October 14, 2016

OUA standouts sweep Week 7 FRC - CIS football players of the week honours

TORONTO (CIS) – Ottawa quarterback Derek Wendel and a pair of McMaster standouts, defensive end Mike Kashak and kicker Adam Preocanin, are the CIS football players of the week for the period ending Oct. 7, 2016.

TORONTO (CIS) – Ottawa quarterback Derek Wendel and a pair of McMaster standouts, defensive end Mike Kashak and kicker Adam Preocanin, are the CIS football players of the week for the period ending Oct. 7, 2016.

Wendel, a fifth-year philosophy major from Belleville, Ont., was honoured on offence after he made CIS history with his third career 500-yard performance in a 54-20 home win over York, last Friday. The 6-foot-1, 207-pound senior completed 31 of 42 passes for 514 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Lions, and also added 42 rushing yards and a major on only five carries. Wendel, who currently leads the nation with 2,371 passing yards and 18 TD strikes (tied) in six league contests, became the first pivot in CIS annals to throw for 500 yards or more in a single game three times in his career, adding to his 564 and 542-yard efforts in 2015.

Jordan Socholotiuk, a running back from St. Francis Xavier, was also up for the award.

Kashak, a fifth-year labour studies and political science student from Courtice, Ont., took home the award on defence thanks to a dominant performance in a 36-6 victory against visiting Queen's, last Friday in Hamilton. The 6-foot-1, 243-pound veteran finished the evening with a remarkable 4.5 quarterback sacks for losses of 37 yards, seven total tackles, as well as a forced fumble that was recovered for a touchdown by teammate Aaron Clarke. Kashak, a sixth-round selection of the Calgary Stampeders in the 2016 CFL draft, leads CIS with 11.5 sacks this fall and has two more games remaining to shatter the national single-season record set in 2012 by former McMaster teammate Ben D'Aguilar and Montreal's Jean-Samuel Blanc.

Saint Mary's defensive end Jadarius Ceasar was also nominated.

Preocanin, a first-year humanities major from Burlington, Ont., was the choice on special teams following a record-setting outing against Queen's. The 6-foot, 175-pound freshman was perfect on seven field goal attempts (44, 43, 21, 11, 32, 48, 48) in the Marauders' win to increase his season total to 22, only four shy of the CIS record with two conference games remaining. With seven field goals in a single contest, Preocanin, who also averaged 41.8 yards per punt and 61.0 yards per kickoff on the evening, established a new team standard, tied the OUA mark set by Toronto's Lance Chomyc back in 1982, and now sits in third place on the all-time CIS list.

Idahosa Yorke, a kick returner from Mount Allison, was the other nominee.

Offensive nominees:

AUS: Jordan Socholotiuk, running back, StFX

RSEQ: No games scheduled

OUA: Derek Wendel, quarterback, Ottawa (recipient)

CWUAA: No games scheduled

Defensive nominees:

AUS: Jadarius Ceasar, defensive end, Saint Mary's

RSEQ: No games scheduled

OUA: Mike Kashak, defensive end, McMaster (recipient)

CWUAA: No games scheduled

Special team nominees: