RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced the football players of the week for the opening week of the 2023 season. Henderson State’s Andrew Edwards and Southern Arkansas’ OB Jones shared the Offensive honor while Oklahoma Baptist’s Brett Karhu and and Luke Watkins claimed the Defensive and Special Teams

#theGAC FOOTBALL CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Andrew Edwards, QB, Henderson State, So., Bentonville, Arkansas
Edwards registered the second four-touchdown game of his career as the Reddies defeated East Central, 41-13, on Thursday. He completed 17-of-25 passes for 276 yards. He threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter and added a 54-yard connection to Chris Hatzis in the third quarter. He added 31 rushing yards.

#theGAC FOOTBALL CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – OB Jones, QB, Southern Arkansas, Sr., Tatum, Texas
Jones threw for 117 yards and ran for 95 more as the Muleriders handed Southeastern Oklahoma State a 34-19 defeat, their first win in the series since 2019. He tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and added three touchdowns on the ground

#theGAC FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brett Karhu, DE, Oklahoma Baptist, So., Frisco, Texas
Karhu tied for the team lead with seven tackles in their 23-21 home win against Arkansas Tech. He tallied 4.0 tackles for loss, including 3.0 sacks. Both totals ranked as the top individual performances in Division II for week one. Both the tackles for loss and sacks totals exceeded his 2022 full-season totals.

#theGAC FOOTBALL SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Luke Watkins, P/K, Oklahoma Baptist, Fr., McKinney, Texas
Watkins became just the second GAC player in the last eight seasons to make at least three field goals and place three punts inside the 20-yard line in the same game. He made the decisive field goal with 2:14 remaining that put the Bison up 23-14 in their season-opening win against Arkansas Tech. He averaged 41.7 yards per kick on his six punts.

OTHERS NOMINATED

Blake Delacruz, FB (Harding), Darian Gill, RB (Northwestern Oklahoma State), Riley Harms, QB (Ouachita Baptist), Nick Howard, WR (Arkansas-Monticello), Aidan Thompson, QB (Oklahoma Baptist)

Jamison Carvelle, LB (Northwestern Oklahoma State), Paul Manning, DB (Henderson State), Jax Miller, LB (Ouachita Baptist), Cayden Pierce, LB (Harding), Dawson Scott, DE (Southern Arkansas), Richard Silva, LB (Southwestern Oklahoma State)

Grant Ennis, K (Harding), Gabe Goodman, K (Ouachita Baptist), Zachary Grisotti, P/K (Arkansas-Monticello), Julian Jackson, KR (Northwestern Oklahoma State), Andrew Schreiner, P (Southern Arkansas)