INDIANAPOLIS – The final set of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week honors were announced on Monday morning as the regular season officially came to a close.
 
Rivalry games were abundant in the final weekend of the Great Midwest schedule with Hillsdale already wrapping up the league championship in Week 10. There was still plenty on the line for everyone involved as teams start to shift their focus towards the offseason and 2019.
 
Playoff hopes were riding on the outcomes of several games with the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night revealing that Hillsdale would represent the conference in the national tournament of Super Region 1.
 
Week 11 saw Findlay derail No. 24 Tiffin’s hopes of making the playoffs with a win on NCAA Division II’s social media platforms as part of the showcase package. It was the second time a national audience was able to watch the Oilers after also facing Ohio Dominican earlier this season.
 
Alderson Broaddus remained in control of the Great Midwest Founders Cup game trophy with a win over Kentucky Wesleyan. The rivalry between Walsh and Malone shifted towards the Cavaliers in a very close contest that went down to the wire at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton.
 
Ohio Dominican had another nine-win season following a snow bowl that covered most of the field in Painesville with a rout against Lake Erie.
 
Hillsdale’s regular-season finale was spoiled on the road against No. 12 UIndy in a battle of nationally-ranked teams.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Koby Adu-Poku
Walsh
Running Back
Sophomore
Youngstown, OH (Beardstown HS)
 
Already one of the most electric players around the league in the return game, Adu-Poku was a true workhorse as Walsh completed an impressive come-from-behind victory with less than a minute left in regulation.
 
Named a conference special teams player of the week as a freshman, the sophomore added offensive weekly accolades to his career resume to close out Week 11 and the regular season.
 
His rushing attempts and yardage totals against rival Malone both ranked in the top 10 in single-game conference history to give Walsh the traditional Dick Gallagher Memorial trophy.
 
The Cavaliers also closed to an even .500 record in the conference schedule in their first year under head coach John Fankhauser.
 
Adu-Poku carried the rock 32 times for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all paramount in Walsh securing a 27-22 win. He averaged six yards per attempt and scored from 28 yards out for the first score of the game.
 
He also added a 1-yard scoring dive in the second quarter to capitalize an 11 play, 68-yard drive.
 
Adu-Poku was close to being a 1,000-yard rusher in 2018, finishing with a net gain of 929. He scored 11 touchdowns on the ground and was also Walsh’s top receiving option out of the backfield with 262 yards on 24 receptions.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Quade Raley
Alderson Broaddus
Defensive Lineman
Senior
Cumberland, MD (Fort Hill HS)
 
Raley is the league’s all-time leading sack artist with 16 in three seasons for the Battlers. Two of those came from Week 11 as Alderson Broaddus dominated the line of scrimmage against Kentucky Wesleyan.
 
He finished the game with six tackles to tie for the team lead and totaled 2.5 tackles for a loss with a combined yardage of 19.
 
The Battlers grounded the Kentucky Wesleyan run game to -46 yards and only allowed 108 yards of total offense as a defensive unit.
 
He closed out his senior season ranking ninth in the conference in sacks (5) and tied for eighth in tackles for a loss (10.5). This is his second career conference weekly defensive award.
 
Special Teams Player of the Week
Grant Loveridge
Findlay
Kicker
Junior
Forest, OH (Riverdale HS)
 
Loveridge paced all placekickers in scoring for another week as the Oilers made a statement to close out the regular season on the NCAA DII Showcase game against No. 24 Tiffin.
 
The junior made five PAT’s and converted a field goal as Findlay finished a 38-16 win on the road. UF ended with an 8-3 overall record and Loveridge was the lone placekicker to be perfect on his extra-point tries.
 
He made all 44 attempts tied for fourth in the league scoring among kickers with 55 points.
 
One of Loveridge’s four made field goals was the game winner against Alderson Broaddus with less than 90 seconds remaining from 37 yards out.