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BAY CITY, Mich. - Grand Valley State University sophomore running back James Berezik(Fraser, Mich./Warren De La Salle) has been chosen as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Football Offensive Player of the Week by the league office. Saginaw Valley State University senior defensive back Matt Black (Toronto, Ontario/Northern) was selected Defensive Player of the Week, while Ashland University freshman kick returner Carlin Isles (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) earned Special Teams Player of the Week Honors.

GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week:
James Berezik - Grand Valley State
(SO, RB, 5-10, 190, Fraser, Mich./Warren De La Salle)

Sophomore RB James Berezik rushed for a career-high 234 yards and two TDs on a career-high 35 carries as #1 Grand Valley State tallied a 24-10 victory over #25 Wayne State on the road. Berezik rushed 17 times for 109 yards in the first half, followed by a second half in which he rushed 18 times for 125 yards and two TDs. His 234 rushing yards was the third-best single-game rushing total in GVSU football history.

Offensive Honor Roll: Billy Cundiff - AU, Kyle Parrish - FS, Billy Noonan - UF, Troy Weatherhead - HC, Craig Jenkins - UI, Phil Milbrath - MT, Brennan VanEffen - NM, Torris Childs - NU, Brandon Emeott - SV, Matt Root - TU.

2008 Off. Players of the Week: (9/2) S. Short - MT; (9/8) M. Root - TU; (9/15) B. Cundiff - AU; (9/22) P. Milbrath - MT; (9/29) B. Iciek - GV; (10/6) C. Jenkins - UI; (10/13) K. Parrish - FS; (10/20) J. Berezik - GV; (10/27) B. Iciek - GV; (11/3) J. Bell - WS; (11/10) J. Berezik - GV.

GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week:
Matt Black - Saginaw Valley State
(SR, DB, 5-9, 186, Toronto, Ontario/Northern)

SVSU senior DB Matt Black racked up four tackles, two fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked punt in SVSU's 26-14 win at Ferris State. Black blocked a first quarter punt that was returned for a touchdown, then would come up with a fumble recovery in the second quarter, and would jump on another loose ball late in the third quarter. Black also grabbed his fifth interception of the year at the start of the fourth quarter in the win.

Defensive Honor Roll: Marcus Council - AU, Jake Visser - FS, Joe Knopick - UF, Zach Breen - GV, Drew Berube - HC, Randall Courtney, Jr. - UI, Jesse Vandneberg - MT, Leroy Golbourne - NU, Nathan Yelk - NM, Parris Burt - SV.

2008 Def. Players of the Week: (9/2) P. Burt - TU; (9/8) J. Visser - FS; (9/15) P. Burt - TU; (9/22) T. Brenner - AU; (9/29) C. Wilson - FS; (10/6) A. Wojcik - HC; (10/13) D. Skuta - GV; (10/20) J. Jones - WS; (10/27) N. Yelk - NM; (11/3) D. Berube - HC.

GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week:
Carlin Isles - Ashland
(FR, RB/KR, 5-8, 165, Massillon, Ohio/Jackson)

A true freshman, Isles returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown with 2:02 left in regulation and the score tied, 35-35. His TD return was the winning margin in AU's 45-38 come-from-behind with over Findlay. For the game, Isles returned four kickoffs for 174 yards (43.5 ypr.).

Special Teams Honor Roll: Mike Ryan - FS, Cameron Stevens - UF, Todd Carter - GV, Eric Schweller - HC, Jon Mills - MT, Chris Kollias - NU, Jeremy Burr - SV, Dyshaun Edwards - TU.

2008 S.T. Players of the Week: (9/2) D. Dunn - WS; (9/8) D. Dunn - WS; (9/15) M. Petro - HC; (9/22) M. Petro - HC; (9/29) D. Dunn - WS; (10/6) E. Schweller - WS; (10/13) D. Harvey - AU; (10/20) A. Dunson - AU; (10/27) J. Yates - FS; (11/3) G. Berkshire - AU.

