St. Paul -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced today the Football Players of the Week for the week of October 15, 2007. The award winners are as follows:
Tri-Offensive Player of the Week
Saint John's University senior quarterback Alex Kofoed (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) was 25 of 37 passing for 337 yards and five touchdowns as No. 3/4 Saint John's defeated Gustavus Adolphus 40-0 on Saturday, Oct. 13 in St. Peter. Kofoed's passing performance broke two school records formerly held by current Carleton head coach Kurt Ramler (1993-96). Kofoed set the school's all-time mark for touchdown passes (88) with his fifth of the game on a 13-yard reception to Aaron Blackmore with 12:14 left in the third quarter. In addition, he recorded his ninth career 300-yard passing game, setting a new school record. Kofoed now needs 36 yards passing to become the MIAC's all-time leading passer in conference games, currently owned by former Bethel quarterback Scott Kirchoff (1999-03). Kofoed has completed 67.6 percent of his passes (140 of 207) for 1,744 yards and 20 touchdowns and leads the MIAC in passing efficiency (164.3) so far this season.
Tri-Offensive Player of the Week
Concordia College junior quarterback Jesse Nelson, (Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka) ran for two touchdowns and threw three TD passes in the Cobbers' 52-51 loss at No.17-ranked St. Olaf on Saturday. Nelson had a career day as Concordia's signal caller, rushing 23 times for 104 yards and completing 18-of-26 passes for 225 passing yards. His 329 total offensive yards in the game is a career high for Nelson. Nelson was instrumental in keeping Concordia close with the league's top-ranked offense. He was able to lead the Cobbers on six straight scoring drives and out of the 11 times Concordia had the ball, he drove the team to eight scores. The biggest drive of the game came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter when he took the team 78 yards in 14 plays to set up the last-second extra point dramatics. Stats: Rushing - 23 carries, 104 yards, 2 TD's; Passing 18-for-26, 225 yards, 1 Int, 3 TD's.
Tri-Offensive Player of the Week
University of St. Thomas junior quarterback David Sauer (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) threw for three TDs, had a career-best 441 passing yards, had no interceptions and ran for a TD in Saturday's 50-33 comeback win over Augsburg. Sauer completed 35-of-46 passes and rallied UST from a 33-23 deficit in the third quarter as he led four scoring drives of 64, 39, 70 and 60 yards in a game-closing 27-0 flurry. He completed 17-of-20 passes in the second half. He also rushed for 30 yards to finish with 471 yards of total offense. He guided a UST offense that rolled up 33 first downs and 610 yards of offense. Sauer moved over 3,400 passing yards in 16 career games.
Defensive Player of the Week
Saint John's University junior defensive tackle Nick Gunderson (Woodbury, Minn.) made five tackles (3 solo), including 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery in the Johnnies' 40-0 win at Gustavus last weekend. Gunderson anchored an SJU defense that held Gustavus, who entered the contest second in the MIAC averaging 440.8 yards per game, to 133 yards of offense and 54 plays in the game. Gunderson is currently third on the team in tackles with 38 (18 solo), is tied for the team lead with 9.0 tackles for loss and second with 5.5 sacks so far this season. The last time SJU shutout Gustavus in St. Peter occurred on Oct. 7, 1932 (7-0). The Johnnies have shutout the Gusties five times since, all in Collegeville.
Special Teams Player of the Week
St. Olaf College senior kicker/punter Paul Fortman (Stillwater, Minn.) went 7-for-7 on PAT tries to extend his streak to 45 without a miss. Fortman added two punts for a 48.0/punt average and threw a pass on a fake punt for a 20-yard gain that set up his 35-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
MIAC Football Players of the Week