KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA named its football athletes of the week, presented by Mammoth Turf, for the ninth week of the 2021 season. Northwest Missouri’s Mike Hohensee was named the offensive athlete of the week, Emporia State’s Dawson Hammes was selected as the defensive athlete of the week and Pittsburg State’s Cross Holmes was named the special teams athlete of the week.  
 
Offensive Athlete of the Week – Mike Hohensee – Northwest Missouri   
Bearcat quarterback Mike Hohensee passed for 270 yards (14-of-18, three touchdowns) and rushed for 68 yards (one touchdown) as he led Northwest to a 66-13 Homecoming win over No. 17 Nebraska-Kearney. Hohensee engineered six first-half (seven total) touchdown drives and completed 77% of his passes for a 258.8 quarterback rating against the Lopers. Hohensee rushed a 56-yard touchdown in the first quarter to put Northwest on top for good at 12-7. The Bearcat sophomore connected on three touchdown throws to three different receivers (Imoni Donadelle for 55 yards; Trevon Alexander for 15 yards; Cole Hembrough for nine yards). He also rushed for a two-point conversion following the 55-yard touchdown toss to Donadelle. Hohensee was responsible for 32 of the Bearcats 66 points in the victory.
 
Defensive Athlete of the Week – Dawson Hammes – Emporia State
Dawson Hammes led Emporia States defense with 12 tackles in the Hornets 15-12 win at Fort Hays State. Two of his tackles came on the Tigers final drive while they were driving for a potential game tying or winning score. He had a touchdown-saving tackle after a 29-yard gain on second down with under a minute left and then was in on the third down stop with 25 seconds left. As a team the Hornets held the Tigers, the second ranked passing team in the MIAA, to under 150 yards passing.
 
Special Teams Athlete of the Week – Cross Holmes – Pittsburg State    
Cross Holmes tied the Pittsburg State single-game record for the second time this season by booting four field goals in Pitt State’s 26-20 victory over Central Oklahoma. The freshman kicker matched his season long kick by connecting on a 54-yard field goal with 2:24 to play in the first quarter. He converted four of five field goals on the day, also making kicks from 25, 35 and 49 yards in the game. For the season, Holmes is 14 of 18 (.778) on field goal attempts. He leads the MIAA and is tied for the Division II lead in field goals per game (2.0 pg).
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Offensive
Canaan Brooks – Emporia State
Canaan Brooks scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to lead Emporia State to a 15-12 victory at Fort Hays State. He finished the game with 113 all-purpose yards, gaining 90 yards on 12 carries with six receptions for 23 yards. After the Hornets were shutout for the first 56 minutes, Brooks broke through the line for a 23-yard touchdown with 3:53 left in the game to make it 12-7. The junior running back capped the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown catch where he caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage on the left side, he then reversed field and took the ball to the endzone on the right side to give Emporia State a 13-12 lead with 58 seconds left. He is averaging 115 rushing yards over his last three games.
 
Reagan Jones – Missouri Western
In his first career start, Reagan Jones rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns. The junior quarterback completed 12 of 16 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown in the Griffons 45-28 win at Missouri Southern.

Defensive
Zach Howard – Northwest Missouri
Zach Howard accounted for seven tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a quarterback sack in Northwest’s 66-17 Homecoming victory over No. 17 Nebraska-Kearney. Lopers quarterback T.J. Davis came into the contest averaging 103.8 yards per game. Howard and the Bearcat defense allowed minus-17 yards rushing for Davis on 15 carries. Going into the game, opponents had sacked Davis seven times. On Saturday, Howard and the Bearcats tallied three quarterback sacks. Nebraska Kearney’s offense was averaging 483.5 yards per game, however the Bearcats held the Lopers to 242 total yards.
 
Special Teams
Kaden Davis – Northwest Missouri
Kaden Davis took a reverse from teammate Imoni Donadelle on the opening kickoff of the game 90 yards for a touchdown en route to a convincing 66-13 win at home over No. 17 Nebraska-Kearney. Davis tallied 123 kick return yards against the Lopers. He also tallied three receptions for 73 yards. On the day, Davis registered 196 all-purpose yards on five touches.

NOMINATIONS FOR FOOTBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Offensive: Tyler Adkins – Pittsburg State, Dawson Herl – Missouri Southern, Tori Hicks – Lincoln, Adrian Soto – Missouri Western, Logan Twehouse – Central Missouri, Zach Willis – Washburn
 
Defensive: Evan Chohon – Missouri Western, Cooper Crane – Central Missouri, Richard Jordan – Fort Hays State, Brooks Peavler – Washburn, PJ Sarwinski – Pittsburg State
 
Special Teams: Trenton Brehm – Washburn, Ross Brungardt – Emporia State, Roland Tyson – Missouri Western  

Presenting Sponsor Mammoth Sports Construction and Mammoth Turf
Mammoth Sports Construction is located in Meriden, Kansas and works with sports organizations at all levels. Mammoth is dedicated to designing, building, installing and helping clients with the field of their dreams and will serve as a source of pride for years to come. In addition to a partnership with the MIAA, Mammoth does significant work for the Big 12 and SEC schools. To learn more about Mammoth Turf, click here.