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| C.J. Mustain returns to the Team of the Week for the second time in his career. Merchant Marine athletics photo |
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Games of Oct. 14-15, 2022
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 24th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Braeden Zenelovic, Sr., Utica
Zenelovic accounted for each of Utica's five touchdowns in Saturday's 35-21 win over Brockport to help the team reach 6-0 for the first time in program history. The senior threw for four touchdowns of 17, 25 and two for 39 yards while also using his legs for an 8-yard touchdown run to break a 21-21 tie. He also set career highs with 324 passing yards, four touchdown passes, five total touchdowns and a 76.9 completion percentage (20-for-24).
OL Jeske Maples, Alex Knaperek, Jarod Thornton, Sam Pryor, Will Ebert, North Central
North Central established single-game records and 2022 Division III season highs in rushing yards (597) and total yards (776) in a 65-0 win against Millikin. The Cardinals scored touchdowns on their first eight possessions, each of which covered at least 60 yards.
RB Bryce Agnew, Sr., Marietta
Agnew carried the ball 26 times for a career-high 252 yards and four touchdowns in Marietta's 34-0 win against Wilmington. Three of the touchdowns came on runs of more than 25 yards (30, 67, 27). Agnew scored Marietta's first four touchdowns of the game.
RB Jay White, So., Delaware Valley
White ran for a career-high 217 yards on just 17 carries as he averaged 12.8 yards per run and found the end zone twice in DelVal's 34-10 road victory against Lebanon Valley.
WR Zachary Kim, So., Kenyon
Kim finished with 17 catches for 197 yards and three touchdowns in Kenyon's 42-41 loss to Wooster. The 17 grabs are tied for third-most all-time by a Kenyon receiver. Each of Kim's three touchdown catches put the Owls in position to tie the game, as Kenyon rallied from a 35-7 deficit.
WR Joey Kidder, So., Bethel
Kidder set a single-game program record with 16 receptions for a career-high 196 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Jaran Roste in a win against Concordia-Moorhead. Kidder had 61 yards-after-catch in the game.
TE James Nye, Sr., Muhlenberg
Nye caught eight passes for 106 yards and three touchdowns in the Mules' 34-27 loss at No. 8 Johns Hopkins. The three TD catches tied a school record for tight ends and came against a Blue Jay defense that had given up only seven passing touchdowns in the first five games of the season.
Defense
DE Trey Belyeu-Witcher, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Belyeu-Witcher had eight total tackles in the Cru's win against Texas Lutheran, with six solo takedowns. He added five tackles for 17 yards lost, one sack and a forced fumble.
DT Dan Lester, Jr., North Central (Ill.)
Lester registered multiple tackles for loss for the fifth straight week as North Central shut out its opponent for the second consecutive week, the first time the Cardinals have done so since 2003. He registered five tackles and a career-high three sacks.
DT Joel Zellem, Sr., Waynesburg
Zellem finished with eight total tackles, five of which were solo stops, in a 34-17 win against Bethany. He also recovered a fumble that set up a touchdown drive for Waynesburg.
DE C.J. Mustain, Sr., Merchant Marine
Mustain totaled six tackes in the Mariners' 17-0 shutout win at MIT on Saturday, with five for losses of combined 28 yards, including four sacks dropping the Engineers back 23 yards. He now has 10 sacks on the season and ranks first in the nation in tackles for losses (2.9 per game) and tied for first in sacks (1.67 per game).
LB Frank Roti, So., Illinois Wesleyan
Roti turned the game around for Illinois Wesleyan as the Titans overcame a 20-point deficit against North Park. With IWU clawing its way back, Roti punched a ball loose with the Vikings on the verge of another score. The fumble, which was recovered by the Titans, led to a 23-yard touchdown to pull IWU within six at halftime. Roti also picked off a NPU pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown, all but sealing the IWU win with under three minutes to play. Roti finished with eight tackles, one for loss, a pass breakup, and the two key takeaways.
LB Will Campbell, Fr., Carroll
Campbell had a season-high 16 tackles (10 solo) to lead the Pioneers. He forced a fumble as one of his four tackles for loss on the afternoon, give Carroll the ball back in the second quarter with a chance to score. Pioneers held Elmhurst to 46 yards rushing in a 31-28 win in two overtimes.
LB Agustin Diaz, Sr., Lakeland
Diaz posted career highs including eight tackles (five solo) and five tackles for loss, including a safety as the Muskies earned first win of season, defeating Concordia-Chicago 43-23.
CB Garrett Ellson, Jr., Minnesota-Morris
Elison helped Minnesota-Morris post its first shutout since 2012 in a 27-0 victory at Crown. Elison had two interceptions, one of which he returned for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 at the half. He also had a forced fumble, a pass breakup, and three tackles.
S Simon Weeren, Jr., Rochester
Weeren led a defense that forced five Buffalo State turnovers, plus an additional two turnovers on downs, holding the Tigers to just six points offensively. The junior tallied a game-high 16 tackles (eight solo), two interceptions, three pass breakups, and a half tackle for a loss of two yards. Both of Weeren's interceptions came in the fourth quarter, helping seal the win. His first stopped a Buffalo State drive just outside the red zone on 2nd-and-9 with UR leading 12-0, while his second took a potential score away from the Tigers as he intercepted a pass in the end zone and ran it back 18 yards, keeping Buffalo State off the scoreboard.
S Reece Miller, Jr., Central
Miller had three picks, including a 54-yard pick-six after Central's lead had shrunk to 11 in the third quarter. He also forced a fourth quarter fumble that was recovered by the Dutch in a 52-27 win. Miller finished with eight tackles, five of them solo stops.
CB Deorion Moore, Jr., St. John Fisher
Moore was a big part of the passing defense that allowed 188 yards through the air as St. John Fisher defeated Alfred 21-7. The defensive back had four tackles, a pass breakup and two interceptions that were returned for 37 yards. Both interceptions came with the defense in the red zone and kept the Saxons off the scoreboard.
Special teams
K Daniel Cunningham, So. Denison
Cunningham connected on the game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired during Denison's 41-38 win over Hiram. He also added a 34-yard field goal to give the Big Red a three-point lead, 24-21, as the clock expired in the first half. In the end, Cunningham made both of his field goals and was a combined 7-for-7 on the day after drilling all five of his extra point kicks.
P Vicente Garcia, Jr., Redlands
Garcia led averaged 46.3 yards per punt with a long punt of 60 yards for Redlands in a late-night 38-28 loss at Chapman. Redlands netted 45.2 yards per punt on the night.
RET Matthew Jackson, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Jackson broke the UMHB and ASC record for longest punt return with a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown on Saturday. The score gave UMHB at 14-6 lead in a game the Cru went on to win 45-16 against Texas Lutheran.
ST Zefan Nathanson, Fr., Gallaudet
Nathanson only recorded one stat at Dean but it may have been the biggest one. The freshman special teamer lined up with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter with Gallaudet down 23-18 as Dean faced fourth-and-6 at its own 19-yard line. When the ball was snapped, Nathanson busted through the right side of the line and leaped to lay out and block the punt made by Enrico Hernandez at the 8-yard line. The ball bounced into the Dean end zone where GU recovered the ball and took its first lead of the game at 24-23. The Bison converted the two-point conversion to take a 26-23 lead with minutes left as GU completed the comeback after it trailed 23-6 in the third quarter.