INDIANAPOLIS – Alderson Broaddus and Ohio Dominican were recognized for the third selections of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week honors on Monday morning.
The Great Midwest had a 2-6 record in Week 3 as AB defeated Lincoln and Findlay routed William Jewell. Ohio Dominican traveled to defending Ivy League co-champion Penn while Walsh played another Division I opponent at Jacksonville.
Hillsdale, Kentucky Wesleyan and Malone, each fell by a touchdown or less in matchups against McKendree, Shaw and Kentucky State, while Lake Erie dropped a contest against Urbana.
Great Midwest Offensive Player of the Week
Grant Russell
Ohio Dominican
Quarterback
Senior – Newark, OH (Newark HS)
Russell went into Week 3 ranking in the top 10 nationally in four major passing categories (total offense, completion percentage, passing yards, completions per game). Despite a team loss against a top-caliber opponent, the senior signal caller only proved himself further on a bigger stage.
ODU put up 24 points and led the Quakers from Penn at halftime. Russell completed 25-of-35 pass attempts and threw for 274 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 40-yard strike to Cedric Washington opened up the game’s scoring before he later connected with Brandon Schoen from 24 yards out with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.
Penn played its 1,374th game against ODU, the most of any program at any level of college football.
Russell had already shattered the Great Midwest single-game record for total offense and passing yards vs. then-No. 8 Cal (PA).
Russell has now completed 72 percent of all passes in three games while throwing for over 1,000 yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has now thrown 147 consecutive passes without an interception.
Great Midwest Defensive Player of the Week
Quade Raley
Alderson Broaddus
Defensive Line
Sophomore – Cumberland, MD (Fort Hill HS)
Pressed into duty because of an injury on the depth chart, Raley responded in a big way as the Battlers moved into the winning column this season against Lincoln.
The defending Great Midwest champs handed the Lions a 48-10 loss in Philippi while holding their opponent to just over 300 yards of total offense.
Raley made nine total tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage, to go along with a pair of sacks. It was just the fifth time in league history that a player recorded three tackles for a loss and his two sacks are the seventh time registered in a single game.
Raley now has 13 tackles on the season along with a fumble recovery.
Great Midwest Special Teams Player of the Week
DJ Opsatnik
Alderson Broaddus
Kicker
Freshman – Imperial, PA (West Allegheny HS)
Opsatnik set the single-game scoring record for a kicker with 12 points in the win against Lincoln on the combination of two field goals and six PAT’s.
He booted field goals from 19 and 39 yards out in the second half and capitalized on the Battlers’ four rushing scores and two passing touchdowns.
Opsatnik passed the former conference single-game record of 10 points recorded by his predecessor Tyler Shiefelbein (AB), Marcus Moeller (Malone) and Cole Woodburn (Kentucky Wesleyan) – all done in 2016.
Opsatnik is now 3-for-5 on all field goal tries this season. He is also fifth in the conference in scoring with 21 total points.