INDIANAPOLIS – The first selections of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week from opening season contests were announced on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Week 1 kicked off with four games on Thursday and four more on Saturday with all eight teams in action for the first time this fall. Three teams scored victories, including Lake Erie, Walsh and nationally ranked Tiffin.
 
Four of the league’s setbacks were by seven points or less. Ashland made its debut as a full member of the Great Midwest by pushing No. 9 ranked Notre Dame to the brink in an overtime defeat. Ohio Dominican gave No. 15 ranked Shepherd all it could handle in a 35-30 final from Columbus.
 
Findlay had a tough season-opening test against No. 3 ranked Ferris State while Hillsdale was on the short end of a defensive struggle against Michigan Tech and Kentucky Wesleyan battled Frostburg State to a 20-13 score.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Nick Watson
Tiffin
Quarterback
RS Senior
Cincinnati, OH (La Salle HS)
 
The delayed 2021 spring couldn’t slow Watson down as the talented Dragons’ signal caller reeled off four player of the week awards en route to helping Tiffin win another league titie. In Week 1, Tiffin went on the road to one of the NAIA’s most successful programs, Marian, and routed the ninth-ranked Knights by a 34-10 score.
 
Watson controlled the game with his golden arm and swift feet, throwing for 196 yards and gaining 124 more on the ground. He accounted for all five of the team’s touchdowns as the offense did all of its damage in the second and fourth quarters.
 
Watson had touchdown scoring strikes of 69 yards to Darius Pinnix and later connected with Jalen Thomas and Baden Pinson inside the red zone. He ran away from Marion’s defense for TD runs of 72 and 45 yards and averaged 12 yards per carry.
 
Watson had 11 completions and his 124 rushing yards was the third most for a single game in conference history by a QB.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Charlie Cleveland
Tiffin
Defensive Line
RS Junior
East Chicago, IN (East Chicago Central HS)
 
Cleveland and the rest of his defensive teammates made Saturday afternoon miserable for the Marian ground game as the Knights tallied just a net of 35 yards.
 
The first team all-conference lineman and Great Midwest Defensive Lineman of the Year racked up double-digit tackles with 10 total (six solo, four assisted) vs. Marian.
 
He also accumulated 2.5 sacks for the same amount of stops for a loss.
 
Cleveland moved to third all-time in the career sacks leaders list in Great Midwest history with 17.5. He only trails Walsh’s Morgan Trust (23) and Lake Erie’s Justin Growel (19). His tackles for loss total (33.5) ranks fifth among all players in conference history.
 
Special Teams Player of the Week
Jed Quackenbush
Ohio Dominican
Kicker/Punter
Graduate Student
Newark, OH (Newark HS)
 
Against nationally ranked Shepherd, Quackenbush came through with 12 points in Ohio Dominican’s season-opening effort at home in a tough 35-30 outcome.
 
The graduate did it from both facets of special teams, making an impact on punt formations and being accurate in the kicking game.
 
Quackenbush was the Great Midwest Special Teams Player of the Year for good reason. He booted field goals of 36, 24 and 37 yards, to put points on Ohio Dominican drives and placed two punts inside the Rams’ five yard line.
 
Quackenbush drilled a 69-yard punt, his long, and averaged 58.3 yards per kick. On kickoffs, he drove a pair for touchbacks out of his seven attempts.