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September 8, 2008

Tiffin's Root Named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week

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BAY CITY, Mich. -- BAY CITY, Mich. - Tiffin University quarterback Matt Root (Trenton, Ohio/Edgewood) has been chosen as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week it was announced today by the league office. Ferris State University's Jake Visser(Coopersville, Mich.) was selected Defensive Player of the Week, while Wayne State's Dante Dunn (Lansing, Mich./Waverly) earned Special Teams Player of the Week Honors for the second consecutive week.

Matt Root - Tiffin University GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week:
Matt Root - Tiffin
(SR, QB, 6-4, 205, Trenton, Ohio/Edgewood)

Tiffin senior QB Matt Root was 37 of 53 passing for 407 yards, with three touchdowns covering 6, 33, and 2 yards, in a 36-27 loss to Findlay on Saturday. Root accounted for 407 of TU's 414 total offensive yards. Root battled through six Oilers sacks to lead the team back from 16 points down in the third quarter to climb to within one score, 29-21, with 4:10 to go in the quarter, before coming up just short of completing the comeback.

Offensive Honor Roll: Johnny Long - AU, Tim Hougue - FS, Anthony Lanzara - UF, Brad Iciek - GV, A.J. Kegg - HC, Phil Milbrath - MT, Ben Hempel - NM, DarrellDunnom - NU, Ronald Spears - SV, Joique Bell - WS.

Jake Visser - Ferris State University GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week:
Jake Visser - Ferris State
(SR, DT, 6-2, 275, Coopersville, Mich.)

Senior All-America defensive tackle Jake Visser helped to key the Bulldogs' 25-24 GLIAC upset at nationally 24th-ranked Ashland on Saturday. Visser came up with 12 total tackles, including nine solo stops in the contest. He also had one sack and one tackle for loss apiece, to go along with a fumble recovery. His performance helped the Bulldog defense limit the Eagles' explosive offense to only 86 rushing yards on 36 carries.

Defensive Honor Roll: Tom Brenner - AU, Mike Roach - UF, Danny Richard - GV, Tom Korte - HC, David Carmody - MT, Nathan Yelk - NM, Leroy Goulbourne - NU, John Jacobs - SV, Rashan Wilson - TU, Dante Dunn - WS.

Dante Dunn - Wayne State University GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week:
Dante Dunn - Wayne State
(SR, FS/KR, 5-10, 188, Lansing, Mich./Waverly)

Senior DB/return specialist Dante Dunn earned his second-straight Special Teams POTW award after returning two kickoffs at Saginaw Valley for a total of 111 yards including an 87-yard return for a touchdown. The scoring return was his second of the season and his fourth in the last 17 games. Dunn has the only two kickoff returns for a touchdown in the GLIAC this season.

Special Teams Honor Roll: Dawon Harvey - AU, Kevin Noe - FS, Cameron Stevens - UF, Robert Haynes - MT, Chris Kollias - NU, Jeremy Burr - SV.

--GLIAC Football Weekly Notes--

Ashland - A pair of players who had their 2007 seasons cut short by injury appear to be back and at full strength in 2008. Redshirt freshman linebacker Cory Skoczen (Berea, OH/St. Edward) leads the Eagles in tackles after two games (23 tackles/10 solo). Senior linebacker Tom Brenner (Orrville, OH) had a team-high 12 tackles last Saturday against Ferris State. He also recorded a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery. Brenner is second on the team in tackles (18/11 solo)...any doubts the Eagles had about replacing senior wide receivers David Ziegelhofer and Brandon Gilmore have been answered. Ziegelhofer had 45 catches last season and Gilmore caught 42 passes. Junior wide receiver Nick Bellanco (Wooster, OH) has 12 catches and is averaging 15.9 ypc., and senior Johnny Long (Cincinnati, OH/Akron) has 11 receptions and is averaging 15.7 ypc...Ferris State limited the Eagles to 24 points last week and that's just the second time in the last 10 games the Eagles have failed to score 34 or more points. The other time AU was held in check was against Central Washington (24 points) in last year's NCAA playoffs...a year ago, quarterback Billy Cundiff's (Uniontown, OH/Connecticut) single-game high for passing attempts was 34. He's surpassed that in both games this year - he threw 35 times against Bloomsburg and 37 times against Ferris State. Cundiff has four touchdown passes this year and has moved into eighth place at AU in career TD passes (22).

Ferris State - A potential game-winning 32-yard field goal try by the nationally-ranked Ashland Eagles was blocked as time expired as the Ferris State University football team pulled out a thrilling 25-24 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) triumph Saturday (Sept. 6) afternoon at Community Stadium in Ashland, Ohio... Following a Bulldog touchdown drive in the closing minute, AU took advantage of a long kickoff return into Ferris territory and moved the ball inside the FSU 20-yard line with 3.4 seconds remaining. However, Greg Berkshire's field goal try was blocked by Bulldog senior middle linebacker Kevin Noe (Orleans/Belding) as the horn sounded, giving the Bulldogs' special teams unit a big stop to preserve the victory in the league opener for both teams... The win was FSU's fourth-straight victory at Community Stadium against the Eagles, who were ranked 24th in this past week's national poll and picked to finish second in the league standings. FSU remains unbeaten (2-0, 1-0 GLIAC) with the win while the Eagles dropped to 0-2 (0-1 GLIAC) overall this season.

