RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced the football players of the week for the ninth week of the 2023 season. Henderson State’s Andrew Edwards claimed the Offensive honor; Southern Arkansas’ Melvin Smith, Jr. earned the Defensive accolade while the Reddies’ Cameron Thomas and Oklahoma Baptist’s Tainique Taylor shared the Special Teams award.

#theGAC FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Andrew Edwards, QB, Henderson State, So., Bentonville, Arkansas
Edwards repeated as the league’s Offensive Player of the Week after completing 18-of-22 passes for 331 yards and five touchdowns in the Reddies’ 51-0 win against Northwestern Oklahoma State. He became the first Reddie quarterback in the GAC era to register consecutive games with at least an 80.0 completion percentage on at least 20 attempts

#theGAC FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Melvin Smith, Jr., DB, Southern Arkansas, Jr., Bossier City, Louisiana
Smith, Jr. came up with a game-changing interception in SAU’s 41-10 victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State. With the Muleriders maintaining a 17-3 advantage, he picked off a SWOSU pass three yards deep in the end zone. He ran it all the way back to become the seventh player in league history with a 100-yard interception return touchdown.

#theGAC FOOTBALL CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Cameron Thomas, KR, Henderson State, Jr., Shreveport, Louisiana
Thomas registered Henderson State’s first kickoff return for a touchdown since September 19, 2015 when he returned the first-quarter kick 72 yards for a score. The return came on the heels of a safety and put the Reddies up 16-0 six minutes into the contest.

#theGAC FOOTBALL CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tainique Taylor, PR, Oklahoma Baptist, So., Longview, Texas
Taylor notched the first punt return touchdown in Oklahoma Baptist’s Division II era, and only the second in program history. He ran the third-quarter punt back 54 yards for the final score of the Bisons’ 28-7 home victory against Arkansas-Monticello that secured a winning season with an 4-1 home record, the program’s best mark since 2014.

OTHERS NOMINATED

Dexter Brown, RB (Southwestern Oklahoma State), Jake Dugger, OT (Harding), Connor Flannigan, WR (Ouachita Baptist), Taye Gatewood, QB (Arkansas Tech), Nick Harris, WR (Oklahoma Baptist), Kadyn Roach, RB (Southern Arkansas)

Scooter Baker, LB (Oklahoma Baptist), Ty Dugger, DB (Harding), Mario Ganter, Jr., CB (Ouachita Baptist), Fred Lewis, LB (Henderson State), Vershaud Richardson, DL (Arkansas Tech)

Joe Couch, P (Ouachita Baptist), Grant Ennis, K (Harding), Hayden Nitz, PK (Southern Arkansas), Aaron Winn, P (Arkansas Tech)