FRC - CIS football players of the week (#2): Wendel, Jutras, Elliot honoured

OTTAWA (CIS) – Ottawa quarterback Derek Wendel, Sherbrooke linebacker Dempsey Jutras and St. Francis Xavier cover man Charlton Elliot are the first CIS football players of the week for the period ending on Sept. 6, 2014.

Wendel, a second-year commerce student from Shannonville, Ont., was honoured on offence after he led the nationally eighth-ranked Gee-Gees (2-0) to a spectacular come-from-behind road win over Queen’s, last Saturday in Kingston. With his team trailing by 14 points with 10 minutes remaining in regulation, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore engineered three straight touchdown drives to turn a 30-16 deficit into a spectacular 37-30 victory. Wendel finished the game with 35 completions – the second most in team history – in 52 attempts for 400 yards and three majors, and was also Ottawa’s leading rusher on the day with 105 yards on 11 carries.

StFX tailback Ashton Dickson, Laval quarterback Hugo Richard and Calgary slotback Brett Blaszko were also up for the award.

Jutras, a fourth-year multidisciplinary student from Drummondville, Que., took home the weekly honour on defence thanks to his all-around solid performance in the Vert & Or’s 43-21 season-opening win against McGill, on Saturday. The 6-foot-1, 223-pound senior spent the afternoon in the Redmen’s backfield, resulting in no less than four tackles behind the line of scrimmage, a forced fumble and a turnover on downs. He ended up with a team-high 6.5 tackles as Sherbrooke held the visitors to 81 yards on the ground.

Mount Allison linebacker Matt Montgomery, Queen’s defensive back Brendan Morgan and Saskatchewan safety Mark Ingram were also nominated.

Elliot, a fourth-year arts student in his fifth year of eligibility from Pickering, Ont., was the choice on special teams after he helped the X-Men kick off their AUS schedule with a 31-7 road win over Saint Mary’s, last Friday night. The 6-foot, 197-pound defensive back blocked two punts in the victory, both in the third quarter, including one that was recovered by teammate Jesse Stevens in the end zone to give StFX a commanding 24-6 lead. It was the X-Men’s first victory at Huskies Stadium since 1998.

Concordia kicker Keegan Treloar, Guelph returner Ryan Nieuwesteeg and Regina returner Andrew Fabian were the other nominees.

Offensive nominees:
AUS: Ashton Dickson, tailback, StFX
RSEQ: Hugo Richard, quarterback, Laval
OUA: Derek Wendel, quarterback, Ottawa (recipient)
CWUAA: Brett Blaszko, slotback, Calgary

Defensive nominees:
AUS: Matt Montgomery, linebacker, Mount Allison
RSEQ: Dempsey Jutras, linebacker, Sherbrooke (recipient)
OUA: Brendan Morgan, defensive back, Queen’s
CWUAA: Mark Ingram, safety, Saskatchewan

Special team nominees:
AUS: Charlton Elliot, cover, StFX (recipient)
RSEQ: Keegan Treloar, kicker, Concordia
OUA: Ryan Nieuwesteeg, returner, Guelph
CWUAA: Andrew Fabian, returner, Regina

CIS FOOTBALL WEEK 3 SCHEDULE (all times local)

September 12
19:00 Concordia (1-0) at McGill (0-1) (SSN Canada)
19:00 Bishop’s (0-1) at No. 5 Montreal (0-1)
19:00 Regina (1-0) at Manitoba (0-1) (Shaw TV & CanadaWest.TV)

September 13
13:00 Waterloo (0-2) at Laurier (1-1) (OUA.TV)
13:00 No. 3 Western (1-0) at Queen’s (1-1) (OUA.TV)
13:00 No. 7 Guelph (1-1) at No. 8 Ottawa (2-0) (OUA.TV)
13:00 No. 1 Laval (1-0) at No. 9 Sherbrooke (1-0) (Radio-Canada TV & ici.radio-canada.ca)
13:00 York (0-2) at Toronto (0-2) (OUA.TV)
13:00 Carleton (1-0) at No. 4 McMaster (2-0) (Cable 14 TV & OUA.TV)
14:00 Saint Mary’s (0-1) at Acadia (0-1) (Eastlink TV & AUStv.ca)
14:00 No. 10 Mount Allison (1-0) at StFX (1-0) (AUStv.ca)
14:00 No. 2 Calgary (1-0) at UBC (0-1) (CanadaWest.TV)
17:00 No. 6 Saskatchewan (1-0) at Alberta (0-1) (CanadaWest.TV)

About Football Reporters of Canada

Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) represents journalists and broadcasters in every region of the country covering CIS Football. Since 1958, Football Reporters of Canada has been an organization of media members who have covered the Canadian Football League, serving to select the league’s outstanding players, coach-of-the-year and all-star teams through voting conducted by its members. In 2009, the FRC amalgamated with the University Football Reporters of Canada (UFRC) to give the organization greater scope in its affiliation with amateur and college football. FRC also works with the CFL and CIS to establish guidelines and working conditions for the men and women who report on the game. Selected members of FRC also help to choose builders, players and media members for induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

About the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup

Canadian Interuniversity Sport will celebrate the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup throughout its 2014 football season. For the first time in history, the championship game will be staged in Montreal - at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium - on Saturday, November 29, at 1 p.m. ET, live on Sportsnet and Radio-Canada.

Official TELUS Vanier Cup website (including ticket information) www.vaniercup.com

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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