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| Robby Michael Lakeland athletics photo |
Presented by 
Games of Oct. 4-5, 2024
The Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 26th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Robby Michael, Jr., Lakeland
Michael accounted for 410 yards of offense and four touchdowns in Muskies' 42-21 win over Benedictine. Playing in a sustained heavy wind all day, he completed a career-best 82.1% of his passes (23 of 28) for 240 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown, his third game with at least 140 yards rushing this season.
OL Quinn Sholar, Jax Bower, Kannon Kelley, Enrique Ruiz, Cameron Ford, Wabash
The Wabash front line helped the Little Giants produce a season-high 577 total yards of offense, including a season-best 334 rushing yards with five rushing touchdowns, in a 55-19 victory at Wooster. The quintet opened holes for starting running back Xavier Tyler, who finished with a career-best 185 yards on 15 attempts with two runs for more than 50 yards (55 and 53).
RB Mario Fischetti, Sr., Williams
Fischetti picked up 177 yards and two TDs on just nine carries during a 34-14 home victory vs. Bowdoin. He had TD runs of 68 and 80 yards in the contest.
RB Dre'Vaughn Mackall, Sr., Gallaudet
Mackall ran for a career-high 238 yards on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Bison rolled to a 42-28 win over Nichols . The Bison finished the game with 492 rushing yards and Mackall and senior quarterback Brandon Washington (166 rushing yards) combined for 404 rushing yards on 45 carries and five touchdowns and accounted for 82 percent of GU's rushing total. Mackall came up a yard shy of the program record. Mackall scored on touchdown runs of 13, 61 and 9 yards, averaging 8.5 yards per carry.
WR Brandt Stare, Sr., UW-Platteville
Stare finished with 189 receiving yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions while adding the game-winning touchdown pass in the Pioneers 30-27 overtime win over UW-La Crosse. He scored UW-Platteville's first touchdown of the game on a 78-yard strike late in the third quarter to cut the Pioneers deficit down to five points. Stare then played a big part in the team's late comeback in regulation, as his 42-yard touchdown catch got the Pioneers back within eight in the closing minutes. His biggest play of the game came on the Pioneers first offensive snap in overtime when he took a backward pass and found Ryan Doherty for a 25-yard touchdown pass to hand UW-Platteville the upset win.
WR Jaden AlfanoStJohn, Sr., Cortland
AlfanoStJohn caught eight passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns and ran three times for 29 yards in Cortland's 41-0 win over visiting Morrisville. He made a one-handed grab for a 20-yard TD reception in the third quarter and finished the scoring with a 24-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.
TE Thomas Burke, Sr., TCNJ
Burke had a big day in Saturday's 20-13 win over Montclair State, catching five passes for 125 yards and a crucial 65-yard catch-and-run touchdown that gave TCNJ a 17-3 lead late in the third quarter. His fifth and final reception of the day was the 100th of his career.
Defense
DE Maddox Reed, Jr., Norwich
Reed was instrumental in Norwich's defensive effort notching four total tackles, including three sacks for a loss of 15 yards and helping limit SUNY Maritime to 260 yards of total offense.
DT Jaylen Johnson, Sr., Lake Forest
Johnson recorded seven tackles, two solo, and two sacks on the day, as the Foresters shut out the Prarie Fire. The Forester defense's three sacks in the game match Knox's three completions and totaled more lost yardage (12) than the visitors gained on those catches (8).
DT Chance Knight, Sr., Marietta
Knight had nine total tackles including three and a half for a loss, one sack and a forced fumble in Marietta's 45-10 win over Ohio Northern. ONU entered the game with the top rushing offense in the OAC averaging 327.7 yards per game on the ground and was held to 29 yards rushing. ONU was also averaging 435.7 yards of total offense per game and was held to 144 total yards.
DE Ben Day, Jr., John Carroll
Day was a major disruptor against Muskingum with five tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, and three passes broken up. He helped the JCU defense limit Muskingum to 0.7 yards per carry and did not allow a TD until late in the fourth quarter.
LB Vance Feuerbacher, So., Centenary (La.)
Feuerbacher did it all for the Gents in their 35-14 home win over Lyon as he was the Gents' leading tackler on defense with 10 solo tackles (13 total tackles), had a 32-yard interception return for a TD, and had one pass breakup.
LB Mike Talbert Jr., Sr., Brockport
Talbert created problems for the St. John Fisher offense all game in Brockport's 35-0 win. The Golden Eagles kept the Cardinals to just 188 yards of total offense, including only 17 yards rushing for the game (0.6 ypc). Talbert was in the backfield making plays consistently with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Not only did he make plenty of stops with seven total tackles (four solo), but Mike also had an interception (18-yard return) which setup a score for the offense.
LB Draven Langston, So., Olivet
Langston totaled 13 tackles (nine solo) in leading the UOlivet football team to a 45-12 win over Kalamazoo. Of his 13 stops, two were for negative 10 yards. The win snapped Kalamazoo's four-game win streak to open the season.
CB Jordy Tawa, Jr., Rochester
Tawa recorded an interception for the sixth straight game overall dating back to last season and finished with six tackles (three solo) as the University of Rochester topped RPI 14-7 on Saturday to move to 5-0 on the season. Tawa's pick was a game-sealing turnover for Rochester, as he intercepted a pass on RPI's final drive of the game in the final minute of play.
S Joseph Norris, Jr., Washington U.
Norris finished with six total tackles, two of them solo, and had two interceptions in a 33-23 win against Illinois Wesleyan. Each of his picks set up WashU touchdown drives.
S Justin Kurc, Jr., TCNJ
Kurc was a force in the defensive backfield, racking up four pass breakups and adding a crucial interception to help the Lions hold off Montclair State, 20-13. Kurc's pick came in the end zone and preserved a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead, proving pivotal when the Red Hawks eventually closed to within a touchdown late in regulation. The junior also had four tackles, two of them solo stops.
CB Nick Bostrom, Sr., Salve Regina
Bostrom had a pair of interceptions against Merchant Marine, as well as a pair of pass breakups to go along with three tackles (two solo) as the Seahawks pulled off a close 31-28 win against the Mariners.
Special teams
K Joaquin Rodriguez, Sr., Texas Lutheran
Rodriguez accounted for 13 of the Bulldogs 43 points on Saturday making four extra points as well as all three field goal attempts from 26, 40, and 37 yards on Saturday in the Bulldogs 43-34 win over Austin College.
P Vicente Lyon, Jr., Hobart
Lyon broke a pair of Hobart records on Saturday and played a big role in the Statesmen's 16-7 win over Ithaca. His first punt, from 9 yards deep in his end zone, traveled a Hobart record 86 yards before it was downed at the Ithaca 13. He eclipsed his own record set in 2022 at Ithaca (73 yards). It's the longest punt in NCAA football this season. He followed that with punts of 57, 56 and 61 yards, averaging a Hobart record 65.0 yards per punt.
RET Zackary Orr, Sr., Brevard
Orr returned five punts for 129 yards, including one punt which he took back for an 88-yard touchdown in the Tornados' 55-21 win against Southern Virginia. He also caught two touchdown passes.
ST Jackson Lajoie, Sr., Carngie Mellon
Lajoie played a huge part in the Tartans' 42-0 victory over Waynesburg on Saturday night. Lajoie recorded two blocked kicks in the win. The first was on a 42-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter and the second on a punt on the Yellow Jackets first drive of the fourth quarter. The senior also recorded three tackles.