BAY CITY, Mich. -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced its weekly awards following the opening weekend of the 2016 football season. Michigan Tech quarterback Brandon Cowie earned GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, while Ferris State sophomore defensive end Zach Sieler captured GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors along with Hillsdale senior kicker/punter Steven Mette who claimed GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week accolades.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Brandon Cowie, Michigan Tech
Michigan Tech senior quarterback Brandon Cowie had a huge game for Michigan Tech, leading the Huskies to a 33-7 win. Cowie set a new Michigan Tech record and tied the all-time GLIAC mark for single-game completion percentage, connecting on 92.9% (26-of-28) of his attempts. Steve Short held the previous MTU mark of 85.7% which was set at Winona State on Aug. 30, 2008 while Hillsdale's Troy Weatherhead also completed 26-of-28 passes back in 2010 to set the conference standard. Cowie completed passes to eight different receivers on Saturday and had 3 TD's to go along with 280 yards. For his career, Cowie is completing 71.4% of his passes through this week's game.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Zach Sieler, Ferris State
Ferris State University sophomore defensive end Zach Sieler headlined an outstanding defensive performance by the Bulldogs in Thursday's 41-0 season-opening triumph over Ohio Dominican at FSU's Top Taggart Field. Sieler made a career-best and team-high 10 tackles, including eight assisted efforts and also tallied three tackles for loss (-12 yards), 1.5 sacks (-8 yards) and a forced fumble in the victory. His effort before a crowd of more than 5,000 fans on an electric night helped FSU shutout the Panthers' potent offense and limit ODU to only 198 yards of total offense along with only 53 yards rushing on 30 attempts. The defensive unit also forced four turnovers in FSU's 26th-straight regular season win.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Steven Mette, Hillsdale
Hilldale senior kicker Steven Mette played an important role in the Chargers' 30-24 win over No. 16 University of Indianapolis Saturday night. He tallied 12 points, going 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and 3-for-3 on extra point attempts. He connected on field goals of 32, 30 and 28 yards in Hillsdale's first win over a nationally ranked opponent since 2011. Mette also punted six times with an average of 35.2 yards, including a long of 44, one inside the 20 and three fair catches.
HONORABLE MENTION
OFFENSE: Vance Settlemire (AU), Jake Mayon (NMU), Terrell Dorsey (GVSU), Trey Brock (HC), Desmon Turner (LEC), Alfonso Vultaggio (SVSU), Rhys Gervais (UF), Reggie Bell (FSU), Reid Worstell (WU), Jamel Hicks (WSU)
DEFENSE: Tre McIntyre (ODU), Austin Utter (AU), Darryl Williams (NMU), Dylan Carroll (GVSU), Jay Rose (HC), Zack Jude (LEC), Bryan Jones (SVSU), Michael Fisher (NU), Myles Alexander (UF), Nick Brajak (MTU), Seamus O'Sullivan (WU), Valorian Cunningham (WSU), Jawan Nelson (TU)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Aidan Simenc (AU), Walter Jackson (NMU), Joel Schipper (GVSU), Michael Muzic (LEC), Michael King (SVSU), Josh King (MTU), Wyatt Ford (FSU), Luke Bevilacqua (WSU), Alex Knight (WU)
Follow the action on Twitter @GLIACsports and use the hashtag #GLIACFB
