Football | 9/3/2018 3:53:42 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The MIAA has announced its’ first Athletes of the Week for the 2018 football season. Emporia State’s Parker Bass was tabbed as Defensive Player of the Week, Nebraska Kearney’s Darrius Webb earned Offensive Player of the Week and Fort Hays State’s Dante Brown was the Special Teams Player of the Week.
For Bass, every one of his tackles came behind the line of scrimmage in the Hornets 34-7 win at Northeastern State to open the season. He had 3.5 sacks and was just half a sack away from the Emporia State single-game record. Bass leads the nation in sacks after the first week of play as well. He also forced a fumble and later recovered a fumble for the ESU defense.
UNK’s Webb ran eight times for 163 yards and had touchdown runs of three yards, 10 yards and 98 yards in his Loper debut. The 98-yard touchdown came midway through the third quarter and right after the Loper defense made a goal-line stand. Webb’s effort tied the school record for the longest scoring run. He also caught three passes for 13 yards as the Lopers beat Missouri Southern 45-0.
Brown had a big impact on the Fort Hays States season-opening win over No. 18 Central Missouri in Hays, Kansas. He made a pair of field goals from 30 and 31 yards to account for the FHSU points through three quarters. He tacked on a pair of PATs in the fourth quarter to help No. 5 Fort Hays State to a comeback, 20-16, win over No. 18 UCM.
Brown was also huge in the punting game for the Tigers, averaging 47.6 yards on seven attempts. He tied the school record for longest punt in the first quarter, booming a ball 84 yards. Four of his punts resulted in the Mules starting drives inside their own 20-yard line and two were fair caught.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES - DEFENSE
Simanu’a Thomas - Pittsburg State
Thomas made a team-leading seven tackles, including 3.0 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks in the Gorillas’ 21-7 season-opening win over Central Oklahoma.
Austin Tillman - Washburn
Tillman led the Ichabods with 15 tackles with eight solo stops and a fumble recovery. He helped the WU defense hold Lindenwood to only 85 yards of offense in the second half.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES - OFFENSE
Layne Bieberle - Fort Hays State
Bieberle recorded the fourth 100-yard receiving game of his career and went past 1,000 career receiving yards in the comeback win for No. 5 Fort Hays State. Bieberle had the game-winning touchdown reception from five yards out on third down with 3:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Braden Wright - Northwest Missouri
Wright accounted for all four of Northwest Missouri’s touchdowns in a 28-6 win over Missouri Western. Wright, making his first collegiate start, passed for three touchdowns from 52 yards, 60 yards, 3 yards and rushed for another score against the Griffons. Wright led the Bearcats in rushing with 63 yards on seven carries and passed for 216 yards on 16-of-24 passing with no interceptions.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES - SPECIAL TEAMS
KiAnte Hardin - Pittsburg State
Hardin returned a second-quarter punt 59 yards for a touchdown in his Pittsburg State University debut to help spark the Gorillas to a 21-7 season-opening win over Central Oklahoma. He averaged 31.5 yards on two punt returns and also caught one pass for 13 yards and returned a kickoff 22 yards.
James Letcher, Jr. - Washburn
Letcher had five punt returns for 122 yards averaging 24.4 yards per punt return including a punt for 51 yards. On the opening drive of the second half, Letcher returned a punt 51 yards setting the Ichabods up at the Lindenwood 10-yard line. He would go on to finish the game with one kickoff return for 26 yards adding two rushes for 13 yards and four receptions for 43 yards tallying 204 all-purpose yards.
Defensive Player of the Week Nominations: Dylan Albertson - Central Missouri, Colton Lindsey - Central Oklahoma, Parker Bass - Emporia State, Tanner Hoekman - Fort Hays State, CJ Bivens - Lindenwood, James Huskey - Missouri Western, Sal Silvio - Nebraska Kearney, Andy Hessler - Northwest Missouri, Simanu’a Thomas - Pittsburg State, Austin Tillman - Washburn
Offensive Player of the Week Nominations: Devante Turner - Central Missouri, Landon Nault - Emporia State, Layne Bieberle - Emporia State, Cameron Sanders - Lindenwood, Dom Marino - Missouri Western, Darrius Webb - Nebraska Kearney, Braden Wright - Northwest Missouri, Lorenzo West - Pittsburg State, Blake Peterson - Washburn
Special Teams Player of the Week Nominations: Zach Davidson - Central Missouri, Dante Brown - Fort Hays State, Kendall Raschein - Nebraska Kearney, Matt Thorman - Northwest Missouri, KiAnte Hardin - Pittsburg State, James Letcher, Jr. - Washburn