Gryphons' Parisotto named FRC - CIS football defensive player of the week

(Photo: Kyle Rodriguez)

OTTAWA (CIS) – Manitoba running back Jamel Lyles, Guelph defensive back Nick Parisotto and Calgary kick returner Michael Klukas are the CIS football players of the week for the period ending Sept. 7, 2015.

Lyles, a first-year University 1 student from Surrey, B.C., was honoured on offence following his impressive CIS debut in a 34-28 season-opening road win over nationally-ranked Saskatchewan, last Friday. The 6-foot, 205-pound freshman racked up a game-high 155 rushing yards on only 11 carries, good for a 14.1-yard average, including a 58-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. Lyles added six yards on a pair of receptions and 89 punt return yards to finish his first Canada West contest with a remarkable 250 all-purpose yards.

Sherbrooke quarterback Jérémi Roch and Ottawa running back Bryce Vieira were also up for the award.

Parisotto, a second-year leadership and organizational management student from Guelph, Ont., took home the award on defence thanks to a pair of late red-zone interceptions in a 30-19 home victory against Wilfrid Laurier, on Monday. After the visitors cut the deficit to 30-17 early in the fourth quarter, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound sophomore picked off quarterback James Fracas on the next two Golden Hawks' drives, first on a first-and-goal from the Guelph five-yard line and then on a first-and-10 from the 15. Parisotto also recorded 6.5 tackles as the No. 5 Gryphons improved to 2-0 in league play.

Linebackers Karl Forgues of McGill and Mitch Barnett of UBC were also nominated.

Klukas, a third-year arts student from Calgary, was the choice on special teams thanks to a game-breaking play that helped the No. 2 Dinos open their Canada West campaign with a dominating 49-16 home win over nationally-ranked UBC, last Friday. With his team leading 25-14 midway through the third quarter, the 6-foot-1, 187-pound receiver returned a punt on 110 yards for a touchdown, marking Calgary's longest punt return in over 40 years and the second longest in program history. Klukas also returned another punt on six yards and a kickoff on 15 yards in the victory.

Kickers Dominic Lévesque of Laval and Gabriel Ferraro of Guelph were the other nominees.

Offensive nominees:
AUS: No league games scheduled
RSEQ: Jérémi Roch, quarterback, Sherbrooke
OUA: Bryce Vieira, running back, Ottawa
CWUAA: James Lyles, running back, Manitoba (recipient)

Defensive nominees:
AUS: No league games scheduled
RSEQ: Karl Forgues, linebacker, McGill
OUA: Nick Parisotto, defensive back, Guelph (recipient)
CWUAA: Mitch Barnett, linebacker, UBC

Special team nominees:
AUS: No league games scheduled
RSEQ: Dominic Lévesque, kicker, Laval
OUA: Gabriel Ferraro, kicker, Guelph
CWUAA: Michael Klukas, returner, Calgary (recipient)

WEEK 3 SCHEDULE (all times local)

September 11
19:00 No. 8 Mount Allison (0-0) at Saint Mary's (0-0) (Bell Aliant FibreOP TV1 & AUStv.ca)
19:00 McGill (1-0) at No. 4 Montreal (0-1)
19:00 No. 2 Calgary (1-0) at No. 6 Manitoba (1-0) (Shaw TV, Access & CanadaWest.TV)
19:00 No. 9 Saskatchewan (0-1) at Alberta (1-0) (CanadaWest.TV)

September 12
13:00 Ottawa (1-0) at No. 7 McMaster (1-0) (OUA.TV)
13:00 Waterloo (0-2) at Queen's (1-1) (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)
13:00 Carleton (1-1) at Windsor (0-2) (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)
13:00 No. 5 Guelph (2-0) at York (0-2) (OUA.TV)
13:00 Concordia (0-1) at Bishop's (0-1) (Gaiters TV)
14:00 StFX (0-0) at Acadia (0-0) (Bell Aliant FibreOP TV1 & AUStv.ca)
14:00 No. 1 Laval (1-0) at Sherbrooke (1-0) (TVA Sports)
18:00 Regina (0-1) at No. 10 UBC (0-1) (CanadaWest.TV)
19:30 No. 3 Western (2-0) at Laurier (1-1) (OUA.TV)

Source: CIS