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| Daniel Papantonis powered the University of Rochester offense to the tune of 309 rushing yards. Rochester athletics photo |
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Games of Sept. 1-3, 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 Zac Boyes, So., Cortland
Boyes, in his first start as a Red Dragon after serving as a backup last year, set a school single-game record with 543 passing yards in Cortland's 48-28 win over visiting Wittenberg. He completed 22 of 30 passes with four touchdowns covering 90, 80, 49 and 3 yards. He broke the previous school record of 487 yards and finished 36 yards shy of the Empire 8 record.
OL Lou Cocozza, Cam Borges, Vinny Ruggiero, Jon Weber, Chris Eichler, Springfield
Springfield's offensive line paved the way for an impressive season-opening performance as the Pride stormed past Western New England, 42-14, in the annual Pynchon SAW Game. Springfield racked up 506 yards of total offense, 34 first downs, went 8-for-14 on third down and 2-for-3 on fourth down. The Pride held the ball for 37:13 and six players rushed for touchdowns in the victory.
RB Daniel Papantonis, Jr., Rochester
Papantonis had a record-breaking day in Saturday's loss at Utica. He piled up a school record 309 yards rushing, adding a career-high four touchdowns in the 43-28 defeat. Papantonis got off to a lightning quick start, taking his first two carries for scores, running 92 and 88 yards, recording two of the four longest runs in school history. He added 44-yard and 17-yard touchdown runs and ended the day with UR record 17.2 yards per carry (18 attempts). He also chipped in a 22-yard reception in the game, finishing with 331 yards.
RB Cornell Beachem Jr., Sr., Mount St. Joseph
Beachem had a roaring return to the gridiron after a 30 month absence, having missed the past two seasons due to injury and the COVID season. He put together a monster performance in the Lions 31-28 win over Baldwin Wallace. He carried the ball 22 times for 130 yards, adding 8 receptions for 131 yards. Including return yards he had an MSJ record 342 all-purpose yards in the win.
WR Beau Burk, So., Northwestern (Minn.)
Burk could not be stopped Saturday night as he recorded nine catches for 222 yards and a touchdown against Augsburg, setting the UNW single-game reception yardage record. The wideout highlighted his day with an 84-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
WR Ryan Neu, Jr., Central
Neu racked up a career-high 215 receiving yards, including scores from 70 and 44 yards to lead the Dutch offense in a 44-13 win over St. Olaf.
TE Mack Marston, Sr., Denison
Marston finished with 10 receptions for 110 yards during Denison's 48-31 home victory over Capital on Saturday night. Marston came up with a catch to help Denison convert on third down three times and had eight first-down catches overall.
Defense
DE Drake Neuberger, Sr., Marietta
Neuberger set the Marietta single game record with five sacks in the Pioneers' 14-13 win against Dubuque. He also blocked a field goal and had a game-high 13 total tackles, including six and a half for a loss.
DT Arthur Marsden, Jr., Birmingham-Southern
Marsden recorded a game-high nine tackles, two and a half tackles for loss and one sack. He led the way for a defense that only allowed 2 yards rushing in a 26-9 win against McMurry.
DE Nick Celli, Sr., TCNJ
Celli put together one of the most dominant defensive displays in program history on Saturday, racking up six and a half tackles for loss and a pair of sacks as part of a seven-sack effort for the Lions in a 31-13 win over Moravian. He was responsible for 28 yards of lost yardage. Celli had nine tackles, seven solo.
LB Donald Stralkus, So., MIT
In a 35-20 road win at Curry, Stralkus registered nine tackles, three tackles for loss for 16 yards, one and a half sacks for 12 yards and a forced fumble.
LB Johnny Smith-Rider, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Smith-Rider got the start at linebacker and totaled five tackles (four solo). He led the team with two and a half tackles for loss and added one sack and one forced fumble in Mary Hardin-Baylor's 62-13 win against Muhlenberg.
LB Reid Pakkbeier, So., Central
Sophomore linebacker Reid Pakkebier was all over the field Saturday in Central's 44-13 win against St. Olaf, notching a career-high 17 tackles (seven solo) with an interception.
CB Roshaune Downie, Jr., Denison
Downie had an interception and four pass breakups during Denison's 48-31 home victory over Capital under the lights on Saturday.
S Aaron Moore, Jr., Bridgewater
Moore's 44-yard interception return for a touchdown gave Bridgewater its first lead of the contest in a game the Eagles went on to win 29-14. Moore was credited with six total tackles, including a sack.
S Braedon Junker, Sr., Chicago
Junker picked off two passes and tallied a tackle for loss in a 34-14 win at Concordia-Chicago.
S Kiegan Schaan, Jr., George Fox
Schaan led the Bruins on defense in a win against Redlands with seven solo tackles, a sack, and a 55-yard fumble return that set up a touchdown for George Fox.
CB Lucky Deignan, Fr., MIT
In the win at Curry, Deignan registered four solo tackles, one tackle for loss, an interception returned for 25 yards and four pass breakups. He also blocked a kick that he recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that gave MIT the lead for good.
Special teams
K Will Goodman, Jr., Chicago
Goodman set a school record with a 51-yard field goal that easily cleared the uprights in the Maroons' 34-14 victory at Concordia-Chicago. The previous record of 50 yards had stood since 1986. Goodman also nailed a 34-yard field goal and went 4-for-4 on extra points. In addition, he put all seven of his kickoffs into the end zone.
P Matt Pardi, Sr., Wooster
Pardi lived up to his preseason All-America billing with three punts for 153 yards in Saturday's 33-25 win over Geneva. Pardi fired off a 56-yard punt in the third quarter and later nailed a 52-yard punt in the final minute as Wooster protected an eight-point lead.
RET Molayo Irefin, Jr., St. Vincent
Irefin posted the longest punt return in program history - and the first punt return touchdown for the Bearcats since 2014 - with his fourth quarter, 85-yard runback. The score gave St. Vincent a fourth-quarter lead in a game Stevenson eventually won 25-21. Irefin averaged 47.0 yards on two punt returns and 23.7 yards on three kick returns (as well as recording 10 receptions for 79 yards).
ST Steven Tafuri, So., Montclair State
Tafuri blocked a Thiel punt late in the third quarter which teammate Jalil Terrell picked up and returned for a touchdown. The score gave the Red Hawks some breathing room in a game they eventually went on to win 27-6.