Sioux City Iowa — Northwestern College senior defensive back Bryce Van Beek earned NAIA Football Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the national office on Monday. Van Beek is the second Red Raider to take home the weekly national honor in as many weeks, joining teammate linebacker Sean Powell.
Van Beek tied both a school and GPAC record with three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, in the Red Raiders 49-7 road win over Jamestown. The senior defensive back picked off and returned a Jimmies’ pass 49 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Van Beek, who led the NAIA with seven interceptions in 2017, matched both Justin Wohlert (2014) and Grant Mosier (2007) with three interceptions in a game, also accounted for five tackles as the Raider Defense limited Jamestown to 200 yards of offense.
Earlier in the day Van Beek was recognized as the GPAC defensive player of the week as the Great Plains Athletic Conference and Hauff Mid-America Sports released the football players-of-the-week for games played on Saturday, September 8, 2018. Hauff Mid-America Sports is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-2019 GPAC Players-of-the-Week and Players and Coaches-of-the-Year awards program.
Concordia running back Ryan Durdon is this week’s GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Offensive Player-of-the-Week. Durdon, a junior from Decatur, Texas, ran for 250 yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries to lead Concordia to a 27-20 win over NCAA Division III Buena Vista (Iowa) in its season opener. It was the fourth best rushing performance in program history and marked the fourth career 200-yard rushing performance for Durdon, who ran for 1,247 yards as a sophomore in 2017. The Bulldogs travel to North Dakota to take on Jamestown on September 15. Kick off will be at 1 pm.
Steven Deila of Briar Cliff University is this week’s GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Special Teams Player-of-the-Week. Delia, a sophomore, from Chesterfield, Missouri, broke a Briar Cliff single game record with seven made PATs in the Chargers first win over a ranked opponent since 2004. Delia also punted three times with an average of 53.3 yards per punt (also a single game record for BCU) including a long of 63 yards to help Briar Cliff control the field position battle on the road against #25 Dakota State. The Chargers, off to a 2-0 start, host the Broncos of Hastings College on September 15. Kick off is set for 1 pm.
