NSIC Players of the Week: Week #8 (10/23)

[wscsuperfan]

NSIC Offensive Player of the Week
#0 Jarod Epperson (RB, 6-0, 195, Sr., Omaha, Neb. / Skutt Catholic HS) - Augustana
- Accounted for 201 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns a 28-10 win over No. 3 Minnesota State
- Rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown, his second-straight 100-plus yard game
- Had 65 yards receiving with a touchdown
- Averaged 7.6 yards per carry and 21.6 yards per reception
- Scored on an 86-yard rush, the third longest rushing score in program history
- Augustana is 8-0 for the third time in program history

NSIC Defensive Player of the Week
#54 Jake Adams (LB, 6-0, 220, Fr., Pulaski, Wis. / Pulaski HS) - Northern State
- Tallied a team leading 11 tackles, including ten solo stops in a 28-26 win over WSC
- The 10 solo stops topped the NSIC last week, and the 11 total tackles tied for second best
- Recorded a 15-yard pick-six in the third quarter for the Wolves first touchdown of the game
- Added a pass break-up in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a pick-six for teammate Luke Gunderson

NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week
#43 Avery Book (P, 5-10, 190, Jr., Ironton, Ohio / Ironton HS) - Augustana
- Punted six times for an average of 45.2 yards per punt
- Had three punts travel 50 plus yards with a long of 59 yards
- Half of his punts were into a brisk 20 mph wind
- Leads the NSIC in punt average by more than a yard

[wscsuperfan]

Others Under Consideration

OFFENSE

Ali Mohamed (BSU)
- Rushed 10 times for 77 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-3 win over CSP
- Averaged 7.7 yards per attempt and had a long carry of 24 yards
- On one drive alone, carried the ball four times and accounted for all 64 yards and a TD

Sofian Massoud (UMARY)
- Responsible for 313 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-34 loss to No. 13 Davenport
- Passed for 267 yards and three touchdowns
- Through touchdowns to three different receivers
- Finished 28-of-55 on his pass attempts and didn’t throw an interception
- Ran for 46 yards and a touchdown (6 yards) with a long run of 25 on nine attempts

Jaylen Mcknight (UMD)
- Ran for a career high 109 yards and three touchdowns in 46-7 win at Minot State
- Tied for the league high in TDs, points (18) and ranked sixth among all rushers
- Averaged 6.81 yards per carry over 18 attempts

Cair'ron Hendred (WSU)
- Had two touchdown runs of 75+ yards
- Scored on a 75-yard TD in the 1st quarter and a 77-yard TD in the 2nd quarter
- Scored three touchdowns overall on the day
- Amassed 178 total rushing yards on 8 rushes, averaging 22.3 yards per carry
- Had the 38th-best single-game rushing performance in WSU football history
- Racked up the 4th and 5th longest rush in the NSIC so far this year

DEFENSE

Haden Wallace (AUGIE)
- Led Augustana with nine tackles
- Recorded a sack for a loss of eight yards

Max Buduris (BSU)
- Tallied seven tackles (four solo), along with a tackle for loss
- Added a sack, two pass breakups and an interception
- His interception was returned for a touchdown 10 yards

McKale Pierson (MSUM)
- Tallied four tackles and an interception in MSUM's 34-17 win over Southwest Minnesota State
- Registered one tackle for loss (for 29 yards) and forced a fumble in the victory
- Scored his first career touchdown, recovering the fumble he forced for a 10-yard score

Isaiah Bigby (MINOT)
- Had two interceptions against Minnesota Duluth
- Tied the Minot State single-game NCAA Division II-era school record for picks in a game
- Added four tackles on the day

Avery Johnson (SMSU)
- Recorded four tackles for loss with three sacks and one forced fumble in SMSU's 34-17 loss to MSUM
- Finished the game with six total tackles, including five solo
- A strip sack in the first quarter set-up SMSU's first touchdown of the game
- The three sacks is the highest total by a Mustang player in a game since the 1998 season

Darius Manuel (WSU)
- Had three tackles for loss against the Cougars
- One of Manuel's TFLs was a sack for six yards
- Also was credited with a pass breakup

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kevin Powell (UMary)
- Converted field goal attempts of 26 and 29 yards
- Made both his extra point attempts in the Marauders 44-34 loss to No. 13 Davenport
- Averaged 44.0 yards on five punts, with a long of 66, and downed two inside the 20
- The Panthers only managed 18 yards on four punt returns and 33 yards on two kick returns

Knylen Miller-Levi (MINOT)
- Recorded his second kick-off return for a touchdown in his career at Minot State
- Became the fourth player with a 100-yard return, taking it 101 yards for a touchdown for the Beavers
- A starting defensive back for the Beavers, added 5 tackles, including 1 for a loss
- Bemidji State blocked three punts on three straight attempts by the Golden Bears
- Marcus Hansen, Stephen Hoffman and Jacob Drietz all collected blocked punts
- The blocked punts resulted in 19 points

Drew Smook (NSU)
- Kicked the game winning field goal against Wayne State with three seconds remaining
- The field goal was a 21-yarder and Smook's seventh of the season
- Added 270 yards on kickoffs, averaging 54.0 yards per boot

Jacob Scott (WSU)
- Was a perfect 6-for-6 on PATs
- Is the only kicker in the NSIC with a 100% conversion rate on PATs with more than 10 attempts
- Had 7 kickoffs for 373 yards, with two touchbacks

[#WolvesNation]

Others Under Consideration

SPECIAL TEAMS

Drew Smook (NSU)
- Kicked the game winning field goal against Wayne State with three seconds remaining
- The field goal was a 21-yarder and Smook's seventh of the season
- Added 270 yards on kickoffs, averaging 54.0 yards per boot

Under consideration for Special Teams player of the week was the NSU kicker that missed 2/2 extra points and had to be benched in favor of backup QB/TE Van Landingham for XP kicking duties (he went 1/2), along with Smook missing a chip shot 31 yarder. Came back to make a game winning 21 yarder though for his only made kick of the night (and I guess can argue the only one that mattered)... what a deal.

[wscsuperfan]

Under consideration for Special Teams player of the week was the NSU kicker that missed 2/2 extra points and had to be benched in favor of backup QB/TE Van Landingham for XP kicking duties (he went 1/2), along with Smook missing a chip shot 31 yarder. Came back to make a game winning 21 yarder though for his only made kick of the night (and I guess can argue the only one that mattered)... what a deal.

Quite a turn of events there ............I'm sure the whole stadium was nervous on that chip shot. I honestly thought there was a good chance at a miss there.

[#WolvesNation]

Quite a turn of events there ............I'm sure the whole stadium was nervous on that chip shot. I honestly thought there was a good chance at a miss there.

Definite nerves by everyone that was around me (and thoughts of a miss/going for it). No one was sure who would even get the nod if we did kick it. The thing that may have helped was left footed kicker on the right hash to at least change up the angle.

[Thunder]

Quite a turn of events there ............I'm sure the whole stadium was nervous on that chip shot. I honestly thought there was a good chance at a miss there.

I think Coach Schmidt is the only one in the stadium or watching online that thought it was a good idea. In his post game comments he said his plan was to get close and kick a FG so that Wayne had no time left. He said his assistants probably thought he had a concussion. Watching from afar, I was certainly hoping the Wolves scored a TD and didn't leave it up to a kick. But kudos to Smook for making the one that mattered most, and kudos for Schmidt to make that call.

Also, what a game from Jake Adams. A true freshman in his first career start and he wreaked havoc all night. I look forward to watching him play for quite some time in Aberdeen.