No. 7 Sea Gulls' 69-6 win against North Carolina Wesleyan. He also posted three tackles for a loss of 17 yards, two sacks and a forced fumble.

CB Chris Hall, Jr., Buffalo State
Hall ended UW-Whitewater's first possession and last possession with interceptions, helping Buffalo State defeat the Warhawks 7-6. He finished with six tackles, five solo, with two of the solo tackles coming on consecutive plays in the red zone to force a field goal attempt.

S Ryan Wenkman, Sr., UW-Whitewater
Wenkman was credited with six tackles (three solo), a pass broken up and two interceptions in UW-W's 7-6 loss to Buffalo State. His first interception, in the first quarter, ended a BSC possession at Whitewater's 43. The second, in the third quarter, gave UW-W the ball at the Bengals' 33, setting up a field goal attempt.

S Drew Peterson, Jr., Albright
Peterson had a game-high seven solo tackles of his 10 total as the Albright defense shut out Wilkes for the first three quarters of a 27-13 win. Peterson picked off two passes in the first half and added two tackles for loss.

S Cody Pasterino, Sr., Willamette
Pastorino recorded five total tackles (four solo), forced a fumble, blocked a field goal and blocked an extra point against East Texas Baptist. He blocked a 34-yard field goal with 17 seconds left in the first half, then an extra point after ETBU scored with 12:55 left in the game to pull within 35-24. He forced a fumble on ETBU's next possession with the Tigers at their own 30-yard line.

CB Mike LaValley, Jr., St. Scholastica
LaValley recorded two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown in Saturday's win over Greenville. LaValley's first interception led to CSS' first score and he brought back the second one 73 yards for a touchdown for the final score of the game.

Special teams
K Nick Dace, Jr., North Central (Ill.)
Dace kicked the two longest field goals in North Central history in a 37-10 win at UW-Stout. He connected on a 53-yarder with 7:45 left in the game to break the previous record of 50, which had stood since 1994. Dace then broke his own record with a 55-yard kick with six seconds left. He had three field goals in the game.

P Nicholas Muir, Jr., Trine
Muir set a school record for the longest punt, 81 yards, and punt average in a single game, at 48.5 yards. Muir also pinned the Concordia (Wis.) offense inside its own 20 twice.

RET Tucker Schumitz, So., Western New England
Schumitz returned the opening kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown to set a school record, setting the tone for a Western New England 50-14 victory over visiting Worcester State.

ST Mike Benderski, Sr., St. John Fisher
Benderski blocked two field goals in the win over UR in the Courage Bowl - a game that raises funds for Camp Good Days. Benderski, who battled thyroid cancer as a kid, blocked a 32-yard field goal with under five minutes left and the game tied at 14-14, and teammate Wade Kline returned it for a 72-yard touchdown.