INDIANAPOLIS – Three teams who improved to 2-0 in the standings were spread out for selections of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week following Week 6 on Monday afternoon.
Offensive Player of the Week
Josh Booker
Findlay
Running Back
Junior
Sarasota, FL (Itasca CC)
Booker is part of a three-headed monster for Findlay at the running back position and a big part of the Oilers’ identity in controlling the ground game.
The combination of Booker (73.3 ypg), Garret Clark (75 ypg) and Derek Lynch (82.3 ypg), have given UF the league’s top three rushers averaging over 231 yards per game. They were at it again in Week 6 at home against Kentucky Wesleyan as Findlay churned out 240 rushing yards in a 31-19 win.
Booker scored on tough runs from one yard and eight yards out while also squeezing in a 22-yard TD scamper in the second quarter.
The junior is not afraid to initiate contact with his would-be tacklers and finished with 12 carries for 63 yards and the trio of touchdown runs.
Booker leads all Great Midwest running backs with six touchdowns and is now averaging 5.5 yards per carry for a total of 293 yards this season.
Defensive Player of the Week
Dauson Dales
Ohio Dominican
Linebacker
Senior
Defiance, OH (Defiance Ayersville HS)
Dales was an absolute wrecking machine on the defensive side of the ball as the Panthers remained red hot in the conference schedule following a 34-24 victory on the road at Ashland.
Ohio Dominican’s all-white uniforms and helmets are one of the league’s best uniform combos as ODU ran its win streak to five straight. The Panthers held the Eagles to less than 300 yards of total offense, including 119 through the air.
Dales wreaked havoc in the passing and running game while record 19 tackles (10 solo), one shy of tying the conference single-game record in a battle of conference championship contenders. Strangely enough, he wasn’t the only player in the game with 19 stops as Ashland’s Michael Ayers matched that number.
A player has now recorded 19 tackles six different times throughout conference history. The record of 20 was performed former Malone LB Ryan Weber and current Hillsdale DB Zach Herzog.
Dales entered the fall already as the conference’s all-time leading tackler and now has 320 stops in his career.
Dales leads the league in total tackles (67) and tackles per game (11.2) in the season to date.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Nick Goerrs
Hillsdale
Linebacker
Junior
Commerce Township, MI (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s HS)
The Chargers are stampeding through opponents to the tune of a three-game win streak after grounding Walsh in a 20-3 win as the first game of Week 6 to go final on Saturday.
After starting 0-3, Hillsdale finds itself at .500 with confidence snowballing starting with a Week 4 win vs. Missouri S&T and a Week 5 road upset pulled at Tiffin.
The Chargers had very notable contributions from their defensive standouts and forced five turnovers as DB Jackson Gillock became the fifth player in conference history to record three interceptions.
Hillsdale excelled in all facets as the junior Goerrs burst through the line for a blocked punt returned by teammate Bart Bixler for a touchdown that broke a low scoring game relatively open in the second half.