FRC - CIS football players of the week (#1): Kennedy, Martinez, Demski honoured

OTTAWA (CIS) – Windsor quarterback Austin Kennedy, Saskatchewan cornerback Travoy Martinez and Manitoba kick returner Nic Demski are the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football players of the week for the period ending Sept. 3, 2012.

The selection was made by a committee comprised of members of Football Reporters of Canada (FRC).

Kennedy, a third-year business administration student from Windsor, was honoured on offence following one of the best season debuts in recent memory. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound pivot broke his own single-game team records with 31 completions and 482 passing yards, and tied a Lancers’ mark with six touchdown passes in a 63-18 rout of Ottawa in front of a Labour Day home crowd of 4,186. Kennedy, who went 31-of-41 without an interception on the afternoon, led the No. 7-ranked Lancers (1-0) to their best offensive output since a 63-22 win over Toronto in 2005, two points shy of the single-game club record.

Fellow quarterbacks Alexandre Nadeau-Piuze of Montreal and Eric Dzwilewski of Calgary were also up for the award.

Martinez, a first-year arts and science student from Dallas, Texas, took home the weekly honour on defence thanks to a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions in his Canada West debut, a convincing 32-0 home victory against Alberta last Friday. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound freshman registered his first career pick in the corner of the end zone on the Golden Bears’ best scoring chance of the contest midway through the final stanza, and added his second of the evening on Alberta’s next possession, catching the ball at the Huskies’ 42-yard line and returning it on 25 yards. Martinez also had two pass breakups and five tackles in No. 8 Saskatchewan’s (1-0) first shutout since 2008.

McGill linebacker Alex Bernard and McMaster defensive end Ben D’Aguilar were also nominated.

Demski, a second-year University 1 student from Winnipeg, was the choice on special teams after he scored a game-changing touchdown on a 96-yard punt return to help the No. 10 Bisons (1-0) kick off conference play with a 31-24 upset of then-No. 7 UBC in Vancouver, on Saturday. With his team leading 9-6 going into the second half, the 6-foot speedster made it a 10-point affair only three minutes into the third quarter with his spectacular return and Manitoba never looked back. Demski, named a second-team all-Canadian on special teams a year ago, finished the contest with 225 all-purpose yards, including 150 on six punt and kickoff returns.

Kickers Boris Bede of Laval and Dillon Wamsley of Queen’s were also up for the distinction.

Offensive nominees:
AUS: No games scheduled
RSEQ: Alexandre Nadeau-Piuze, quarterback, Montreal
OUA: Austin Kennedy, quarterback, Windsor (recipient)
CWUAA: Eric Dzwilewski, quarterback, Calgary

Defensive nominees:
AUS: No games scheduled
RSEQ: Alex Bernard, linebacker, McGill
OUA: Ben D’Aguilar, defensive end, McMaster
CWUAA: Travoy Martinez, cornerback, Saskatchewan (recipient)

Special team nominees:
AUS: No games scheduled
RSEQ: Boris Bede, kicker, Laval
OUA: Dillon Wamsley, kicker, Queen’s
CWUAA: Nic Demski, kick returner, Manitoba (recipient)

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE: WEEK 2 (all times local)

September 7
17:30 Alberta (0-1) at No. 3 Calgary (1-0), CanadaWest.tv (webcast)
19:00 StFX (0-0) at Mount Allison (0-0)
19:00 Sherbrooke (0-1) at McGill (0-1), SSNCanada.ca (webcast)
19:00 Concordia (1-0) at No. 4 Montreal (1-0)
19:00 UBC (0-1) at Regina (0-1), Shaw TV (TV) / CanadaWest.tv (webcast)

September 8
13:00 No. 1 McMaster (1-0) at Waterloo (0-1), SSNCanada.ca (webcast)
13:00 Toronto (1-0) at No. 5 Western (1-0)
13:00 No. 2 Laval (1-0) at Bishop’s (0-1), Radio-Canada (TV) / Radio-Canada & SSNCanada.ca (webcast)
13:00 Ottawa (0-1) at York (0-1), SSNCanada.ca (webcast)
13:00 No. 8 Saskatchewan (1-0) at No. 10 Manitoba (1-0), Shaw TV Manitoba (TV)
14:00 Saint Mary’s (0-0) at No. 9 Acadia (0-0), Eastlink TV (TV & webcast)
19:00 Guelph (0-1) at No. 7 Windsor (1-0), TVCogeco (TV)
20:00 No. 6 Queen’s (1-0) at Laurier (0-1), theScore (TV & webcast)

-CIS-