-----GLIAC Football Weekly Notes-----

Ashland - AU was waiting Sunday to hear if it received a bid to the NCAA playoffs. If that invite came through, the Eagles would make the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in school history...redshirt junior wide receiver Nick Bellanco (Wooster, OH) caught nine passes Saturday against Findlay and for the year, has 67 receptions for 1,057 yards. The school single-season record for receptions is 72, owned by Mike Hull. Bellanco also has a chance to get the single-season receiving yards record, it is owned by Chris Harkness, who had 1,131 yards in 1987...Ashland forced four turnovers in Saturday's win against a Findlay team that was second in the GLIAC in turnover margin ... in Saturday's win, QB Billy Cundiff (Uniontown, OH/Connecticut) was 17-for-23 for 154 yards and a touchdown in the second half. Cundiff has completed 69.5 percent of his passes and has 34 TD passes and seven interceptions...senior LB Tom Brenner had 12 tackles Saturday and has 110 stops this season. That's the highest figure for an AU player since Devin Conwell had 118 tackles in 2003...freshman Carlin Isles (Massillon, OH/Jackson) returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. That run came with 2:02 left in regulation and provided the margin of victory. That's the first kickoff return for a TD by an AU player since Toure Carter returned a kick 95 yards for a score against Indianapolis in 2003.

Ferris State - Turnovers plagued the FSU football team as the Bulldogs suffered a 26-14 loss to Saginaw Valley State in their 2008 season finale Saturday (Nov. 8) afternoon at FSU's Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich... The Bulldogs turned the ball over seven times in the contest, including five lost fumbles, in dropping the annual Senior Day outing to the visiting Cardinals, who kept their postseason hopes alive with the victory. The Bulldogs honored their 17 seniors prior to the game, which was the final contest in the 100th season of Bulldog football... FSU led 14-10 after the opening stanza, but the Cardinals came back to score 16 unanswered points in securing the victory. Ferris concluded the season with a 6-5 overall record and a 5-5 mark in GLIAC action... Ferris had seven fumbles in the game, losing five, and also threw two interceptions. Four Bulldog drives in the second half resulted in turnovers while SVSU had no turnovers in the outing... Defensively, Bulldog senior defensive tackle Jake Visser capped off an outstanding career with a game-high 15 total tackles, including nine solo stops. The Harlon Hill Trophy candidate had a sack, a QB hurry and two blocked kicks, both of which came in the final quarter.

Findlay - The Oilers nearly pulled off an upset of #24 Ashland University on Saturday, losing 45-38...The 38 points were the most for the team this year...Individually, freshman QB Billy Noonan completed 28-of-41 passes for a school record 364 yards... His 364 yards through the air broke the previous record of 332 set by Bo Hurley against Olivet Nazarene University during the 1997 season while his 28 completions tied the school record which he now shares with Kevin Crooks who did it against Northwood University in 2004... As a team, the Oilers 364 yards passing set a new school record which broke the previous mark of 356 against Wayne State University during the 2001 campaign... Junior WR Mike Chambers meanwhile hauled in a school record 195 yards receiving on 12 catches... Junior RB Melvin Jackson added a career-high 134 yards rushing on 31 carries with a touchdown and also had 50 yards receiving on four receptions with a score...On the year, Chambers set a new school record with 74 receptions...He tallied 915 yards receiving and made two interceptions in three starts at safety for the Oilers... Sophomore PK Cameron Stevens established a new school record with 12 field goals which gives him 20 in his short career...The 20 made field goals is also a new record at UF.

Grand Valley State - GVSU has advanced to the NCAA DII playoffs for the eighth consecutive year...The Lakers have been selected as the top seed in its region six times during that span...GVSU is 23-8 all-time in the DII playoffs, including a record of 23-2 since 2001...Grand Valley has won 14 consecutive home playoff games... GVSU is 94-6 in its last 100 games with four National Championships (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006)...The Lakers are 107-6 in its last 113 games and 84-3 in its last 87 regular season games. Grand Valley State is 73-3 in its last 76 GLIAC games....The 2008 GVSU senior class is 50-1 with two National Championships and four GLIACtitles. In addition, the 2008 senior class never lost a regular season game (42-0) and finished with an undefeated record (40-0) in GLIAC action...Grand Valley State has won 42 consecutive regular season games. The Lakers' last regular season loss was 10/23/04 to Northwood (35-14)...Since 2001, the Lakers are 57-3 at home, 42-3 in their last 45 road games and 46-4 in all games away from Lubbers Stadium in their last 50...GVSU defeated a single-season high five ranked opponents during the 2008 regular season, most recently a 24-10 victory over #25 Wayne State. In addtion, GVSU defeated #23 Ashland (48-42), #24 Michigan Tech (52-6), #24 Ferris State (31-13), and #25 Saginaw Valley State (36-0).

