AUS Players of the Week: Wright, Nettle and Lambert honoured
(HALIFAX, N.S.) – Running back Dale Wright and linebacker Matthew Nettle, both from the Acadia Axemen, along with Mount Allison Mounties kicker Ryan Lambert, have been selected as the Week 9 AUS football players of the week for their respective performances this past weekend.
Offensive Player of the Week
Name: Dale Wright
University: Acadia University
Position: Running back
Hometown: Markham, Ont.
Year of eligibility: Second
Academic program: BBA
Height and weight: 5’8″, 198 lbs
Acadia Axemen running back Dale Wright is the Atlantic University Sport football offensive player of the week for the week ending Oct. 22, 2017.
A third-year business student in his second year of eligibility from Markham, Ont., Wright had 24 carries for 157 rushing yards in Acadia’s 33-23 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies Saturday in Wolfville, N.S.
He also had two receptions for seven yards in the win which secured Acadia first place in the AUS standings and hosting rights to the Subway AUS Loney Bowl. He was named Subway Player of the Game for his efforts.
Wright is the current AUS rushing leader, averaging 128.8 yards per game. He finished the regular season with 1,030 yards rushing.
Defensive Player of the Week
Name: Matthew Nettle
University: Acadia University
Position: Linebacker
Hometown: Halifax, N.S.
Year of eligibility: Fourth
Academic program: BBA
Height and weight: 6’0″, 209 lbs
Acadia Axemen linebacker Matthew Nettle has been named the AUS football defensive player of the week.
A senior and business student from Halifax, Nettle had an interception which he returned 30 yards in Saturday’s 33-23 win over Saint Mary’s.
His impressive defensive stats also included a quarterback sack, a tackle for loss of eight yards and a forced fumble.
Nettle also had 4.0 tackles in the win (three solo and two assisted).
Special Teams Player of the Week
Name: Ryan Lambert
University: Mount Allison University
Position: Kicker
Hometown: Grimsby, Ont.
Year of eligibility: Fourth
Academic program: BA Environmental Studies
Height and weight: 5’9″, 180 lbs
Mount Allison Mounties kicker Ryan Lambert is the AUS football special teams player of the week.
A senior and environmental studies student from Grimsby, Ont., Lambert had 16 points in the Mounties’ 42-19 win over the Bishop’s Gaiters Saturday in Lennoxville, Que.
He made good on all four field goal attempts as well as all four point-after attempts. With the win, Mount Allison remains in contention for the third and final AUS playoff spot.
Source: AUS
RSEQ players of the week: Hugo Richard, Gabriel Ouellet and Pierre-Antoine D’Astous named
Montréal, October 23, 2017 – Laval quarterback Hugo Richard, Laval half back Gabriel Ouellet and Sherbrooke kicker Pierre-Antoine D’Astous are the RSEQ University Football student-athletes of the week for the period ending October 22, 2017.
Offensive Student-Athlete
Hugo Richard
Quarterback
Team: Rouge et Or
University: Laval
Hometown: Longueuil, Québec
Age: 22
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 220 lbs.
Former team: Cégep Vanier
Highlights:
Defensive Student-Athlete
Gabriel Ouellet
Half back
Team: Rouge et Or
University: Laval
Hometown: Rivière-du-Loup, Québec
Age: 23
Height: 5’10’’
Weight: 190 lbs.
Former team: Cégep Garneau
Highlights:
Special Teams Student Athlete
Pierre-Antoine D’Astous
Kicker
Team: Vert & Or
University: Sherbrooke
Hometown: Rimouski, Québec
Age: 21
Height: 5’11’’
Weight: 190 lbs.
Former team: Cégep de Rimouski
Highlights:
Alberta RB Ed Ilnicki is just 107 yards from setting the CW single-season rushing record.
CWUAA players of the week: Ilnicki’s record book season continues
Highlights:
- Alberta RB Ed Ilnicki (offence), UBC DB Stavros Katsantonis (defence), and Regina RET Kyle Borsa (special teams) are the Week 7 CW football players of the week
- Ilnicki registered 279 rushing yards and three touchdowns, as he increased his season total to 1,309 yards and career total to 3,986 – both of which are Alberta records
- The 2017 CW regular season concludes this Saturday, as Alberta and Saskatchewan look to claim the final playoff berth
EDMONTON – There’s no slowing down veteran running back Ed Ilnicki, whose year for the ages continued this past weekend.
Ilnicki was dominant against the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday, rushing for 279 yards in a 49-23 win for the Alberta Golden Bears. The victory continued Ilnicki’s monster season, as he leads the nation in rushing with 1,309 yards and is now Alberta’s all-time rushing leader with 3,986 yards. Ilnicki is also within striking distance of former UBC Thunderbird Akbal Singh’s CW single-season rushing record of 1,415 yards set in 1999.
On defence, UBC’s Stavros Katsantonis is the defensive player of the week, after becoming the third player in program history to record three interceptions in a game – one back of the program and CW record of four (UBC’s Curtis Galick shares the CW record with Saskatchewan’s Les MacFarlane).
Rounding out the Week 7 winners is Regina returner Kyle Borsa, who combined for 115 return yards for the Rams, who will square off with UBC this Saturday for second in the conference and a home playoff date in the Hardy Cup Semis.