Findlay - The Oilers defeated Tiffin University 36-27 to remain undefeated on the season at 2-0...As a team, the Oilers racked up 298 yards on offense and gave up 414 with 407 of them coming through the air...Findlay was stout against the run however as they held Tiffin to only seven yards rushing on 25 carries...Junior quarterback Anthony Lanzara paced the offense with 214 yards on 23-of-36 passing which were all career-high's...Sophomore wide receiver Dustin Zielaskiewicz hauled in eight catches for a career-high 117 yards and a score while junior wide receiver Mike Chambers made nine receptions for 67 yards...Senior defensive back Jordan Marshall led the defense with 14 tackles while sophomore linebacker Brandon Craft and junior linebacker Joe Knopick added nine and eight tackles respectively...Junior defensive back Anthony Fields added two picks and seven tackles while senior defensive lineman Mike Roach had a huge day for Findlay after making six stops to go along with four tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks... His four tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks were both career-high's.

Grand Valley State - Grand Valley State is 22-16 in season-opening games and 12-6 when opening the season at home...Grand Valley State is 24-12 in home openers, including a 5-0 mark under Chuck Martin...GVSU is 94-6 in its last 100 games with four National Championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) and 99-10 since the start 2000...The 2007 GVSU senior class is 41-1 with two National Championships and three GLIAC titles...Grand Valley State has won 33 consecutive regular season games. The Lakers' last regular season loss was 10/23/04 to Northwood (35-14)...Since 2001, the Lakers are 53-3 at home, 37-3 in their last 40 road games and 41-4 in all games away from Lubbers Stadium in their last 45...Grand Valley State is 64-3 in its last 67 GLIAC games. The Lakers have won a league record 31 straight GLIAC?games dating back to the 2004 season...The Lakers' last GLIAC loss was a 35-14 decision to Northwood on 10/23/04 at Lubbers Stadium...Grand Valley State's crowd of 13,201 versus Indianapolis was the fourth-largest crowd in Lubbers Stadium history.

Hillsdale - After nearly overcoming a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit, the Hillsdale College football team fell to 1-1 on the season with a 39-36 loss at Michigan Tech...The Chargers haven't won in Houghton since the 1996 season...The Chargers' last four losses (including three in 2007) have come by a combined total of 14 points ...Hillsdale has scored 30 or more points in 12 of its past 13 games ...Three of those 12 games were losses, all coming on the road ...Junior wide receiver A.J. Kegg has caught a touchdown pass in three straight games and has back-to-back 100-yard receiving efforts to open the season...Senior wide receiver Aaron Waldie caught his 23rd career touchdown pass vs. the Huskies, leaving him one shy of the school's career record in that category... Michigan Tech's last two home wins over the Chargers have come by a combined five points...This week, Hillsdale will host Northwood University for the first time since the 2004 season.

Indianapolis - Sophomore Lance Lasker came on in relief to provide a spark in the UIndy offense at GVSU, rushing 12 times for a career-high 89 yards and a score.

Michigan Tech - Running back Phil Milbrath (Norway, Mich.) compiled 125 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries vs. Hillsdale. The sophomore now averages 107.0 yards per game on the season with a team-high four touchdowns ... Wide receiver Keith White (Rhinelander, Wis.) caught seven passes for 137 yards last Saturday (Sept. 6). The senior co-captain has totaled 18 catches on the season to move into seventh place on Tech's all-time receptions chart with 101 ... Jesse Vandenberg (Kaukauna, Wis.) tallied five tackles including second-quarter sack for a safety. The safety was the first scored by Tech since Aug. 25, 2007, at Winona State ... Tech has won five consecutive games vs. Hillsdale at Sherman Field ... Robert Haynes nearly broke a school record with 192 yards on eight kickoff returns in Tech's 39-36 win over Hillsdale. The Tech record is 199 yards. Haynes averaged 24.0 yards per return to help the Huskies have an average starting field position of the 36-yard line. Haynes, who also recorded a 22-yard interception return, led all players in the game in all-purpose yards with 214 ... David Carmody (Newberry, Mich.) totaled 11 tackles for the second straight game. He also posted his second career interception in the game ... Freshman Stephen Worthy tallied his first career touchdown with a 36-yard reception from Short just 2:12 into the game ... The Huskies are 20-4 (83.3 percent) in their last 24 games at Sherman Field.

