COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Saturday night proved a big night for Tennessee Tech receiver Krys Cates, as his performance on Overall Field spuured the Golden Eagle football team to a 29-22 victory over Mercer.
Sunday afternoon, he was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week for that effort. It is the first such honor of his career, which is quite fitting since Saturday's performance was the best of his career, as well.
Cates caught seven passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns as Tech came from behind to top Mercer for its first victory of the season. The receptions, yards and touchdowns were all career-highs for the junior from Newport, Tenn.
On the second play of the game Cates caught a pass and raced 74 yards for a touchdown to give the Golden Eagles an early advantage. Four quarters later, with his team trailing by one point with 1:47 to play, he caught a touchdown pass from Jared Davis to give the team the lead for good; Cates also was the recipient of the ensuing two-point conversion play as Tech went ahead by the final seven-point margin.
The 197 receiving yards by Cates are the seventh-most in the FCS this season. It marks the second time in three weeks that a TTU wide receiver has been named OVC Player of the Week after Brock McCoin earned honors the first week of the season.
He won the award from among five oustanding nominees. In addition to Cates, those up for the honor were Devin Church, Eastern Illinois; Eli Jenkins, Jacksonville State; Jeremy Harness, Murray State; Tremane McCullough, Southeast Missouri.
The other OVC Player of the Week awards went to:
DEFENSIVE
Seth McDonald, LB • Jr., 6-1, 230 • Sandwich, Ill. • Eastern Illinois
McDonald had 12 tackles (6 solo) and an interception as Eastern Illinois pushed No. 5 Illinois State to overtime before falling 34-31. With less than two minutes to play before halftime, the junior picked off a pass and raced 20 yards for a touchdown to cut the Redbirds advantage to three points. The game marked the third-straight this season that McDonald had double-digit tackles; he currently ranks fourth nationally in tackles/game (13.0). This marks the second time in three weeks McDonald has been named OVC Defensive Player of the Week.
Others Nominated: Joel McCandless, Jacksonville State; Toby Omli, Murray State; Roper Garrett, Southeast Missouri; Ezra Robinson, Tennessee State; Tra’Darius Goff, UT Martin.
SPECIALIST
Landon Stratton, P • R-Fr., 6-0, 180 • Russellville, Ky. • Murray State
Stratton punted five times for a 46.6 yards/punt average in Saturday’s loss at FBS opponent Western Michigan. Stratton connected on a season-high 55-yarder, which was one of two longer than 50 yards on the night. The redshirt freshman also had one punt downed inside the 20-yard line. For the season he is averaging 41.3 yards/punt.
Others Nominated: Hamish MacInnes, Jacksonville State; Austin Rowley, Tennessee State.
NEWCOMER
Dante Vandeven, QB• Fr., 6-2, 190 • Jackson, Mo. • Southeast Missouri
Vandeven entered Saturday’s game late in the third quarter and led Southeast Missouri to 21 fourth quarter points and a near road upset of No. 23 ranked Indiana State. He directed a 10-play drive that resulted in a touchdown with 9:29 to play to trim the margin to seven points. With 2:24 to go he led the Redhawks down the field on a 13-play drive that resulted in another touchdown. Southeast then went for two points and Vandeven hit Darrius Darden-Box for the conversion to give his team the lead. After ISU scored to retake the lead, Vandeven connected with Paul McRoberts for a 26-yard touchdown as the clock expired (that came one play after converting a 4th and 9 play to keep the drive alive); Southeast would go for two points and the win, but the pass sailed out of bounds. The true freshman finished the game 12-of-17 for 115 yards and a touchdown while also racking up 28 rushing yards.
Others Nominated: Devin Church, Eastern Illinois; Joel McCandless, Jacksonville State; Toby Omli, Murray State; Dante Vandeven, Southeast Missouri.
