Ottawa's Ward named CIS Special Teams Player of the Week

TORONTO (CIS) – Manitoba quarterback Theo Deezar, St. Francis Xavier defensive lineman Kyle Forde and Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward are the CIS football players of the week for the period ending Sept. 18, 2016.

Deezar, a third-year arts student from Winnipeg, was honoured on offence thanks to a flawless performance in the Bisons' first win of the season, a crucial 42-12 victory over visiting Alberta at Investors Group Field, last Friday night. In just over three quarters of play, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound pivot completed 21 of 27 passes for 345 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, and also added 21 rushing yards on three carries, including a one-yard score. No less than 11 of his completions went for 15 yards or more, including all four of his TD strikes (40, 26, 21, 15), and Deezar had stretches of eight and six consecutive successful passes in the contest.

Saint Mary's quarterback Brock Berglund, Laval pivot Hugo Richard and Wilfrid Laurier running back Eric Guiltinan were also up for the award.

Forde, a third-year arts student from Ajax, Ont., took home the award on defence thanks to his record-setting effort in a 37-8 home win against Acadia, Saturday in Antigonish, N.S. The 6-foot-2, 242-pound lineman racked up a team-high 7.5 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for losses of 18 yards as the X-Men (2-0) held their visitors to 222 yards of total offence. Forde's tally included a remarkable 4.5 quarterback sacks, a new school record and the second-highest single-game total in AUS conference history, trailing only the 5.0 sacks registered by Acadia's Karim Grant in a game against Mount Allison in 2001.

Montreal linebacker Alex Cromer-Émond, Laurier defensive back Scott Hutter and Calgary linebacker Micah Teitz were also nominated.

Ward, a fourth-year social sciences student from Kingston, Ont., was the choice on special teams after he helped nationally sixth-ranked Ottawa (3-0) stay undefeated on the season with a thrilling 31-28 double-overtime win over visiting Guelph, Saturday afternoon. With 53 seconds remaining in regulation and his team trailing 22-19, the 5-foot-7 senior extended the affair thanks to a 51-yard field goal, the longest in CIS this season and the longest in program history, tied with former Gee-Gees standout Matt Falvo. Ward, who also averaged 56.3 yards on three kickoffs in the contest, had already split the uprights from 40 yards out earlier in the fourth quarter and added a 39-yarder on Ottawa's first series in extra time to finish a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts.

Saint Mary's kicker Brian Hope, Montreal returner Khalil Kerr and Manitoba returner Shai Ross were the other nominees. 

Offensive nominees:
AUS: Brock Berglund, quarterback, Saint Mary's
RSEQ: Hugo Richard, quarterback, Laval
OUA: Eric Guiltinan, running back, Wilfrid Laurier
CWUAA: Theo Deezar, quarterback, Manitoba (recipient)

Defensive nominees:
AUS: Kyle Forde, defensive lineman, StFX (recipient)
RSEQ: Alex Cromer-Émond, linebacker, Montreal
OUA: Scott Hutter, defensive back, Wilfrid Laurier
CWUAA: Micah Teitz, linebacker, Calgary

Special team nominees:
AUS: Brian Hope, kicker, Saint Mary's
RSEQ: Khalil Kerr, returner, Montreal
OUA: Lewis Ward, kicker, Ottawa (recipient)
CWUAA: Shai Ross, returner, Manitoba

WEEKS 5 SCHEDULE (all times local)

NOTE: Click HERE for the complete 2016 regular season schedule & results.

September 23
19:00   No. 2 Calgary (3-0) at No. 9 Regina (2-1) (Shaw TV/Access & CanadaWest.TV)

September 24
13:00   No. 4 Western (3-1) at Guelph (2-2) (City & OUA.TV)
13:00   Toronto (1-3) at Queen's (0-3) (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)
13:00   No. 6 Ottawa (3-0) at Windsor (1-2) (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)
13:00   No. 10 Carleton (2-2) at York (2-2) (OUA.TV)
13:00   Waterloo (0-4) at No. 5 Laurier (3-0) (Rogers TV Waterloo & OUA.TV)
13:00   No. 3 Laval (2-1) at Mount Allison (0-2) (Bell Aliant Fibe TV1 & AUStv.ca)
13:00   No. 8 Saskatchewan (2-1) at Manitoba (1-2) (CanadaWest.TV)
14:00   No. 1 Montreal (3-0) at Acadia (1-1) (Bell Aliant Fibe TV1 & AUStv.ca)
14:00   Saint Mary's (1-1) at Bishop's (0-3) (GaitersTV)
14:00   StFX (2-0) at Concordia (1-2) (StretchTV)
14:00   Sherbrooke (1-2) at McGill (2-1) (TVA Sports & StretchTV)
17:00   UBC (1-2) at Alberta (0-3) (CanadaWest.TV)