ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Rockford University senior tight end
Napoleon Williams was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week as a tight end on Tuesday morning. This is Williams' first D3football.com Team of the Week selection of his career.
Williams had a record-setting afternoon in Saturday's game against Elmhurst, hauling in 15 receptions to set a new program record. Williams broke Joey Owens' previous record of 14 receptions, which Owens set against Aurora University on Sept. 25, 2021.
The Rockford University football team will hit the road again on Saturday, Sept. 20, to open NACC play at Concordia University Chicago. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
D3football.com Team of the Week
Games of Sept. 10-12, 2026
The Team of the Week is D3football.com's weekly honor roll, in its 28th season of recognizing the top performance at each position from the previous week. Players are nominated by schools.
Offense
QB Bubba Mustain, Jr., Merchant Marine
Mustain ran for 216 yards on 19 carries (11.4 yards per carry) and found the end zone five times in Merchant Marine's 63-14 home win vs. Nichols on Saturday, helping the Mariners tie the academy record for most points scored in a game. The junior found the end zone on runs from 18, 16, 5, 3and 59 yards. He also completed a 48-yard pass on the day.
OL Aidan Kelly, Liam Kelly, Josh Hill, Connor Main, Matt Liggio, Susquehanna
As a team, Susquehanna piled up 463 yards of total offense, including 255 rushing yards and 208 through the air in a 41-14 win vs. Bridgewater. The River Hawks held a 25-13 advantage in first downs and controlled the ball for 33:29.
RB Jeremiah Avrilien, Sr., Eastern
Avrilien rushed for a program-record 244 yards and scored three times to help the Eagles pick up a 27-21 win over visiting Misericordia in the MAC opener for both sides. His 61-yard score in the fourth quarter put the Eagles in front for good.
RB Paul Woodard, Sr., East Texas Baptist
Woodard had a career night at Belhaven with a career-high 238 yards rushing on 19 attempts, with four total touchdowns, three of which were rushing. Tied his career-high of three rushing touchdowns in a game and set a career-high of four total touchdowns in a game. He opened the game with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and had touchdown runs of 73 yards, 39 yards, and one yard. Woodard converted multiple third downs on rushes to keep drives going and averaged 12.5 yards per carry. His 73-yard run tied the game at 21 and 39-yard run put ETBU up, 28-24. His 1-yard run in the third quarter put ETBU up 44-31.
WR Dom Esposito, Sr., Lake Forest
Esposito broke the Lake Forest and Midwest Conference records for receiving yards in a game with 359 yards (No. 8 all-time in NCAA Division III history). He scored four touchdowns and took another catch to the 1-yard line setting up a Forester rushing touchdown just before halftime. The Foresters broke school records for passing yards (523) and total offense (725). Esposito exited the game as the Forester lead grew to 56-6 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter of a 68-12 win vs. Knox. The Foresters improved to 2-0.
WR Tyshawn Taylor, Sr., Utica
Taylor hauled in just eight receptions, but turned them into a career-high 244 yards, totaling the second-most single-game receiving yards in program history. Taylor capped off his stellar showing with a 69-yard touchdown, powering the Pioneer offense throughout the afternoon in a 38-14 win vs. RPI. He had catches of 69, 51, 38, and 31 in the win, with each of his eight receptions going for over 10 yards as he produced 30.5 yards per reception.
TE Napoleon Williams, Sr., Rockford
Williams set a Rockford football single-game record with 15 receptions vs. Elmhurst. Williams totaled 96 receiving yards on his record-setting 15 catches, accounting for nearly half of Rockford's 34 completions. His 15 receptions marked the most by a Regent in a single game in program history.
Defense
DE William Fleck, Jr., Rose-Hulman
Fleck tied the school record for most sacks in a single game with five as the Fightin' Engineers downed Kalamazoo 27-7. Fleck also totaled seven tackles and a forced fumble. Two of his sacks came in the fourth quarter, when Kalamazoo was driving to get back into the game. Fleck recorded back-to-back sacks on third and fourth down to turn the ball over on downs and protect the lead.
DT Kody Curtis, Jr., UW-River Falls
Curtis was a disruptive force along the defensive front as UW-River Falls earned a road win at No. 21 Coe, recording four total tackles, including two and a half tackles for loss totaling 16 yards and one and a half sacks for 10 yards. He also added a pass breakup while helping the Falcons limit Coe to just 159 total yards.
DE Logan Armstrong, Sr., Carnegie Mellon
Armstrong turned in a career day in the Tartans' 38-35 win at Catholic. Armstrong finished with a career-high 11 tackles, including 10 solo, to lead the team. The senior also recorded three tackles for loss, with two sacks and a quarterback hurry.
