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Canadians in the NCAA: Week 11

Canadians in the NCAA: Week 11

By Michael Preston

Photo CMU Chippewas

Central Michigan was the first team featuring Canadians playing college football in action during the 11th week of the 2007 NCAA season, taking on cross-state foe Western Michigan.

Sophomore Eric Fraser (Burnaby, BC) started at strong safety and finished fourth on the team with 5 tackles as his Chippewas won 34-31 to secure a second consecutive Mid-American Conference West Division title and a repeat appearance in the MAC Championship Game. CMU is now assured of a December 1 bowl game at Ford Field in Detroit.

Also in action were starting right tackle Greg Wojt (Mississauga, ON) and wide receiver Kito Poblah (Montreal, QC), while linebacker Fernand Kashama (Toronto, ON) posted 2 tackles for the losing side.

It was the first time CMU had defeated Western Michigan in consecutive seasons since 1993-94. The Chippewas can defend their Michigan MAC championship this week with a win over another local rival, the Eastern Michigan Eagles, in a game that will feature six Canadians.

Abilene Christian Wildcats are assured of a first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs clash with Mesa State on Saturday after a narrow 42-41 win over Midwestern State that included a tackle by linebacker Casey Carr. The freshman will line up in ACU's first home playoff game in 30 years hoping to add to his season total of 22 stops.

Staying on the defensive side of the ball, junior defensive end Mike Stadnyk (Regina, SK) posted 5 tackles and a sack for a 12-yard loss as Montana triumphed 24-17 over Idaho State, whose linebacker Nick Edgson (West Vancouver, BC) made one tackle. The win improved the Grizzlies record to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in Big Sky Conference play.

Linebacker Tristan Black (Toronto, ON) led the way in terms of numbers as Wayne State’s top tackler with 11 and half a sack in a 17-13 losing effort against Ferris State. Jamaal Westerman (Brampton, ON) made 4 tackles as Rutgers downed Army 41-6, while Matt Black (Toronto, ON) had 5 tackles and returned 2 kickoffs 39 yards and a punt 2 yards in a Saginaw Valley State 24-21 win over Hillsdale.

There were 3 tackles in the book for starting UCF defensive tackle Keith Shologan (Edmonton, AB) in a 45-31 win over UAB and also 3 tackles for linebacker Mike McEachern (Calgary, AB) as Western Illinois went down 31-24 to Youngstown State. Fellow linebacker Shomari Williams (Brampton, ON) went one better with 4 tackles as Houston lost 56-7 to Tulsa and redshirt freshman Rory Johnson (Bowmanville, ON) posted 2 tackles in Clarion’s 17-14 loss to Lock Haven.

Former Vanier Prep start Jabari Arthur (Montreal, QC) continues to impress for Akron and caught a third quarter touchdown to take a 34-14 lead in an eventual 48-37 win over Ohio. Arthur ended the night with a team-best 8 receptions for 129 yards and a scoring grab that was his tenth of the year, moving him into a tie (David Harvey, 2006; Dan Ruff, 1969) for second place on the school’s single-season touchdown receptions list.

With eight receptions, Arthur also moved into second place on the school’s single-season receptions list with 72 in 10 games. Domenik Hixon (2005) currently holds the school record with 75 in 13 contests, a mark Arthur can break this week when the Zips travel to Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday night).

Four other Canadians scored touchdowns last week, two of them as their respective teams put one in the win column. Sophomore wide receiver Nathan Binder (Maidstone, ON) returned a kickoff 75 yards to the end zone as Missouri Rolla downed Kentucky Wesleyan 49-21. He also caught 2 passes for 9 yards and rushed once for a one-yard gain.

Senior tight end Steve Schmidt (North Vancouver, BC) caught the first touchdown of his college football career in a 38-30 win at UNLV, the first time the Aztecs have recorded two straight wins under head coach Chuck Long. Schmidt’s scoring grab was the opening touchdown of the game on a three-yard pass and he ended the day with 3 catches for a total of 13 yards.

Kevin Challenger (Montreal, QC) caught a two-yard touchdown pass to tie the scores for Boston College against Maryland, but the Eagles eventually lost 42-35 away to the Terrapins and drop to 17th spot in the BCS rankings. Also scoring on the losing side was Georgetown running back Charlie Houghton (Toronto, ON), who rushed 10 times for 44 yards, including a score and also led the Hoyas’ receivers with 4 catches for 54 yards in a 45-12 loss to Colgate.

Gaining offensive yards for Weber State in a 48-3 win over Fort Lewis College were freshman tight end Tyrell Francisco (Kelowna, BC) with a 22-yard catch and junior running back Eric Lee (Toronto, ON), who carried the ball 9 times for 28 yards. Junior wideout Matt Lambros (Calgary, AB) had a 9-yard catch in a 73-34 Liberty win over VMI.

Among offensive linemen seeing action in a winning cause, Andy Hunter (Toronto, ON) started in a 62-7 Ashland win over Gannon, helping pave the way for six rushing touchdowns. Ashland now travels to Central Washington in the playoffs. Andrew Woodruff (Victoria, BC) started at guard as Boise State blanked Utah State 52-0, Jesse Newman (Powell River, BC) started at tackle in a 34-24 Louisiana Lafayette win over Middle Tennessee and Mike Gyetvai (Old Castle, ON) started at right guard as Michigan State beat Purdue 48-31. There was also a start up front for freshman Scott Mitchell (Ottawa, ON) in Rice’s narrow 43-42 win over SMU.

In a losing effort, the Canadian trio of Robert Pavlovic (Mississauga, ON), Justin Sorensen (Vancouver Island, BC) and Gurminder Thind (Mississauga, ON) all saw action as South Carolina went down 51-31 to Florida.