KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association has announced new football athletes of the week from the eighth week of the 2025 season, presented by FieldTurf. Northwest Missouri’s quarterback Zechariah Owens was named the Offensive Athlete of the Week, Emporia State’s Landon Boss was named the Defensive Athlete of the Week, and Pittsburg State’s Austin Schmitt was named the Special Teams Athlete of the Week for the second straight week. 

OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Jeff Huff, QB, Central Oklahoma
Jett Huff threw for 449 yards and five touchdowns to lead Central Oklahoma to a 56-22 victory against Emporia State last Saturday night in Edmond. Huff’s 400-plus passing yards was the first 400-yard game of the season in the MIAA, which he did in just three quarters of play. The junior quarterback finished 20-for-28 (.714 percent) and averaged 22.4 yards per completion against the Hornets. His leading receiver Ashton Schumann totaled 202 yards on seven catches. Huff had touchdown passes of 38 yards, 44 yards, 21 yards, 8 yards, and 26 yards. He took just two snaps in the fourth quarter with one of the two handoffs yielded another Broncho touchdown.

DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: RJ Hill, DB, Missouri Southern
RJ Hill recorded a career-best two interceptions, one of which he returned 70 yards for a touchdown, to go with five tackles (three solo, two assists) and a pass breakup as the Lions registered a 24-16 win over Nebraska Kearney for Missouri Southern’s first MIAA win of the season. Hill notched a pick six of Daron Bryden at 10:29 in the second quarter to provide the Lions a 10-0 advantage. He then grabbed his second interception of the game with 6:02 remaining in regulation to secure the win. 

SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Austin Schmitt, K, Pittsburg State  
Austin Schmitt has been named the MIAA Special Teams Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week. The junior placekicker booted three field goals, including a pair of 50-plus yard kicks, to help lead No. 12 Pittsburg State to a 44-20 road win over Missouri Western last Saturday (Oct. 18). The Grain Valley, Mo., converted his MIAA leading 10th, 11th and 12th kicks against the Griffons. His 31-yard connection staked Pitt State to a 3-0 first quarter lead. Schmitt added a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give the Gorillas a 13-7 halftime advantage, before making good on a career long 56-yard attempt for a 23-14 Pitt State lead midway through the third quarter. Schmitt leads the MIAA in field goals (12) and scoring (8.5 ppg) this season. He is also the only Division II kicker with three kicks of 50-plus yards this season.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Zechariah Owens, QB, Northwest Missouri
Making his first career start at quarterback, Zechariah Owens had rushing touchdowns of 56 yards and 73 yards as he gained 164 rushing yards on eight carries in a 52-3 win over Fort Hays State. Owens completed 6-of-8 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown as he accounted for three of Northwest's seven touchdowns. The redshirt freshman and the Bearcat offense generated 27 first downs, 437 rushing yards and 580 total yards against the Tigers. Owens leads the MIAA with nine rushing touchdowns and was named the MIAA offensive athlete of the week last week. He is also tied for the nation’s lead among touchdowns for quarterbacks with Ferris State’s Wyatt Bower, Post’s Tyler Phommachanh and Minnesota-Duluth’s Kyle Walljasper. Owens is one of only four NCAA Division II freshmen with nine or more rushing touchdowns this season joining New Mexico Highlands’s Jeffery Jones (11), UIndy’s Juseters Fataki (10) and Ferris State’s Wyatt Bower (9).

Jordan Finnesy, S, Washburn
Jordan Finnesy tied a school record with two interceptions while also adding a forced fumble and a fumble recovery as well as nine tackles with seven solo stops as the Ichabod defeated Central Missouri 37-17 in Yager Stadium on Oct. 18. On the Mules first drive of the game and its second play from scrimmage, Finnesy forced a fumble at the UCM 45 and recovered it setting up Washburn's first score of the game that put the ichabods up 6-0. With the Ichabods leading 27-10, Finnesy picked up his first pass of the game at the 50 and returned it to the UCM 25 setting up another score with a field goal, stretching Washburn's lead to 30-10 with 4:24 to go in the third quarter. On the ensuing UCM drive, Finnesy picked off another pass at the Washburn 22, ending the scoring threat by the Mules.
 
Jordan Pigram, DL, Northwest Missouri
Jordan Pigram netted two quarterback sacks and was a part of a Northwest defense that held Fort Hays State to just 131 total yards and three points. Pigram's sacks resulted in a loss of 22 yards for the Tigers. Fort Hays rushed the ball 30 times for 44 yards and ran 50 plays to average just 2.6 yards per play. Pigram and the Bearcat defense also held the Tigers to just 11 first downs in the contest. Pigram has tallied 6.5 sacks this season to rank No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 16 in the nation.

Mo Alwaely, K, Northwest Missouri  
Mo Alwaely made all seven of his extra points and drilled his only field goal (33 yards) as he accounted for 10 points in a 52-3 win over Fort Hays State. His 33 yard field goal gave the Bearcats a 24-3 lead with just 37 second left in the second quarter. Alwaely kicked off seven times and registered six touchbacks in the contest.

ALSO NOMINATED:
OFFENSE – Logan Madden [Washburn], Tillman Martin [Missouri Southern], Bryce Marcuss III [Missouri Western]
DEFENSE – Jack Puckett [Central Oklahoma], Steven Ward II [Pittsburg State], Michael Chavez [Fort Hays State]
SPECIAL TEAMS – Mitchell Cory [Missouri Southern], Joseph Kim [Central Oklahoma], Dylan Davidson [Emporia State], Jake Zeller [Washburn]

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WEEK ONE:
Offensive – Justin Lewis, QB, Washburn
Defensive – Zach Bergmann, LB, Missouri Southern
Special Teams – Aidan Battle, K, Washburn   

WEEK TWO:
Offensive – Martin Tillman, QB, Missouri Southern
Defensive – John Johnson, LB, Fort Hays State
Special Teams – Taderian Partee, DL, Fort Hays State 

WEEK THREE:
Offensive – Jack Pospisil, WR, Central Missouri
Defensive – Reginald King Jr., S, Pittsburg State
Special Teams – David Arriaga, K, Fort Hays State 

WEEK FOUR:
Co-Offensive – Isaiah Harris, RB, Nebraska Kearney
Co-Offensive – Jordan Pachot, QB, Central Missouri
Defensive – Clayton Power, DL, Northwest Missouri
Special Teams – Joseph Kim, K, Central Oklahoma  

WEEK FIVE:
Offensive – Cleo Chandler Jr., RB, Pittsburg State
Defensive – John Johnson, LB, Fort Hays State
Special Teams – Jaylen Fuksa, CB, Pittsburg State

WEEK SIX:
Offensive – Donovyn Omolo, QB, Central Missouri
Defensive – Michael Chavez, DB, Fort Hays State
Special Teams – Divante Herrig-Brittain, WR, Emporia State

WEEK SEVEN:
Offensive – Zechariah Owens, QB, Northwest Missouri
Defensive – Landon Boss, LB, Emporia State
Special Teams – Austin Schmitt, K, Pittsburg State
 
WEEK EIGHT:
Offensive – Jett Huff, QB, Central Oklahoma
Defensive – RJ Hill, DB, Missouri Southern
Special Teams – Austin Schmitt, K, Pittsburg State