A pair of former Valencia kickers etched their name into the record books for their respective NCAA programs over the weekend.
Syracuse senior Cole Murphy hit his 58th career field goal in a loss to Wake Forest on Saturday, setting the school’s all-time record.
Houston Baptist sophomore Alec Chadwick did his best to try and outdo his former classmate, hitting a 58-yard field goal in the team’s loss to Lamar. It was the longest made field goal of the season from an NCAA Division 1 kicker, with the Huskies competing in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Chadwick is in his first season at Houston Baptist after spending a year at College of the Canyons, where he made 7-of-11 field goals. His 58-yarder last Saturday was his third made field goal of at least 50 yards this season. The former Viking has hit on 8-of-15 attempts this year.
It’s been a wild finish for Murphy in his final season with the Orange. He hit a 30-yard field goal to beat then-No. 2 Clemson in early October and earlier this month was named as one of 20 semifinalists for this year’s Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate kicker.
Murphy has made 19-of-25 field-goal attempts this season and entered the year as one of 10 Syracuse players to record at least 200 career points.
Leon Jacobs, Senior, LB, Wisconsin (Golden Valley)
Jacobs scored the first touchdown of his collegiate career in No. 5 Wisconsin’s win over Iowa, returning a fumble recovery 21 yards. He had two fumble recoveries in the win and is second on the Badgers with 8 1/2 tackles for a loss.
Marquise Brown, Sophomore, WR, Oklahoma (College of the Canyons)
Coming off his record-setting performance against Oklahoma State, Brown had two catches for 56 yards in No. 3 Oklahoma’s win over TCU. Brown leads the Sooners with 799 yards receiving.
Tyler Bjorklund, Junior, OL, Colorado State (Valencia, College of the Canyons)
Bjorklund made a start at left guard in the team’s overtime loss to Boise State. It was his second start of the season and ninth appearance for an offense that’s allowing 0.60 sacks per game — the fourth-lowest in the country.
Egidio DellaRipa, RS Junior, OL, Vanderbilt (West Ranch, COC)
DellaRipa earned a start at right guard last Saturday as Vanderbilt was defeated by Kentucky. He’s played in nine of Vanderbilt’s 10 games this season.
Trenton Irwin, Junior WR, Stanford (Hart)
Irwin caught five passes for 46 yards in Stanford’s win over then-No. 9 Washington last Friday. He leads the team with 33 receptions and is second with 354 yards receiving.
Jay Jay Wilson, Junior, LB, Arizona State (Valencia)
Wilson made the switch from tight end to linebacker midseason and has recorded a sack, a fumble recovery and a pick-six in four games. He had one tackle in the team’s loss at UCLA over the weekend.
Davis Koppenhaver, RS Junior, TE, Duke (Hart)
Koppenhaver had one catch for five yards in Duke’s loss to Army West Point. He leads the Blue Devils with three touchdown catches this season.
Rhett Almond, Junior K, BYU (Hart)
Almond made 1-of-2 field-goal attempts, hitting from 28 yards in BYU’s win over UNLV. The junior has made 12-of-17 field goals this season, with a long of 46 yards.
Darius Anthony, Freshman, LB, Whittier (Golden Valley)
The Grizzlies alum is third on the team with 41 tackles and leads with 2 1/2 tackles for a loss as a freshman. He recorded three tackles in the team’s loss to La Verne over the weekend.
Wes Fitzpatrick, Junior, WR, College of Idaho (Hart, COC)
Fitzpatrick had his finest performance of the season in the team’s win over Montana State-Northern. He recorded four receptions for 115 yards (matching and setting season highs, respectively) to go with his second touchdown grab of the year.