Hillsdale - The 2008 season is now complete for the Hillsdale College football team, as the Chargers ended the campaign with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2005...Hillsdale scored 34 or more points in three of its last four games, including the season-ending 37-36 win over Tiffin...Sophomore quarterback Troy Weatherhead broke the school record for completions in a season with 242...He eclipsed the record set by Mark Nicolet in 2007, who had 240 completions... Weatherhead's 2,847 passing yards this season are second in a single season in school history...Junior running back Vinnie Panizzi finished with 1,086 rushing yards, exactly one more yard than he gained last year...Junior wide receiver A.J. Kegg finished the season with 74 receptions, four shy of the single-season school record of 78, set by Nick Gurica last year... Kegg's 74 catches are the second-most in a single season in school history ...Three of Hillsdale's four losses this season came by seven points or less, and Hillsdale won two games by a touchdown or less ...The last time Hillsdale won a game on the road by seven points or less was on Sept. 8, 2007, in a 42-41 win at Northern Michigan...The Chargers' 15 wins over the past two seasons are the most in a two-year span since 1992 and 1993, when the Chargers went a combined 16-5-1.

Indianapolis - Senior Craig Jenkins (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) polished-off a solid career, rushing for 184 yards and two scores in UIndy's 24-6 win against Northern Michigan. He finished the season with a school-record 1,324 rushing yards and piled-up over 3,000 in his decorated career ... True freshman Mike Dum (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) had a dozen total tackles in the win and posted a team-best 98 total stops on the season ... Randall Courtney's (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) two sacks Saturday gave him 11.5 for the season, sixth-most by a Greyhound in a single campaign ... Deontrai Campbell (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Southside) finished the season with 617 rushing yards on just 84 carries for a 7.3 average, besting a school record that stood since 1952.

Michigan Tech - The 2008 Huskies became just the third Michigan Tech team since 1974 to win eight games or more. Only the 1992 (9-1) and 2004 (9-2) have had better records since the 1974 team went 9-0 ... Phil Milbrath (Norway, Mich.) racked up 1,343 yards and 21 touchdowns rushing on the season after posting 196 yards and two scores at Northwood last Saturday (Nov. 8). The sophomore tailback finished as the GLIAC's leading rusher (134.3 yards per game) and its lead scorer (12.8 points per game) ... Senior wide receiver Keith White (Rhinelander, Wis.) posted five catches for 89 yards and a touchdown at Northwood. The 6-4, 225-pound White finished his career with a school record 2,377 receiving yards to go with 149 receptions and 22 receiving touchdowns - both the second-most in school history ... Junior Steve Short (Iron Mountain, Mich./Kingsford) posted his 20th win as a starting quarterback last Saturday. The 6-0, 190-pound Short broke the school record for passing completion in a season at 64.3 after going 169-of-263 on the year. He also came within two yards of his own record for passing yards with 2,192 on the year ... Junior free safety David Carmody (Newberry, Mich.) led the team with 97 tackles in 2008 including 61 solo stops. He posted 10 passes defended including four INTs.

Northern Michigan - Northern Michigan concluded the 2008 season at Indianapolis Saturday...The Wildcats went 0-5 on the road this season and are 1-9 over the past two seasons away from Marquette... Brennan VanEffen had a career day against the Greyhounds with 133 yards on 29 carries...VanEffen ended the season second on the NMU rushing list with 237 yards on 44 carries...Dan Elmore with his touchdown on Saturday had six for the season which is a season high...Zach Nichols who had two catches on Saturday ended the 2008 season with career-highs for receptions with 45 and receiving yardage with 438...Dustin Brancheau had five receptions for 22 yards on Saturday which brings his season numbers to 27 catches for 271 yards which are both season highs ...Nathan Yelk who had 19 total tackles (six solo and 13 assisted) against UIndy finishes the season with a team-high 98 total tackles (61 solo and 37 assisted), the total tackles and solo tackles are both career highs for a season.

