INDIANAPOLIS – From Week 9, standout performances on the field were recognized as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week for two institutions on Monday afternoon.
 
A four-way tie for first place in the conference standings was narrowed down to a two-way share at the top with Tiffin and Findlay now at 4-1.
 
Whether that will be enough to crack the NCAA Super Region 1 rankings remains to be seen, but both programs could be on another collision course to play for the conference title in a rematch of the spring championship game.
 
The middle of the standings might still be murky but teams are not out with Ohio Dominican, Ashland and Hillsdale all at 3-2. Lake Erie defeated Kentucky Wesleyan in a shootout to pick up its second conference win of the year.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Nick Watson
Tiffin
Quarterback
RS Senior
Cincinnati, OH (La Salle HS)
 
As Tiffin won its fourth straight in a swing game against Ohio Dominican that altered the Great Midwest standings, Watson was a force on his own by accounting for 427 yards of the team’s 512 rolled up on offense.  
 
The two-time conference player of the year threw for 353 yards on 18 completions while rushing for 74 on the ground. He passed for a pair of touchdowns and scored another with his legs.
 
Watson helped direct his team to a 34-21 win as the Dragons scored 24 points in the second half alone.
 
Watson connected with Anthony Lowe for a 23-yard scoring sequence in Tiffin’s first possession of the third quarter and would counter an ODU scoring drive with a 32-yard pass play to Vince Ringland in the end zone.
 
Watson punched it from three yards in a short drive before halftime when the Dragons went 52 yards in just 19 seconds. Watson is one of two QB’s in the conference with 20 TD’s sharing the honor with Lake Erie’s Gerald Gardner as co-league leaders. He has thrown for over 2,200 yards has added over 250 rushing yards with four TD’s.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Jeffrey Barnett
Ashland
Defensive Line
Sophomore
Solon, OH (Solon HS)
 
Ashland beat Hillsdale as Barnett, a converted former running back, was a wrecking machine on the defensive line for the Eagles in a 28-17 victory.
 
The sophomore posted dominant numbers with seven total tackles and three sacks. Four of his seven stops were behind the original line of scrimmage and he forced a fumble and was credited with a breakup in pass coverage.
 
His four tackles for a loss is the 11th time in conference history the feat has been achieved with the single-game record holding at 5.5 TFL. Barnett’s three sacks matched the second-best mark for a single game for the eighth time (second this season).
 
It was a season high total in tackles for Barnett, who now has 5.5 sacks on the season. He has racked up 11.5 tackles for a loss in eight games played.
 
Special Teams Player of the Week
Storm Elsesser
Ashland
Kicker
Junior
New Philadelphia, OH (New Philadelphia HS)
 
Elsesser doubles as a track and field student-athlete for the Eagles after coming through in the clutch in the Week 9 win over Hillsdale.
 
Elsesser was perfect on all three field goal tries from distances of 38, 32 and 22, yards out while making an extra point.
 
Elsesser was responsible for 10 points in AU’s 11-point margin of victory, one that pushed to 3-2 in the conference with a 4-4 overall record.
 
The junior had previously converted a long field goal try of 44 yards this season against Ohio Dominican.