ARKADELPHIA -- Ouachita Baptist running back Kris Oliver, Henderson State linebacker Jake Chatman and Reddies kicker Temo Martinez were among the recipients of Player of the Week accolades from the Great American Conference.
Oliver, a redshirt senior from Arkadelphia, shared the offensive player award with Arkansas-Monticello quarterback Cole Sears while Chatman, a redshirt freshman from League City, Texas, earned the defensive player award with Martinez, a true freshman from Dardanelle, claiming the special teams award.
Oliver set a pair of GAC career records in the Tigers' 41-0 home win over Southern Nazarene (1-7) last Thursday. His season-high 28 carries for 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns lifted him past former Southeastern Oklahoma State back Devlon Wortham to be the conference's all-time rushing leader with 3,493 yards.
With his 16th century game, he also set the league record for 100-yard rushing games as he helped lead the Tigers to 8-0 on the season. This is Oliver's third career Player of the Week honor and his first this season, and it was the fourth for OBU this season.
The Tigers travel to Arkansas-Monticello (4-4) for a 1 p.m. game with extra practice time due to last week's Thursday matchup.
Other players nominated for the offensive award include Harding running back Taylor Bissell, Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Preston Haire and Southern Arkansas wide reciever and kick returner Karonce Higgins.
Sears, a senior from Hoxie, led the Boll Weevils to their third-straight win, completing 21 of 38 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns for UAM's fourth-straight Homecoming victory.
Sears moved into fifth place on the GAC's all-time passing yards list with the performance. This is Sears' third career Player of the Week honor and first this season.
Chatman led the Reddie defense with a pair of interceptions in the second half with 2.5 tackles for loss in the 20-17 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-3) Saturday. The performance put him in the lead among all GAC linebackers, as well as at HSU, for interceptions. He finished with five total tackles.
Also nominated for the defensive award were Oklahoma Baptist linebacker Josh Arnold, SAU defensive end DaVondrick Lison, UAM defensive back Jimel London, SEOSU linebacker Seu Luafatasaga, SWOSU linebacker Clay Wilkerson and Harding defensive end T.J. Winslow.
Martinez was the difference in the game for the Reddies, splitting the uprights on a 49-yard attempt to score HSU's first points of the game and tied the 13-year school record. With five seconds left in the game, he then hit a 40-yard game-winner to secure the victory. He is 8-for-12 on the season on field goal attempts and a perfect 31 of 31 on point-after shots.
The Reddies travel to El Dorado this week for a 2 p.m. matchup against No. 21 Southern Arkansas (7-1) for the Murphy USA Classic.
Harding punter and kicker Cameron Scott was also nominated for the special teams award.
GAC volleyball Player
of the Week awards
Southern Nazarene's Bailee Turang and Kaitlyn Dillon came away with the offensive and defensive Player of the Week awards while Southwestern Oklahoma State's Kylie Smith earned the setter award.
Turang, a junior outside hitter from Corona, Calif., led the Crimson Storm offense with 17 kills in its three-set win over Northwestern Oklahoma State Thursday. SNU moved to 6-6 on the season with the win as Turang, with a .361 hit percentage, became the 10th member of the Storm and the 14th in GAC history to reach the 1,000-kill mark.
Henderson State outside hitter Courtney Bolf was among those nominated for the offensive award. She averaged 5.17 kills and 5.83 points per set on the week.
Others nominated for the offensive award were SWOSU middle Elizabeth McVicker, Harding outside hitter Madison Poen, UAM outside hitter Leslie Polanco, SAU outside hitter Seven Powers, Oklahoma Baptist outside hitter Mikayla Watson and NWOSU outside hitter Hannah Williams.
Dillon, a junior from Edmond, Okla., tallied 42 digs against Southeastern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Baptist last week, leading the Bulldogs to a pair of wins. Her five aces against the Savage Storm tied her career high while she also added 12 digs. She also registered her sixth 30-dig performance of the season in the four-set win over the Lady Bison.
Others nominated for the defensive award were SAU middle Abby Bermudez, SEOSU libero Caitlin Cosby, UAM right side MarKayla Dickie, Harding middle Zoe Hardin and SNU defensive specialist Logan Matthews.
Smith, a junior from Deer Park, Texas, claimed her second setter award this season with 41 assists in the Crimson Storm's sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma State. SNU hit .265 on the night, its third-highest against a GAC team this season, and Smith has single-handedly accounted for four of the nine 40-assist games in three-set matches.
Four others got nods for the setter award including UAM's Shanya Daniels, Harding's Rachel Heussner, SAU Caitlin Murdoch and NWOSU Kaitlyn Robinson.
Sports on 10/24/2018