Northern Michigan - For the second time in three years Northern Michigan won its opening game of the season, on Saturday the Wildcats defeated Northwood to open up the 2008 campaign (30-7) as they won the 2006 season opener over Indianapolis (27-20 OT)...Over 200 yards of the ‘Cats 263 yards on the ground came from Mark Bossuah (14 carries 129 yards) and newcomer Maurice Williams (17 carries 98 yards)...Ben Hempel in his first start at quarterback was 13-18-0 for 236 yards with two TDs he also had three carries for seven yards...The 561 yards of total offense was the second time in the past three games going back to last year the ‘Cats had over 500 yards in total offense...Dan Elmore who had all the punt returns in 2007 had the only two against the Timberwolves (two for 24 yards)...Eleven of the 15 catches were hauled in by Zach Nichols (six for 75 yards) and Fred Wells (five for 81 yards) ...Nathan Yelk led the defense with nine total tackles (six solo and three assisted)...Alex Grignon and Andrew Strobel each had an interception against the Timberwolves...NMU was 3-5 in the red zone against Northwood...This week the ‘Cats go on the road to face Tiffin University for the first time.

Northwood - The Northwood University football team opened the 2008 season with a 30-7 loss at Northern Michigan ... the contest was the debut of head coach Mike Sullivan ... NU had opportunities to score in the opening half, but were unable to score - Northwood reached the NU 40 four times in the opening half ... the lone TD for Northwood in the game came in the fourth quarter on a Darrell Dunnom (Miami, Fla./Norland) 11-yard run ... the Timberwolves rushed for 215 yards in the game, led by senior Torris Childs (N. Chicago, Ill.), who finished with 79 yards ... Leroy Goulbourne (Hollywood, Fla./McArthur) led the defense with nine tackles ... the Timberwolves will travel to Hillsdale for their first meeting with the Chargers since the 2005 season Saturday at 1:30.

Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley State University defeated Wayne State for the 17th straight time on Saturday as they honored Public Address announcer Joe Heitkamp for his 34 years of service. Heitkamp was behind the mic for 170 of 171 home games ever at Wickes Stadium. Freshman Ronald Spears (Milan, Mich.) found the end zone twice for the Cardinals in his first collegiate game. Quarterback Dan Stiefel (Emmett, Mich./Sterling Heights Stevenson) connected on 22 of 30 passes for 276 yards and two interceptions. Wide Reciever Galen Stone (Grand Blanc, Mich./Swartz Creek) had nine catches for 113 yards to lead the Cardinals receivers. Running back Brandon Emeott quietly had a game rushing with 14 carries for 66 yards and a TD. John Jacobs (Prudenville, Mich./Midland Dow) lead the Cardinals defense with 12 tackles and a forced fumble. Mike LeVand (Grandville, Mich.) had a solid day with eight tackles and also recovered a fumble on Wayne States opening drive at the Saginaw Valley one yard line that ended up being one of key defensive plays of the game. The Cardinal will return to action on September 13, when they host Grand Valley at Wickes Stadium in the annual Battle of the Valleys game.

Tiffin - The Dragons continue to spread around the passing, as Dyshaun Edwards had 11 catches for 156 yards and a 33 yard touchdown, Trey Williams had 7 catches for 83 yards, Greg Raspberry had 5 catches for 79 yards, and Mike Lento had 8 catches for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns...Edwards had 231 all-purpose yards, gaining 156 in receptions, 64 on kick returns, and 11 in punt returns...Cameron Mobley also had 130 all-purpose yards, gaining 109 on kick returns, 17 in rushing, and 4 in receptions...Parris Burt is averaging 14 tackles per game so far this year, registering 11 more tackles against Findlay. 

Wayne State - For the second straight week, the outcome came down to the last drive ... this time the Warrior offense was unable to get the winning score after the defense stopped Mercyhurst the week before ... senior quarterback Mickey Berce (Dearborn, Mich.) set career highs vs. Saginaw Valley with 18 completions and 30 passing attempts ... he has thrown just one interception in 115 career passing attempts ... for the second consecutive contest, and for the fourth time in the last 17 games, senior Dante Dunn (Lansing, Mich./Waverly) returned a kickoff for a touchdown ... he now has four of the nine longest kickoff returns for a touchdown in school history ... his career kickoff return average is 28.12 (1378 yards on 49 returns) ... Dunn also set career highs at SVSU with 12 solo and 18 total tackles ... senior kicker David Chudzinski (Belleville, Mich.) set a career high with a 50-yard field goal ... his previous long of 49 came in 2006 vs. Hillsdale ... it was only the sixth field goal of 50 yards or more in school history and the first since Robert Klick made a 51-yard attempt on Oct. 20, 1990, at Northern Michigan ... sophomore corner Stan Thornton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow) recorded an interception his fourth in the last three games dating back to last season ... junior running back Joique Bell (Benton Harbor, Mich.) needs 59 all-purpose yards to break the school record of 4,536 set by Joe Gough (1991-94).