FARMINGTON, Utah (Sept. 4, 2023) - Idaho's Hayden Hatten, Cal Poly's Elijah Ponder and Weber State's Abraham Williams were selected as Big Sky Football Players of the Week on Monday, following their performances in Week 1.
Offensive Player of the Week: Hayden Hatten (Idaho)
Idaho's Hayden Hatten led the Vandals in a 42-17 win over Lamar this past Thursday night, as the wideout scored three times in the road victory. The Big Sky Preseason Offensive MVP caught seven passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing one pass for a 45-yard score to round out his impressive stat line in Beaumont, Texas.
Defensive Player of the Week: Elijah Ponder (Cal Poly)
Cal Poly's Elijah Ponder won defensive weekly honors after leading the Mustangs to an impressive win over San Diego this past Saturday. The defensive end finished the game with eight total tackles, with three being sacks and three for a loss, while also collecting a fumble to round out his day. The Cal Poly defense didn't surrender a touchdown in the victory over San Diego, marking the first time a Mustang defense has achieved that feat since 2014.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Abraham Williams (Weber State)
Abraham Williams added to his record-setting season from last year with another 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Weber State's 35-10 season-opening win over Central Washington. It was his fifth career kickoff return touchdown and all five have been for 100 yards. He finished the day with two returns for 116 yards.
Elsewhere on the national scene, Montana State's Scottre Humphrey was named the
FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman Player of the Week after his performance for the Bobcats on Saturday night. Humphrey had 114 yards and three touchdowns in the 63-20 victory over Utah Tech, as the freshman rusher averaged 8.1 yards per carry on the night.
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Others Nominated
Off: Scottree Humphrey (Montana State), Lan Larison (UC Davis), Kaiden Bennett (Sacramento State), Damon Bankston (Weber State), Efton Chism III (Eastern Washington), Eli Gillman (Montana), Hunter Hays (Idaho State), Sam Huard (Cal Poly)
Def: Winston Reid (Weber State), Marcus Harris (Idaho), DeShawn Lynch (Sacramento State), Ryder Meyer (Montana), Armani Orange (EWU), Michael Montgomery (Portland State)
ST: Cal McGough (Sacramento State), Nick Kokich (EWU), George Triplett (Portland State), Grant Glasgow (Montana), Noah Serna (Cal Poly)
2023 Big Sky Football Players of the Week
9/4: Hayden Hatten, Idaho (Offensive); Elijah Ponder, Cal Poly (Defensive); Abraham Williams, Weber State (Special Teams)