Football Players of the Week (March 22)

3.22.21

INDIANAPOLIS – Two out of the three scheduled contests were nullified due to COVID protocols as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week were released on Monday afternoon.
 
Week 2 saw Ohio Dominican pitch a 17-0 shutout against Walsh in North Canton as both teams engaged in a defensive struggle.
 
Games between Hillsdale vs. Kentucky Wesleyan and Lake Erie vs. Tiffin were postponed and are awaiting a rescheduled date. Findlay was idle in Week 2 after opening the season with a road win at Hillsdale.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Frederick Pitts V
Ohio Dominican
Running Back
Senior
Huber Heights, OH (Huber Heights Wayne HS)
 
Pitts V was the workhorse on the ground as the Panthers sit by themselves at the top of the conference standings at 2-0. The senior churned out 81 yards on 17 carries and accounted for a scoring touchdown while averaging close to five yards per tote on Saturday.
 
Pitts V capitalized on a 2-yard plunge in the with a minute left in regulation to finish off a near six-minute offensive series.
 
By committee, he teamed with freshman RB Travis Whitakker for a combined 134 yards on the ground against a stingy Walsh defense.
 
Pitts V has a pair of rushing TD's this spring and is averaging 60.5 yards per game for Ohio Dominican.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Sal Sidebotham
Walsh
Linebacker
Senior
Grand Rapids, MI (Forest Hills Central HS)
 
Sidebotham's individual effort was outstanding and simply kept his team in contention in a low-scoring affair. The senior linebacker produced 14 total tackles, including 11 assisted and 3 solo, while recording an interception.
 
He also had one total tackle for loss and was credited with half a sack. Sidebotham had back-to-back double-digit tackle totals after finishing with 10 in the season opener vs. Tiffin.
 
The Cavaliers held Ohio Dominican's total offense to under 300 yards, but the offense just couldn't get tracked in this one.
 
In 2019, Sidebotham had 80 total tackles for the Cavaliers and three sacks that accounted for almost half of his 7.5 stops for a loss.
 
Special Teams Player of the Week
Jed Quackenbush
Ohio Dominican
Kicker/Punter
Senior
Newark, OH (Newark HS)
 
In a tightly-contested matchup, the field position swing is a part of the final score as the senior Quackenbush handled dual duties in his team's winning effort.
 
The accurate leg of Quackenbush booted a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter and gave ODU a 10-0 lead at the time.
 
He also boomed six punts for a total of 250 yards and averaged 41.7 net yards on each attempt while his long was 53.
 
Quackenbush is second all-time among kickers in points scored only behind Hillsdale's Joe Philipp. He came into the spring season trailing Malone's Marcus Moeller by just two points in the list.
 
Twice he has accounted for 12 points himself in a single game, tied for the second highest total in league history.