Box Score Atlanta, GA (October 24, 2011) — The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announces its top performers for week eight of the 2011 football season.
 
Kentucky State's JacQuan Persley has been named the Week 8 SIAC Defensive Player of the Week. Persley led the Thorobreds defense with an outstanding performance in the 20-0 win over Tuskegee, with 8 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one QB-hurry. Persley's constant pressure on the Tuskegee offense allowed KSU to come away with a victory and improve their record to 5-3, keeping them in the race for the SIAC Western Division Championship.   The win was also the Breds first over Tuskegee since the 1997 season.
 
This week's honorees are as follows:
 
Offensive Player of the Week
 
David Thomas—Miles (QB, 6-2, 206, Opelika, AL, JR)-- Thomas completed 13 of 20 passes for 215 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown in a 37-3 win over Lane.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
JacQuan Persley—Kentucky State (LB, 5-11, 192, Louisville, KY, SO)-- Persley led KSU with 8 tackles and two sacks for loss of 8 yards He also had a forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one quarterback hurry to help lead the Thorobreds to a win over Tuskegee for the first time since 1997.
Newcomer of the Week
 
Travis Richmond—Fort Valley State (RB, 5-6, 165, Fort Valley, GA, FR)-- Richmond rushed for 90 yards on 15 carries, averaging six yards per carry, and a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 42 yards.
Offensive Lineman of the Week
 
Bobby Young—Fort Valley State (OL, 6-0, 290, Inglewood, CA, SR) — Young directed an offensive line which helped the offense generate 346 total yards, 200 passing and 146 rushing. Young was singled out for near perfect pass protection and execution of his run blocking assignments.
Special Teams Player of the Week
 
Brandon Hamilton—Albany State (K, 5-9, 150, Atlanta, GA, SO) — Hamilton nailed four successful field goals from 21, 35, 37 and 28 yards out to lead the Golden Rams in scoring with 12 of 19 points. Hamilton also had 359 yards on six kickoffs, averaging 59.8 yards per kick for ASU. The kicker also recorded a tackle.
 
Honorable Mention Performances
David Carter- RB- Morehouse- JR- Carter rushed for 112 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown with 39 seconds remaining.

Stanley Jennings- QB- Albany State- SR- Jennings completed 12 of 32 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown in a 19-13 victory over the Clark Atlanta. Jennings, whose longest pass was 60 yards, also rushed for 16 yards on five carries and led the Rams to 367 total offensive yards.

Jerrel Noland- QB - Kentucky State- SR- Noland completed 19-of-30 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 8.7 yards per completion. He led KSU to their first win over Tuskegee since 1997.

Demario Barber – WR/KR- Fort Valley State- SR- Barber had three catches for 73 yards and a 53-yard touchdown catch. He also returned three punts for 185 yards, including an 85 yard touchdown return, and one kick return of 21 yards. He finished with a game-high 279 all-purpose yards.

Brandon Houston- LB- Morehouse- JR- Houston recorded seven tackles, with one tackle for loss. He also intercepted two passes.
Rashad McRae- DB- Albany State- SR- McRae led the Golden Rams' "Dirty Blue" defense with eight total tackles (five solo), including two tackles for losses.

Julanta English - DL- Miles- JR- English had a team-high nine tackles, including three solo, and .5 tackle for loss in a 37-3 win over Lane.

Ricky Johnson- DB- Fort Valley State- SR- Johnson finished with 12 tackles, eight solo and four assists. He also registered one interception and a pass breakup.

Corey Jones- LB- Lane- JR- Jones had a game-high 14 tackles, including six solo, with two tackles for loss.

Paris Hopper- DB- Lane- JR – Hopper had 10 tackles, including seven solo, and a pass break up.
Larry Whitfield- LB- Albany State- FR- Whitfield recorded six total tackles, including two solo tackles.

Cade Berryman- K- Kentucky State- FR- Berryman scored eight points, going two-for-two on PATs and nailed a pair of 40-yard field goals to help lift the Breds over Tuskegee. 40 yards marks the second-longest distance this season for Berryman, who also had four kickoffs for 221 yards with no touchbacks.

Emmett Terry - RB- Miles- FR- Terry rushed for 109 yards on 17 carries in a 37-3 win over Lane. 

Travis Walker- OL- Albany State- SO – Walker was a key anchor of the ASU offense and led the "Gold Rush" to 367 total offense yards, including 234 passing and 133 rushing yards. The Rams averaged 5.2 yards per play on 70 total plays.
Marlon Jones- OL-Morehouse- JR– Jones was the centerpiece of an offensive line that helped the offense gain 333 yards, score on 5-of-5 chances in the Red Zone and convert 5-of-14 third-down chances.

Jessie Mitchell- OL-Kentucky State- SR– Mitchell allowed no sacks, no pressures, had three pancake blocks and graded out at 92%. The Breds finished the game with 266 offensive yards, no interceptions and 3-of-4 on red zone chances.

Marquette King- P- Fort Valley State- SR- King had four punts for 212 yards, averaging 53 yards per punt with a long of 65 yards and one inside the 20. As holder on PAT's and field goals King, on four occasions, handled extremely difficult long snaps to enable kicker to convert 6 of 6 extra point attempts and make a 52 yard field goal.

Brandon Hoffman- P/K- Morehouse- JR- Hoffman punted 6 times for a 37.2 yard average, including a long of 61 yards, one inside the 20 and a touchback. He also kicked a 23-yard field goal and kicked off 6 times, for a 43.7 yard average.

David Keown- LS- Kentucky State- JR- KSU's long snapper was consistently the best special teams player on the field Saturday. He had no errors in his snaps, giving the Breds 2-3 field goals, 2-2 PATs and eight punts for 227 yards.