Offensive Honors / Defensive Honors / Special Teams Honors / Newcomer Honors / Records & Milestones

Week 1 PAC Honors (for events between August 28 - Sept. 3)
The weekly award winners have been recognized for their performances during Week 1 of the 2023 season.
 

PAC Offensive Player of the Week

Declan O'Brien • Allegheny • Senior wide receiver • Irwin, Pa./Norwin O'Brien tied a program record for receptions in a game with 14 while going for 169 yards and two touchdowns in a 39-36 overtime win over Waynesburg ... He caught the game's opening touchdown, a 21-yard reception, and the overtime winner, a 19-yard TD catch on a third-and-15 play ... Moved into eighth place all-time in program history in receiving yards and is only 14 yards shy of climbing into seventh place ... The 169 yards is the second-most receiving yards in a game in his career and fifth game going over 100 yards as a Gator ... It was also his third career game with multiple touchdown catches.

PAC Offensive Honor Roll

Case Western Reserve junior QB Ian Kipp (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor); Geneva junior RB Josh Syster (Clymer, Pa./Purchase Line); Grove City junior RB Nico Flati (Aliquippa, Pa./West Allegheny); Thiel junior WR Chase Lawler (Etters, Pa./Red Land); Waynesburg senior RB Justin Flack (Derry, Pa./Derry Area); W&J junior QB Jacob Pugh (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson); Westminster sophomore WR Jalen Royal-Eiland (Youngstown, Ohio/Mineral Ridge).

 

PAC Defensive Player of the Week

Ben Bladel • Grove City • Sophomore linebacker • Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Bladel had two sacks, a forced fumble, 3.5 tackles for loss and a pass deflection in Grove City's 17-7 win over Westminster ... Both of Bladel's sacks came on third-down plays to force Titan punts and his pass break-up came on a fourth-down play to turn the ball back over to Grove City ... The Wolverine defense held Westminster to 11 first downs and blanked the Titans on their final seven possessions of the game.

PAC Defensive Honor Roll

Allegheny sophomore DB Samuel Caito (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy); Carnegie Mellon senior LB Robert Coury (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg); Case Western Reserve senior DE Kaden Tong (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty); Thiel senior LB Jared Curcio (Avonmore, Pa./Kiski Area); W&J sophomore DB Bruno Fabrycki (New Salem, Pa./Albert Gallatin); Waynesburg senior LB Jacquaivis Valle-Smith (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park); Westminster sophomore LB Dylan Sleva (Moon Township, Pa./Moon).

 

PAC Special Teams Player of the Week

Ricky Hunter • Washington & Jefferson • Senior kicker/punter • Freeport, Pa./Freeport Hunter had an all-around solid day on special teams for the Presidents. As a kicker, Hunter converted six point after touchdowns and drilled a 31-yard field goal during the third quarter. As a punter, he played a large factor in field position, as the senior averaged 45.0 yards per punt. Both of Hunter's punts were downed inside Saint Vincent's five-yard line, which aided W&J's abilities to finish off the 51-0 shutout victory.

PAC Special Teams Honor Roll

Carnegie Mellon senior defensive back Aryan Hegde (Brambleton, Va./Rock Ridge); Grove City sophomore K Caleb Keuchly (West Chester, Ohio/Mars Hill); Thiel junior defensive back Justin Logan (North Chesterfield, Va./James River).

 

PAC Newcomer of the Week

Xavier Nelson • Waynesburg • Freshman wide receiver/kick returner • Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan     Nelson scored Waynesburg's first touchdown of 2023, when he took a kickoff back 99 yards for a score in the Yellow Jackets' 39-36 overtime loss to Allegheny Saturday ... He later added a 34-yard runback and wound up averaging just over 43 yards on four kick returns and logged 174 yards total ... He added one punt return for 13 yards as well.

PAC Newcomer Honor Roll

Allegheny freshman CB David Williams (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton); Case Western Reserve freshman punter Grahan Sorg (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Country Day); Thiel freshman punter Adam Devine (Dormont, Pa./Seton LaSalle); Westminster freshman linebacker Matthew Petruzzi (Allison Park, Pa./Central Catholic).

 

PAC Records & Milestones

Braden Layer is the first Allegheny head coach to win his debut since Sam Timer in 1970 ... Allegheny senior quarterback Jack Johnson (Hingham, Mass./Hingham/Milford Academy) now ranks seventh all-time in program history with nearly 4,700 career passing yards after surpassing Mike Ganey '70 (4,564) ... Carnegie Mellon senior LB Robert Coury's 10 tackles marked his ninth career game recording double digit tackles, as he also moved into eighth place in program history with 216 tackles for his career ... Case Western Reserve's win over Thiel was their 18th season-opening victory in the last 20 years ... W&J junior QB Jacob Pugh's four touchdowns in the Saint Vincent victory matched a career-high.