HSU DB wins Defensive Player of the Week award
ARKADELPHIA — The Great American Conference’s league office announced this week Henderson State defensive back Shane Sanders was named the Defensive Player of the Week following the Reddies’ largest win of the season on Saturday.
The redshirt freshman out of Lawton Chiles High School in Tallahassee, Fla., made two interceptions in the first eight minutes of Henderson’s 56-21 home win against Oklahoma Baptist (2-4). The Reddies improved to 3-3 as two of their three defeats came by a combined 10 points and their previous margins of victory were by seven and 14 points.
Sanders jumped a passing route on the second play from scrimmage to pick off a pass from Bison quarterback Preston Haire and return it 30 yards for the game’s first score. It was the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Reddies.
The Bison drove into Henderson territory on their next drive until Sanders made his second interception with a diving snag of a pass across the middle of the field. He made his first pass breakup of the season in the second quarter.
Sanders is the first Reddie to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors this season and the fourth to receive Player of the Week recognition. Henderson players have claimed the offensive, defensive and special teams conference honors at least once this year.
Ouachita Baptist defensive lineman Dameyun McDonald earned a nomination with a career-high 12 tackles in a 7-3 win against Harding (4-2) as the Tigers remained undefeated at 6-0 atop the conference standings. Also nominated were Arkansas-Monticello defensive back Jimel London, Southern Arkansas defensive lineman Anthony Washington and Northwestern Oklahoma State linebacker
Maurice Wright.
Neither Ouachita nor Harding received nominations for this week’s offensive award as the two defenses dominated their matchup on Saturday. Henderson State running back Querale Hall was nominated after running for 173 rushing yards against Oklahoma Baptist.
It was the most yards by a running back for Henderson since October 2015. Hall and Logan Moragne — 167 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries — paced the Reddies to a season-high outburst of 383 rushing yards. Henderson finished with 599 yards of total offense as quarterback Richard Stammetti added 2016 yards and three touchdowns on 17-for-29 passing.
Southeastern Oklahoma State quarterback Rollin Kinsaul was named Offensive Player of the Week with 365 yards of total offense for the Savage Storm (4-2) against Southwestern Oklahoma State (2-4). Also nominated were Southern Arkansas running back Lorenzo Alexander and Northwestern running back Tyson Gatewood.
Ouachita punter Jake Ford earned a special teams nomination with an average of 43.6 yards on a career-high seven punts. Henderson kicker Temo Martinez was nominated after going 8-for-8 on point-after kicks.
Arkansas-Monticello punter and kicker Josh Marini was named the Special Teams Player of the Week. Northwestern punter Blake Humble and Southern Arkansas punter Jordan White were also nominated.
Southwestern (15-4, 8-1) swept the week’s volleyball awards. The Bulldogs are tied atop the GAC standings with Henderson (19-3) and Harding (13-7). Ouachita (17-6, 6-3) is tied for fourth place as both the Tigers and the Reddies have home dates with Southwestern and Northwestern (15-9, 4-5) this weekend.
Senior middle hitter Elizabeth McVicker was named Offensive Player of the Week. Henderson outside hitter Courtney Bolf was nominated for her 14-kill, 22-dig performance against East Central (0-21, 0-9), while Ouachita outside hitter Katie Camp was nominated after averaging 3.6 kills per set with a .275 attack percentage at East Central and Southeastern
(6-15, 2-7). Also nominated were Northwestern’s Kiauna Clark, East Central’s Karina Erreguin, Southern Arkansas’ Seven Powers, Southern Nazarene’s Bailee Turang and Oklahoma Baptist’s Mikayla Watson.
Junior libero Kaitlyn Dillon is the Defensive Player of the Week. Henderson libero Gigi Garramone had back-to-back
20-dig performances over the weekend and Ouachita defensive specialist Shannon Hogan registered her 10th match with double-digit digs. Also nominated were Southern Arkansas’ Camryn Bihary, Oklahoma Baptist’s Kelsi Chavez, Northwestern’s Jennifer Eubanks, Harding’s Taylor Lake, Southern Nazarene’s Kayla Thomas and East Central’s Abbey Wehrman.
Sophomore Allie Hoang was named Setter of the Week. Ouachita’s Stormi Leonard was named after reaching 13 straight matches with at least 30 assists. Taylor Scalzi was nominated after her double-double against East Central. The other nominees were Oklahoma Baptist’s Hayden Blair, Northwestern’s Taylor Brann, East Central’s Sydney Dungen, Southern Arkansas’ Caitlin Murdock and Southern Nazarene’s Kylie Smith.
Ouachita senior midfielder Blain Hickman, of Royse City, Texas, and junior defender Jakob Cuellar, from Frisco, Texas, were named Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week after the men’s soccer team’s 4-1 victory against Harding (6-4-1, 1-2-0) on Oct. 2 in Arkadelphia.
Hickman helped the Tigers (4-4-1, 2-1-0) into a tie for first place with a goal and two assists in the victory. He assisted on Noa Cuellar’s opening tally in the 13th minute, scored in the
53rd minute for his second goal of the season and assisted on Colten Clark’s 81st-minute goal.
Jakob Cuellar assisted on two goals himself and helped the defense limit the Bisons to four shots on goal. He served a cross to the middle of the pitch in the 36th minute for the game-winning assist to Matthew Wallak. He also recorded the assist on Hickman’s goal in the 53rd minute.
Southern Nazarene sophomore Carlos Castellanos was named the Goalkeeper of the Week.
Ouachita is scheduled for a pair of home matches this week. The Tigers are set to host Oklahoma Baptist (2-10-0,
1-2-0) on Thursday at 3 p.m. and Southern Nazarene (4-8-0,
2-1-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m.