The 2017 CW football regular season wraps up this Saturday with a trio of games, including Manitoba travelling to Saskatoon to take on the Huskies. That game is a must-win for Saskatchewan, who with a victory will claim the fourth and final playoff spot in the conference.
You can watch the game on the Canada West Football Showcase, live on SaskTel (48/348 HD), Telus (997 HD /9997), BellMTS (1802 HD), and Canada West TV beginning at 7 p.m. CST.
OFFENCE
RB – Ed Ilnicki
Alberta Golden Bears
5th-year
Spruce Grove, Alta.
Business
Massive rushing totals have become routine this season for running back Ed Ilnicki, who is the Canada West offensive player of the week after another dominant game on the ground for the Alberta Golden Bears.
For the third time this season, Ilnicki is the conference’s top offensive player, as the fifth-year veteran rumbled for 279 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in Alberta’s decisive 49-23 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies at Foote Field.
With the victory, Alberta kept their playoff hopes alive and Ilnicki continued one of the most dominant seasons in program history. The 2017 draft pick of the Ottawa REDBLACKS ran his season rushing total to 1,309 yards and career total to 3,986 – both of which are Alberta records. Ilnicki now needs 107 yards to break Akbal Singh’s single-season CW rushing record of 1,415 set in 1999 for UBC.
The Bears head into Week 8 against Calgary with a chance to crack the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Alberta will make the playoffs under two scenarios: a Saskatchewan loss to Manitoba, or if both Alberta and Saskatchewan win, Alberta will need to outscore Calgary by 15 more points than Saskatchewan’s margin of victory in their game against Manitoba. The second scenario would see both teams finish at 3-5, and the tiebreak of overall PF/PA used to determine the fourth and final playoff spot. Saskatchewan enters the weekend with a 14-point cushion in overall PF/PA against this season.
DEFENCE
DB – Stavros Katsantonis
UBC Thunderbirds
3rd-year
Bakersfield, Cali.
Arts
Defensively there were no shortage of clutch performances around the conference this week, including UBC Thunderbird defensive back Stavros Katsantonis, who joined a select club of players to record three interceptions in a CW game.
The Bakerfield, California product finished one pick off the Canada West single-game record of four, and became just the 22nd player in conference history to record at least a trio of picks in the same game.
Katsantonis’ interceptions came in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters, and helped UBC to a narrow 17-16 win over the Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg. The win improved the T-Birds record to 5-2, good for second-place in the conference heading into Week 8.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Kyle Borsa
Regina Rams
1st-year
Regina, Sask.
Media, Art & Performance
This week’s special teams player of the week is Regina’s return man Kyle Borsa, who had a big return day for the Rams, despite suffering a 42-30 setback to the Calgary Dinos at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium.
The rookie running back finished the day with 90 kickoff return yards, including a long of 34, and added another 25 punt return yards.
Despite the loss, the 4-3 Rams can still earn a home playoff date, as they’ll take on UBC this Saturday in a showdown for second-place in the conference. The winner will clinch second in the regular season standings, and host a Hardy Cup semifinal either November 3 (Regina) or 4 (UBC).
Source: Evan Daum, Canada West Communications
OUA Players of the Week: Osei-Kusi, Aketepe, Ferraro named
Offence – Chris Osei-Kusi, Queen’s
Chris Osei-Kusi (Brampton, Ont.) is the Queen’s University offensive football player of the week for the second time this season, and has earned OUA Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 9 efforts.
Osei-Kusi recorded two touchdowns during the Toronto victory on Saturday. While the Gaels were down early in the game, it was Osei-Kusi who opened the Gaels scoring to propel the offence. Turning on the jets, Osei-Kusi was off to the races with a 73-yard touchdown to put Queen’s on the scoreboard.
The third year receiver led the Gaels offence with twelve catches for 179 receiving yards on the day. Closing out regular season action, the Brampton native leads all OUA receivers with a grand total of seven touchdown receptions.
Defence – Dotun Aketepe, Guelph
Second year defensive back Dotun Aketepe takes home Defensive Player of the Week honours after the best performance of his young Gryphon career on Saturday versus the Ravens.
Aketepe, a Commerce student from Barrie, came up with one of the biggest defensive plays of the game late in the 3rd quarter, intercepting Carleton quarterback Michael Arruda to spark the visiting Gryphons, who at the time, were still trailing by 10.
Aketepe also racked up a team-high 12 solo tackles on the day.
Special Teams – Gabe Ferraro, Guelph
Saturday afternoon in Ottawa, Gryphons fourth year kicker Gabe Ferraro emphatically capped off the greatest single-season by a place kicker by going a perfect 7-for-7 on field goal attempts in a 28-23 victory over the Carleton Ravens.
Three of Ferraro’s seven field goals on Saturday were of the long range variety, with makes of 45, 48 and 49. The seven made field goals ties the OUA record for most made field goals in a single game, but that was far from the most significant record set by Ferraro on the weekend. With his seven made field goals, Gabe finishes the regular season with a new U SPORTS single-season record of 33 made field goals. He surpasses the previous mark of 26, set in 2014 by his older brother and current kicking coach, Daniel Ferraro.
Gabe single-handedly accounted for 22 of the Gryphons 28 points on Saturday in the team’s come-from-behind victory over the Ravens.
Source: OUA
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