Football | 11/5/2018 3:50:00 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The MIAA has named its weekly Football Athletes of the Week. Emporia State’s Braxton Marstall was selected as the Offensive Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week. Jose Delgado of Fort Hays State was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week. James Brania-Hopp of Washburn was tabbed with Special Teams Player of the Week Accolades.
Marstall had a season-high four touchdown passes and completed a season’s best 73.8 percent of his passes in a 48-0 win over Missouri Southern. He connected with 11 different Hornets, six of them for completions of at least ten yards and threw touchdown passes to four different players. After a scoreless first quarter, Marstall went 13 of 17 for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter and led the Hornets to four scoring drives in the quarter to give the Hornets a 20-0 lead.
Delgado led Fort Hays State with 10 tackles in a 17-16 win at Northwest Missouri. He made eight solo stops on the day, the biggest coming early in the fourth quarter by stopping the Bearcats on 4th-and-1 for no gain at the FHSU 41-yard line. Delgado helped the FHSU defense limit the Bearcats to just 178 yards of total offense on 57 plays (3.1 yards per play).
Brania-Hopp finished with 221 yards in kickoff returns for 337 all-purpose yards in a win against Pittsburg State. He had a kickoff return of 99 yards for a touchdown after a Gorilla score in the fourth quarter. Earlier in the game, Brania-Hopp had an 81-yard kickoff return which set up an Ichabod field goal entering the halftime break. His 337 all-purpose yards set an Ichabod single-game record for all-purpose yards in a game. Overall, Brania-Hopp averaged 55.25 yards per kickoff return.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES - OFFENSE
Justin Curry - Central Oklahoma
Curry led UCO in a dominating win over Northeastern State 62-0. He had 18 carries for 157 yards, 8.7 yards per carry, and also scored three touchdowns. Curry had a long rush of 49 yards and also had a 41-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Harley Hazlett - Fort Hays State
Hazlett was a go-to playmaker for Fort Hays State in the 17-16 win at Northwest Missouri. He finished with a season-best 13 catches for 121 yards, while also rushing the ball three times for six yards. His 127 all-purpose yards accounted for 50.4 percent of Fort Hays State’s 252 total yards in the game. He hauled in a five-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and six of his 13 receptions produced first downs for the Tigers, three during third-down situations.
Cade Brister - Lindenwood
Brister produced over 400 yards of offense against Central Missouri in a 31-28 loss on Saturday. He threw for 312 yards while rushing for 100 yards on the ground. Brister had three scores through the air and another on the ground.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES - DEFENSE
Derrick McGreevy - Washburn
McGreevy led the Ichabods with 14 tackles with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble which set up an Ichabod field goal in the third quarter.
James Huskey - Missouri Western
Huskey helped the Griffon defense shut Nebraska-Kearney out in the second half, holding the Lopers to 125 second half yards. The senior linebacker finished with 12 total tackles, nine solo, and a tackle for loss.
Tommy Carter - Central Missouri
Carter led the Mules defensive effort with a game-high 12 tackles in their win at Lindenwood. The 12 stops are a career-high and he also made 0.5 tackles for loss for two yards.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES - SPECIAL TEAMS
Dante Brown - Fort Hays State
Brown made his only field goal attempt in a 17-16 win at Northwest Missouri, but it was the game-deciding score coming at 9:08 remaining in the third quarter. He knocked through the 42-yard attempt to put the Tigers back on top. Brown also knocked through both of his extra points tries for the game and averaged 39.9 yards per punt. His longest punt of the game was 47 yards and two of his seven punts started drives inside the 20-yard line.
Luke Theis - Missouri Western
Theis averaged 49.3 yards per punt with two 50-plus yard boots. He had one punt downed inside the 20-yard as well.
Sam Dobbins - Emporia State
Dobbins was two for two on field goal attempts to give Emporia State a 48-0 win over Missouri Southern. He also punted for the first time as a Hornet, forcing two fair catches in the fourth quarter.
Offensive Player of the Week Nominations: Devante Turner - Central Missouri, Justin Curry - Central Oklahoma, Braxton Marstall - Emporia State, Harley Hazlett - Fort Hays State, Cade Brister - Lindenwood, Keylan Mack - Missouri Western, Shawn Bane, Jr. - Northwest Missouri, Mitch Schurig - Washburn
Defensive Player of the Week Nominations: Tommy Carter- Central Missouri, Jace McDown - Emporia State, Jose Delgado - Fort Hays State, James Huskey - Missouri Western, Austen Eskew - Northwest Missouri, Derrick McGreevy - Washburn
Special Teams Player of the Week Nominations: Devante Turner - Central Missouri, Sam Dobbins - Emporia State, Dante Brown - Fort Hays State, Luke Theis - Missouri Western, Shawn Bane, Jr. - Northwest Missouri, James Brania-Hopp - Washburn