LB Joey DeMaio, Sr., Illinois Wesleyan
DeMaio totaled a team-high 11 tackles, eight solo and three assisted in a 45-35 win against Trine. DeMaio finished with a game-high two sacks, good for a 30-yard loss for the Thunder. The senior added a key third-down interception in the fourth quarter, the first of his career. The pick proved crucial, coming with the Titans clinging to a 31-29 lead, and resulted in a touchdown for the home team as IWU held on for the victory.
LB Nazhier Wilson, So., Brockport
Wilson set a new career-high in solo, assisted, and total tackles in Brockport's Week 2 loss at Hobart. The second-year linebacker finished with seven solo and 10 assisted tackles. Wilson also put pressure on the Statesmen quarterback, getting credited with three hurries.
LB Brandon Choi, Sr., Lebanon Valley
Choi had a big game for the Dutchmen with 13 tackles, a quarterback hurry, and a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown in a tough 18-17 defeat to Delaware Valley in the conference opener. Choi was all over the field, making eight solo tackles and five assisted tackles against the Aggies. The senior came up big as he picked off a pass and returned it 37 yards to the end zone to give the Dutchmen a 17-3 lead with 1:42 left in the first half.
LB Matt Janiak, Jr., North Central
Janiak caught the game-sealing interception vs. No. 9 Wartburg, late in the fourth quarter. Three plays later, the Cardinal offense scored to make it a two-score game. He also finished with five tackles, all of them solo.
CB Zeshan Dixon, Sr., Hobart
Dixon made a team and career-high 13 tackles, intercepted a career-high three passes and broke up a fourth pass in a 27-14 win against Brockport. His first pick of the game, a leaping, one-handed snag, landed at No. 10 on SportsCenter's Top Plays. On his last interception, Dixon pulled the ball out of midair after Xavier Aviles broke up the pass, and returned it 72 yards for a game-clinching touchdown with 1:45 remaining. It was the first time a Statesman had three interceptions in a game since Nov. 22, 2008.
S Anthony Sines, Jr., Wooster
Sines intercepted three Kenyon passes in Saturday's 26-19 win, including one as time expired in the fourth to clinch the victory. Sines was responsible for four of the Scots' eight takeaways as he had a fumble recovery in the win. He added three tackles, all solo.
S Caden Kolanowski, Jr., Calvin
Kolanowski intercepted two passes in a 49-7 win over St. Norbert. He also had one solo tackle.
CB Malik Johnson, So., Texas Lutheran
Johnson helped the Bulldogs to their first win of the season with a pair of interceptions, including a pick-six in the 19-10 win over Southwestern. After the Pirates claimed a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, less than a minute later, Johnson sniped Jaxon Sims' pass taking it 28 yards to the house. Both of his interceptions came in the second quarter and his pick six gave TLU the lead for good.
Special teams
K Nathan Napier, So., WPI
Napier drilled a 50-yard field goal as time expired to provide WPI with a dramatic 22-21 victory in its home opener vs. University of New England. Trailing 21-17 in the fourth quarter, the Engineers embarked upon a 17-play, 64-yard drive, chewing up 9:55 of the game, only to come up empty on fourth-and-goal at the UNE 8-yard line. With only one timeout remaining, the Crimson and Gray forced a three-and-out, and the Nor’easters called timeout with 16 seconds remaining. UNE took an intentional safety, with the punter running around in the back of the end zone, eluding WPI defenders for nine seconds before stepping out of bounds in the end zone to make the score 21-19. The visitors elected to kick off on the ensuing free kick and squib-kicked it 13 yards from their 20 to the 33-yard line, where it was downed by WPI with six seconds remaining. After a quick incomplete pass took four seconds off the clock, Napier came on to attempt a career-long 50-yard field goal, which he drilled right down the middle to provide the Engineers an improbable 22-21 victory. The sophomore, whose previous career-best was a 42-yard field goal vs. UNE as a rookie in 2025, also connected on a 27-yard field goal. Napier was assisted on the game-winning boot by senior short snapper Zach Hirshon and sophomore holder Griffin Carr.
P Peter Zerafonitis, Jr., Wilkes
Zarafonitis posted four punts for 181 yards for an average of 45.25 yards per-punt including three inside the 20 and two over 50 yards in a 28-8 win vs. TCNJ. One of his punts went for 60 yards.
RET Aiden Barlett, So., Lycoming
Barlett returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown in Lycoming's game against Montclair State. His 94-yarder marked the second straight game he scored (following last week's fumble return score vs. TCNJ), doing so on his first kickoff return of the game before he finished the game with 163 yards on four attempts, an average of 40.1 yards per kick.
ST Cam Crago, Jr., Wooster
Crago was at it again in a 26-19 win at Kenyon, blocking a punt and a field goal. Crago is the only player across all levels of NCAA football (FBS, FCS, Div. II, Div. III) with four blocks on the year, as he also blocked two punts in the season lid-lifter against Wilmington.