OGDEN, Utah — The Big Sky Conference has selected the ROOT SPORTS football Players of the Week for the final weekend of the 2012 regular season. Eastern Washington quarterback Kyle Padron and Weber State running back C.J. Tuckett are the Co-Offensive Players of the Week.
Montana State defensive end Caleb Schreibeis, Cal Poly linebacker Nick Dzubnar and Northern Colorado defensive back Marcel Gibbons are the tri-defensive Players of the Week. Montana State kicker Rory Perez is the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Padron, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior from Southlake, Texas, came off the bench to throw for 381 yards and account for four touchdowns as Eastern Washington rallied for a 41-34 win over Portland State. Padron completed 26-of-38 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for two scores. Both of his touchdown passes to Nicholas Edwards came in the second half. Padron scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:25 to play.
Tuckett, a 5-10, 200-pound senior from Malta, Idaho, set a Weber State single-game record with 298 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 40-14 win over Idaho State. Tuckett carried the ball 36 times for an average of eight yards a carry. The 298 yards tied for the 10th-most ever by a Big Sky back. Tuckett scored on runs of 4 and 19 yards. Tuckett also caught a pass for 14 yards to finish with 303 all-purpose yards.
Schreibeis, a 6-3, 252-pound senior from Billings, Mont., tallied a career-high 16 tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups in Montana State’s 17-6 road win over Montana State. The Buck Buchanan Award finalist was in on 10 stops that went for three yards or less. Both of his pass breakups came on third-down plays. Schreibeis led an MSU defense that held UM to 134 yards in the second half, including just 26 in the fourth quarter. Schreibeis leads the nation in forced fumbles with seven and has 12 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.
Dzubnar, a 6-2, 240-pound sophomore from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., tallied nine tackles, a forced fumble, and returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown in the Mustangs’ 42-34 win over Northern Arizona. With the win, Cal Poly secured a share of the Big Sky regular-season title and gained an at-large bid to the playoffs. Dzubnar made seven solo stops. His interception return gave Cal Poly the lead for good, 14-7. His forced fumble on the Cal Poly 1-yard line stopped an NAU scoring chance. Cal Poly held NAU to 95 rushing yards.
Gibbons, a 5-11, 189-pound senior from Colorado Springs Colo., registered nine tackles and two interceptions in Northern Colorado’s 28-27 victory over North Dakota. Both of his interceptions came in the fourth quarter to help secure the Bears’ third straight win. Gibbons made an assistant tackle on the fourth-and-1 play to stop North Dakota on its final drive.
Perez, a 6-3, 179-pound junior from Moreno Valley, Calif., booted three field goals, an extra point and averaged 43.3 yards on nine punts in Montana State’s win Montana. Perez made field goals of 42, 38 and 22 yards. The 22-yarder came with 2:32 to play and sealed the Bobcat win. Four of his nine punts pinned UM inside its own 20-yard line, including a 57-yarder that was downed on the 4-yard line with 9:44 to play.
— Big Sky Conference
