BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Prairie View A&M’s Dawonya Tucker and Tre’Shaud Smith along with Alabama State’s Anthony Craven and Duran Bell and UAPB’s Kolby Watts were all named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Football Players of the Week in week one of the season for their outstanding play the league announced on Monday.
Offensive
Prairie View A&M
Dawonya Tucker (SR, RB, Terrell, Texas)
Tucker tallied 298 all-purpose yards, rushing for 188 yards, catching for 29 yards receiving, and racking up 81 yards in kick returns. His three touchdown performance helped lead the Panthers to a 44-23 season opening win over rival Texas Southern in the Labor Day Classic.
Co-Defensive
Prairie View A&M
Tre’Shaud Smith (JR, LB, Centreville, Miss.)
Smith had 12 tackles, 1.0 sacks for seven yards, and 2.0 TFL for nine yards in his debut at PVAMU. He was an anchor on a defensive unit that limited Texas Southern to two touchdowns offensively.
Co-Defensive
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Kolby Watts (JR, LB, DeSoto, Texas)
Made a career-high 10 tackles (nine solo) with one sack and two tackles for loss and led a defensive unit that forced six field goals at TCU.
Specialist
Alabama State
Anthony Craven (SR, P, Linden, Calif.)
Craven finished the game averaging 49.1 yards per punt – two yards above his career average – with a long of 64 yards. He also hit three punts inside the 20 and allowed just two returned punts. He recorded a total of six punts over 50 yards in the loss.
Newcomer
Alabama State
Duran Bell (R-SO, RB, Tampa, Fla.)
Bell finished with a career-high 112 yards on 10 carries in the Hornets’ 24-19 loss to FBS-member, UAB. The redshirt sophomore scored on a 67-yard run to tie the game against the Blazers in the first quarter. He ended the night averaging 11.2 yards per carry, while also catching three passes for eight yards.
Courtesy: SWAC
