FRISCO, Texas – Sam Houston’s Eric Schmid, Nicholls’ Hayden Shaheen and UIW’s Ce’Cori Tolds are the Southland Football Players of the Week, the league announced Monday. Weekly awards are presented by Hercules Tires.
Schmid, a redshirt junior quarterback, is the Offensive Player of the Week after he accounted for 517 yards of total offense with 428 yards through the air and another 89 on the ground in the Bearkats’ 43-38 win over No. 18 Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. SHSU (1-0, 1-0 SLC) is off this weekend before its biggest test of the season, a home matchup with Southland preseason favorite Nicholls at noon CT on March 13.
For the second-straight week, a Nicholls player making their collegiate debut is the Defensive Player of the Week as freshman linebacker Hayden Shaheen takes home the award. He totaled seven tackles, including two tackles for loss, and forced a fumble in the Colonels’ 55-0 blanking of Lamar in the team’s Southland Conference spring opener. The Colonels (2-0, 1-0 SLC) hit the road to battle Northwestern State for the NSU Trophy at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Tolds, a junior defensive back, earns Special Teams Player of the Week honors after returning a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown in the Cardinals’ 48-20 upset of No. 19 McNeese on Saturday. It marks the third kickoff return for a score in his career, matching a program record and moving to fourth on the Southland Conference leaderboard. UIW (1-0, 1-0 SLC) is back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday at Lamar.
Offensive Player of the Week: Eric Schmid, Sam Houston – Redshirt Junior – Quarterback – The Woodlands, Texas
Schmid opened the game with a 55-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and went on to rack up 517 yards of total offense in a win over the Lions. He completed 25 of his 40 passes for 428 yards and a pair of touchdowns, without an interception or a sack, while also rushing nine times for 89 yards. In all, he helped the Kats to 672 yards of total offense and put up his third career 400-yard passing game in only six career starts.
After SLU pulled within two at 40-38, Schmid connected with Chandler Harvin on a 46-yard pass on the first play of the ensuing drive. He also rushed four times for 17 yards to get the Bearkats into the redzone and set up a field-goal that eventually put the game out of reach.
Honorable Mention: Cole Kelley, Southeastern Louisiana; Lindsey Scott Jr., Nicholls; Cameron Ward, UIW.
Defensive Player of the Week: Hayden Shaheen, Nicholls – Freshman – Linebacker – Baton Rouge, La.
Shaheen had a team-high seven tackles, including four solo stops, and a forced fumble in his Colonel debut as the defense shutout Lamar in the Southland opener. He also had two tackles for loss and was a key factor in limiting the Cardinals to just six first downs and 91 total yards. LU did not cross the 50-yard line the entire game.
Honorable Mention: Chance Main, UIW; Tristin McCollum, Sam Houston.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Ce’Cori Tolds, UIW – Junior – Defensive Back – Houston, Texas
With just a 7-3 lead over the ranked Cowboys, Tolds helped blow the lead open with a 101-yard kickoff return that sparked a run of 24-unanswered points to close out the first half. With three kickoff returns for a touchdown in his career, Tolds tied Desmond Hite for a program record and for fourth on the Southland Conference all-time list.
Honorable Mention: Enrique Carmona, Lamar; Seth Morgan, Sam Houston; Mateo Rengifo, Southeastern Louisiana.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.
2021 Southland Spring Football Players of the Week
March 1 – Eric Schmid, Sam Houston; Hayden Shaheen, Nicholls; Ce’Cori Tolds
Feb. 22 – Cody Orgeron, McNeese; Dellary Oubre, Nicholls; Jacob Abel, McNeese
{Courtesy: Press Release from the Southland Conference}