BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- Connor Jessop (Shepherd), Moises Valcarcel (West Virginia State) and Zach Wise (Shepherd) have earned Mountain East Conference Player of the Week honors for their play in the final week of the season.

Jessop, a senior from Ashburn, Va., is the Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after helping the Rams close out an undefeated regular season with a win at UVa-Wise. Jessop was 25-of-45 for 386 yards and four touchdowns to go with 38 yards rushing and another score. The four touchdown passes gave him 38 for the season, which established a new MEC record and is currently second in NCAA Division II.

Valcarcel, a junior from Carmichael, Calif., is the Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in helping the Yellow Jackets to a win over West Virginia Wesleyan and securing the program's first winning season since 2007. Valcarcel recorded 13 solo tackles in the game and was involved in four turnovers with a pair of interceptions and two forced fumbles, one of which he recovered himself.

Wise, a senior from Berkeley Springs, W.Va., is the Special Teams Player of the Week after hitting all nine PATs on Saturday in a win over UVa-Wise. Wise set the school record for PATs with 66, surpassing the record set by Eric Dobratz in 2010. 

Other Top Performances
Offense: Tajuan Green (UU) notched a career-high 186 rushing yards (a school record for a quarterback) with two touchdowns and combined for 385 total offensive yards against Concord…Mason Olszewski (UC) tallied 315 yards in the air with one touchdown…Malik Grove (NDC) threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 41 yards and one touchdown against No. 6 UIndy…Matt Kinnick (WVSU) completed 21-of-29 pass attempts for 269 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in a 45-28 win at West Virginia Wesleyan…Jamal Petty (CU) rushed for a season-high 164 yards and two touchdowns against Urbana…DJ Williams (GSC) caught seven passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-14 loss to Charleston…Jeremiah Ortiz (WLU) blew past the 1,000-yard milestone after rushing for a game-high 79 yards on 24 carries with the lone touchdown against Fairmont State…Shawn Harris (FSU) hauled in seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown in a 13-7 win over West Liberty.
Defense:  Josh Dillard (UU) notched a career-high 16 tackles for the Blue Knights…Quintavius Twine (GSC) led the Pioneer defense with 14 total tackles in a 28-14 setback against Charleston…Myles Humphrey (SU) recorded seven tackles (two solos) in Shepherd’s win over UVa-Wise with three tackles for loss (10 yards) and 2 sacks (eight yards)…Ke’Shawn Hall (CU) notched seven tackles, while forcing and recovering a fumble in Concord’s loss at Urbana…John Cominsky (UC) tallied 11 tackles, four tackles for loss (18 yards), two sacks (12 yards) with two pass breakups…Kenyon Felder (WLU) charted a team-high eight tackles with four tackles for loss and two sacks against Fairmont State…Naiquan Thomas (FSU) recorded three solo tops and two interceptions against West Liberty.
Special Teams: Brandon Purk (UU) landed two of three punts inside the 20 against Concord while running for a first down in a fourth-down punt formation.


 

2017 MEC Players of the Week
Week	Offense	Defense	Special Teams
Sept. 4	Connor Jessop (SU)	Terrance Baldwin (WLU)	Tyler Fischer (WVWC)
Sept. 11	Malik Grove (NDC)	Donavan Montague (WISE)	Jujuan Linzy (WVWC)
Sept. 18	DJ Greene (NDC)	Jeremiah Johnson (CU)	Trevon Saunders (UU)/ Garrett Lee (CU)
Sept. 25	Jabre Lolley (SU)	Stephen Turner (FSU)	Sam Keil (FSU)
Oct. 2	Quinton Gray (WVSU)	Josh Dillard (UU)	Josh Cole (UU)
Oct. 9	Connor Jessop (SU)	Khazin Daniels (UC)	Marquis Hamilton (WISE)
Oct. 16	Malik Groive (NDC)	Aman Speed Jr. (WVWC)	Tyler Fischer (WVWC)
Oct. 23	Connor Jessop (SU)	John Cominsky (UC)	Sam Keil (FSU)
Oct. 30	Dominique Gibson (GSC)	Claudy Mathieu (NDC)	Marquis Hamilton (WISE)
Nov. 6	Tajuan Green (UU)	Brandon Grayson (WVWC)	Anton Vrebac (NDC)
Nov. 13	Connor Jessop (SU)	Moises Valcarcel (WVSU)	Zach Wise (SU)