It's that time once again! Time to vote for the D2 Football HERO of the Week!
The only way to vote is the poll at the bottom of the page. Once you’ve made your voice heard, share with friends so they can vote as well, and check back next week to see who won. Polls close Friday at 10 AM Pacific, so be sure to get your vote in on time!
If you know of a player you think we should include next week, let us know! Nominate a player by sending an email with "D2FB HERO” in the subject line to stories@herosports.com, or tweet us your nomination @HEROSportsD2FB with the hashtag #D2FBHERO. Let's get to it!
Last week, you chose Ashton Heard of BR-16 North Greenville as the Offensive HERO of the Week with 37 percent of the vote. Heard rushed for a career-high 182 yards in a win over BR-30 West Alabama.
On the flip side, you chose Ryan Wood of BR-63 Chadron State as the Defensive/Special Teams HERO of the Week with 62 percent of the vote. Wood had an interception and a fumble recovery on the way to a win over BR-47 Fort Lewis.
Congrats to Ashton and Ryan!
Now on to this week's list.
[divider]Offense[divider]
Kamal Cass
BR-35 Eastern New Mexico: Cass was a workhorse during a 37-16 win over BR-109 Western New Mexico. The running back ran for 239 yards on 31 carries and scored two touchdowns.
Kaleb Nobles
BR-50 West Florida: Nobles led an air raid on the way to a 45-28 victory over BR-131 Missouri S&T. He was 27-47 passing for 503 yards with six touchdowns.
Jalen Tolliver
BR-137 Arkansas-Monticello: A wide receiver, Tolliver hauled in 11 receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-28 win over BR-68 Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Ja'Quan Gardner
BR-11 Humboldt State: Though Gardner's team fell 38-27 to BR-24 Azusa Pacific, the running back racked up 159 yards rushing on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns.
Walt Pegues
BR-18 Indiana (Pa.): Pegues was a busy wide receiver in a 73-42 rout of BR-96 East Stroudsburg. He had 12 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown.
Lawrence Pitman
BR-44 Wingate: On just 20 carries, Pitman racked up 140 yards and a school record 5 TDs in 56-7 win over Shaw.
D’Anta Fleming
BR-116 Limestone: Caught four passes for 100 yards and 2 TDs as Limestone wins back-to-back games for first time in program history with 19-13 win over Benedict.
[divider] Who was the D2 Football Offensive HERO of the Week?
[divider]Defense/Special Teams[divider]
Tyke Kozeal
BR-157 Nebraska-Kearney: Kozeal was a tackling machine, collecting a total of 16 as his team fell 34-7 to BR-32 Emporia State.
Corey Bassett
BR-40 Harding: Bassett had an explosive 100-yard kick return for a touchdown to help Harding beat BR-167 Southern Nazarene 63-7.
Matt Davis
BR-67 North Carolina-Pembroke: Davis – a kicker – set a school record by converting five field goals in a 50-28 win over BR-112 Fayetteville State. Davis broke the school record by collecting 20 points in the contest, as he added five extra points.
Matthew Shade
BR-38 Arkansas Tech: Shade pulled through on a busy day during a 19-15 loss to BR-125 Oklahoma Baptist. Shade had eight punts and averaged 47.4 yards per kick. He dropped three of those punts inside the 20-yard line and boomed three punts over 50 yards.
Jordan Herdman
BR-145 Simon Fraser: Herdman was the lone bright spot in a 68-7 loss to BR-43 Texas A&M-Kingsville. He had 11 tackles (six solo) for Simon Fraser.
Davontae Merriweather
BR-22 West Texas A&M: Had 8 tackles, 3 passes defended (2 pass break-ups, 1 INT), and a blocked kick in his team's 26-10 win over CSU-Pueblo.
Channing Barber
BR-53 Northern State: Intercepted a pair of passes and returned one for a score, also had a fumble recovery on a backwards pass that was basically a third interception, which he also ran back for a TD as time expired in NSU's 51-35 win over Southwest Minnesota. Oh, he also had 11 tackles in the win.
Lucky Baar
BR-58 McKendree: Recorded 12 tackles (9 solo), including 4 TFLs (3 sacks) in McK’s 16-15 2OT win over West Liberty.
[divider] Who was the D2 Football Defensive/Special Teams HERO of the Week?
