INDIANAPOLIS – The first series of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week honors were announced Monday morning after all nine institutions kicked off their season.
Week 1 featured four victories, including three in non-conference games. Three games were completed on Thursday evening and four more played out on a hot Saturday.
No. 25 Findlay (1-0, 1-0 G-MAC) was on cruise control at Kentucky Wesleyan for the first victory marked in the league standings. On brand new turf at Independence Bank Field, the Oilers held the Panthers (0-1, 0-1 G-MAC) to just 91 yards of total offense for a new conference single-game team record.
Getting redemption and a key Super Region 1 win on Thursday evening was Ohio Dominican (1-0, 0-0 G-MAC) as the No. 23-ranked Panthers shined under the lights. Reigning Great Midwest Freshman of the Year Devanaire Conliffe had two TD catches from new gunslinger Shane Bucenell, a transfer from Charleston Southern. Bucenell won the battle in camp to replace All-American Grant Russell.
Hillsdale (1-0, 0-0 G-MAC) rewarded its fans waiting out a lengthy weather delay with a win against Mercyhurst. The Chargers and Lakers were unable to come out of the locker rooms to start the second half around 11 p.m. ET and HC pulled through in a fierce defensive struggle.
Tiffin (1-0, 0-0 G-MAC) announced its arrival as a new conference member with an impressive showing at home against a familiar opponent in the GLIAC’s Northwood. The Dragons put up 40 points on the Timberwolves, a program that was 7-4 a season ago.
Walsh and Alderson Broaddus also faced GLIAC opponents in Week 1 against Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State, respectively. Lake Erie opened its season with a tough outcome against Super Region 1 opponent Edinboro and NAIA Championship qualifier Concordia (MI) defeated Malone at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
Offensive Player of the Week
Nick Watson
Tiffin
Quarterback
RS Sophomore
Cincinnati, OH (LaSalle HS)
Watson directed the Tiffin offense with surgical precision to help the Dragons topple Northwood in the season opener.
After starting 10 games and earning GLIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention status as a freshman, he started his tenure in the Great Midwest as well as anyone could expect.
Watson completed over 82 percent of his passes with 24 completions out of 29 tries for 317 yards and three touchdowns. His 82.3 completion percentage is second all-time for a single game in conference history (Rhys Gervais – 92.9 on 13-of-14 vs. Tuskegee).
Watson had scoring strikes of 3, 7 and 75 yards, as Tiffin cashed in three times from the red zone. He capped an 11-play scoring drive on Tiffin’s first possession of the season with a TD to Tyler Denton.
His 75-yard connection with WR Charles Holland gave the Dragons a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, ranking as one of the longest passing plays in conference history.
Defensive Player of the Week
Ross Thompson
Ohio Dominican
Linebacker
RS Senior
Delphos, OH (Jefferson HS)
Thompson is a bigtime playmaker for the defending conference champ Panthers and filled up the box score with his contributions against California (PA).
Thompson made 15 tackles and was effective dropping back in pass coverage with two breakups and recorded 1.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Thompson also intercepted Vulcans’ QB Noah Mitchell in the fourth quarter, one of three picks from the ODU defense on the day.
He was credited with 10 assisted tackles, a number that is tied for fourth most in a single game with three others (Dylan Garver – WU, Kenny Alexandre – ABU, Ryan Weber – MU).
Special Teams Player of the Week
Logen Neidhardt
Ohio Dominican
Punter
Sophomore
Hicksville, OH (Hicksville HS)
As a true freshman, Neidhardt was the coaches selection for Great Midwest Special Teams Player of the Year. Add in the fact he was a two-time conference special teams player of the week and the formula for a special sophomore campaign was already brewing.
Enter Neidhardt, who helped the Panthers control field possession with six booming punts to put a dent in the conference record books.
He averaged 47.7 yards per attempt (almost seven yards better than his single-season conference punting record a year ago), placed three inside the 20-yard line and had a pair of touchbacks.
Neidhardt’s longest punt of the evening was a 56-yard boot, impressive considering Tiffin’s David Orlando is now on record with the longest punt at 72 yards.
He also effectively became the single-game record holder for punt average in a game, passing Alderson Broaddus’ Grant Noon (46.4 avg vs. Saginaw Valley in 2017).