Northwood - The Northwood University football team saw its 2008 season come to an end with a 25-13 loss to Michigan Tech ... the Timberwolves ended the year with a 2-8 record ... senior fullback Torris Childs (N. Chicago, Ill.) set the Northwood record for career rushing yards, finishing at 3,268 ... Childs broke the 28-year old mark of Jayce Smith, which was 3,259 yards ... senior receiver Mike Rogers (Midland, Mich./Dow) scored his first career touchdown in the contest, a 38-yard score in the final moments of the game ... redshirt freshman Steve McCollom (Farmington, Mich./Royal Oak Shrine) rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown in his second career start ... the Timberwolves saw 13 seniors play in their final game at Northwood in the contest.

Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley closed out the regular season with a 26-14 win over Ferris State. Things would start good for the Cardinals as Brad Bush (Johannesburg, Mich./Gaylord HS) forced a fumble on the first play of the game that led to first of a record tying four field goal for senior Jeremy Burr (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley HS). Burr connected on a 37-yard field goal to give the Cardinals an early 3-0 lead. Later in the first senior defensive back Matt Black (Toronto, Ont./Northern SS) would sneak through the line on a Bulldog punt attempt for a block that would land in the hands of Ja'Vae Ingraham (Lakeland, Fla./Lake Gibson HS) who would take the ball the final 13-yards for a touchdown. Burr would start off the second quarter with his second field goal of the afternoon, this time a 30-yarder from the left hash. Burr would add a 26 yard field goal, his third on the afternoon, to give the Cardinals a 16-14 lead with ten minutes left in the second quarter... Brandon Emeott (Caro, Mich.) would cap off a six play drive with a three yard dive into the endzone to put SVSU up 23-14 with just over a minute to go in the first half. Emeott would finish the day with 113 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown. He moved over the 1,000 yard mark on the season for the Cardinals and stands 56 yards out the top ten for all-time best seasons for a Cardinal running back.

Tiffin - Senior QB Matt Root finished his Dragons career with 360 yards passing on 36 of 50 attempts and 4 touchdowns covering 6, 5, 8, and 24 yards. The Dragons battled back from 23 points down in the fourth quarter to take the lead with 2:35 to play before falling to the Chargers 37-36... Senior WR Dyshaun Edwards had his finest all-purpose day as a Dragon, accounting for 291 all purpose yards. He had 104 yards in punt returns, 55 yards in kick returns, 112 yards receiving, and 20 yards rushing. He returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown that put TU ahead 36-30 with 2:35 to play. The 92 yard return was the longest punt return in school history... Trey Williams had a great day receiving, catching 9 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown...Greg Raspberry had 44 yards receiving...Edwards caught 12 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown...Jackson Davis had 10 tackles while Lance Timmons had 9 tackles...Drew Douthit and Brian Weiss had sacks in the game.

Wayne State - Wayne State recorded its best GLIAC finish since 1984 with a 7-3 conference mark ... the crowd for Saturday's game vs. Grand Valley (5152) was the largest at Adams Field since Oct. 12, 1974 ... the Warriors had two of the eight largest home crowds in school history in 2008 ... junior running back Joique Bell (Benton Harbor, Mich.) moved into second place on the WSU all-time total offense list passing Ed Skowneski (1972-75), who finished his career with 4,790 yards ... Bell also became just the second back in 91 years of WSU football to have three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons (Joe Gough, 1991-94) ... senior Daryl Graham (Detroit, Mich./St. Martin de Porres) completed his GLIAC career with 2,999 rushing yards, nine ahead of GVSU's Reggie Spearmon (1999-02) for 10th place on the GLIAC all-time charts ... WSU's average attendance was the highest since 1977.