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| Ben Stola Ithaca athletics photo |
Presented by 
Games of Sept. 29-30, 2023
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 25th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Zac Boyes, Jr., Cortland
Boyes completed 22 of 29 passes (76 percent) for 294 yards and four touchdowns and rushed 10 times for 111 yards and two scores in Cortland's 52-15 win at Morrisville. He threw a 70-yard TD pass on Cortland's first play from scrimmage and also had TD passes of 2, 38 and 22 yards. His TD runs covered 7 and 9 yards, and seven of his runs covered 10 or more yards.
OL Jeske Maples, Nick Fehrle, Jarod Thornton, Sam Pryor, Zach Fortier, North Central
North Central achieved a season high in rushing yards and posted second effort of 600-plus yards of the season while posting the program's highest score in a game against Wheaton since 1917. The Cardinals averaged just more than 12 yards per play and scored four touchdowns on plays of 40-plus yards in the first 18 minutes.
RB Kennedy Fauntleroy, Jr., Bridgewater (Va.)
Fauntleroy ran for the sixth-best total in team history and the most yards in a single game since 2011 as he carried 32 times for 246 yards and four touchdowns in a 39-38 win against Hampden-Sydney. It was his second game with at least four touchdowns on the season.
RB Garrett Cora, Jr., Franklin
Cora had a career afternoon for Franklin in their HCAC-opening win against Bluffton. He finished with 31 carries for 265 yards and three scores as Franklin won 31-24.
WR Nathan Streiff, Jr., Carleton
Streiff set a Carleton single-game record with 17 receptions in the Knights' 36-35 victory at Concordia-Moorhead. His 17 catches are the most in D-III this year. He caught three touchdowns and had 190 receiving yards. The Knights faced a 14-point deficit with 7:24 remaining and scored on back-to-back possessions, both ending in touchdown receptions by Streiff (27 yds, 8 yds), to put Carleton in position to win the game on a two-point conversion.
WR John Peduzzi, Sr., Washington & Jefferson
Peduzzi hauled in a career-high 13 catches for a career-best 202 yards and three touchdown receptions in a narrow 31-24 setback to Grove City in a battle for first place in the PAC. Peduzzi twice hauled in go-ahead touchdown grabs in the second half.
TE Ntense Obono, Jr., Carleton
Obono had 11 grabs for 85 yards and two touchdowns on a day when the Knights needed every point in a come-from-behind 36-35 victory at Concordia-Moorhead. Carleton trailed 35-28 with only 43 seconds left when Obono came up with an 11-yard catch and run on fourth-and-10 to set up the game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion.
Defense
DE Max Pisula, Sr., St. Vincent
Pisula recorded 11 tackles, four tackles for loss (28 yards), two sacks (20 yards), a school-record-tying three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in a 28-19 come-from-behind win against Geneva. Both of his sacks were strip sacks. Also utilized as a wildcat quarterback, Pisula rushed for a 4-yard touchdown, his third of the season, that gave St. Vincent its first lead of the night, 21-17.
DT Nicolas Canales, Jr., Bridgewater State
Canales notched 11 tackles (seven solo) including two and a half sacks to go along with a forced fumble in the Bears' 38-14 win over Fitchburg State.
DT Dawson Dietz, Jr., Washington & Jefferson
Dietz finished with a career-high 12 tackles, seven of them solo, and added a sack in W&J's 31-24 loss at Grove City.
DE Kaden Tong, So., Case Western Reserve
Tong turned in one of the best games of his career during the Spartans' 34-12 win over Bethany. Tong finished the contest with a career-high 14 tackles (13 solo) to lead all CWRU players, including three tackles for loss and two sacks.
LB James Curtis, Sr., Capital
Curtis helped Capital to its first win in 18 games, defeating crosstown rivals Otterbein 35-31. He led the team with a career-high 14 tackles which included a strip sack that resulted in a 14 yard loss and several huge stops on third or fourth downs helping keep the Comets in the picture. He was also involved in the game-clinching batdown on Otterbein's final hail mary attempt.
LB Owen Grover, Sr., Wartburg
Grover had a season-high 14 tackles, one tackles for loss and one sack, helping lead the defensive front that held Coe to 36 rushing yards. His sack came on third-and-5 from the Wartburg 49-yard line with under 3 minutes left in the game and stalled out the Coe drive as they were attempting to tie the game.
LB Ben Stola, Sr., Ithaca
Stola played the best game of his career as Ithaca defeated Hobart, 24-14. Stola racked up 17 total tackles (eight solo), which included three and a half tackles for loss and a sack. Stola also recovered a fumble and returned the ball 8 yards.
CB Josh Uvodich, Sr., Christopher Newport
Uvodich led a stellar Christopher Newport defensive effort in a 24-14 victory over Salisbury. He intercepted two passes, broke up two, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble as the CNU defense allowed just one score (the other coming on an interception return). Uvodich also registered five tackles, and his second pick of the afternoon with just over four minutes to play cemented the win for CNU, ending a 21-game conference winning streak for Salisbury.
S Daryl Scott, So., Lewis & Clark
Scott recorded nine tackles and came through with an interception in the end zone in double overtime to help cap off Lewis & Clark's 37-31, double-overtime comeback win at George Fox. He posted a team-high and career-high five solo tackles and nine tackles to lead the Pioneers in both categories. His first collegiate interception came on a second-and-5 in double overtime to turn the Bruins over and help secure Lewis & Clark's comeback from 18 points down.
S Reece Miller, Sr., Central
Miller had an interception and seven tackles in the 55-16 win over Dubuque. He had a solo tackle on third down in the red zone to force a Dubuque field goal on the opening drive. His solo tackle later in the first quarter forced a Spartan punt.
CB Sherrod Cooper, Sr., Montclair State
Cooper tallied six tackles, four solo, while breaking up four passes and hauling in a 46-yard interception that set up a touchdown in Montclair State's 42-7 win over TCNJ.
Special teams
K Tyler Huettel, Sr., Trinity (Texas)
Huettel continued his outstanding special teams play on Saturday, leading Trinity to a 46-37 comeback win at Berry. Huettel went 5-for-5 on PATs and 3-for-3 on field goals. He made two short field goals of 19 and 21 yards in the first half, then hit a 52-yarder to tie the game 37-37 with just under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
P Ethan Klapatch, Jr., Millsaps
Klapatch helped the Majors to a 14-8 road win at Birmingham-Southern. Klapatch recorded 10 punts for 459 yards (45.9 yard average), with a long of 50 yards and two inside the 20.
RET A.J. Jackson, Sr., Lake Forest
After missing the 2022 season with injury and start of 2023 with a separate injury, Jackson had 109 return yards on Saturday, including his ninth career punt return for a touchdown which extended the NCAA Division III record.
ST James Woods, Jr., Brevard
Brevard blocked a crucial field goal attempt in the third quarter that helped BC complete the comeback in a 34-24 win against Greensboro. The block came in the third quarter as Greensboro was looking to tie the score. Instead, Brevard scored on its next possession to make it a two-score game.