NICK GRAZIANO AND TRAVIS COCKERHAM NAMED GSC OFFENSIVE AND SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech’s Nick Graziano and Travis Cocherham have been named this week’s Gulf South Conference Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week following their performances in the Wonder Boys 44-14 win Saturday at Henderson State.

Graziano earns this third Offensive Player of the Week accolade this season as he was also honored by the league on Aug. 31 and Sept. 28, while Cockerham becomes the second consecutive Wonder Boy to earn Special Teams Player of the Week as senior receiver Frantz Simeon (Belle Glade, Fla.) was honored by the league last week. In addition, Simeon was also honored as the Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 7 and junior defensive back Tario Dansby (Ashdown, Ark.) was named the Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28.

In Saturday’s win over Henderson State, Graziano was 37-for-51 (72.5 completion percentage) passing for a school record 456 yards and had five touchdown passes, including three in the first half to help the Wonder Boys to a 31-7 halftime advantage. In addition, he added 21 yards rushing on two carries and finished the game with a GSC season-high 477 yards of total offense. The 456 passing yards bettered his old single-game school mark of 431 yards set against West Georgia on Oct. 17. Graziano has thrown for 400 or more yards in three of his last six games, including having two consecutive 400 yard passing games. The 72.5 completion percentage and the 456 passing yards were both season highs by a GSC quarterback this year.

Cockerham earns his first Special Teams Player of the Week honor this season as he combined for eight points in the Wonder Boys win over the Reddies. Cockerham nailed a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter and was 5-for-6 on his extra point attempts. In addition, he also punted three times for 102 yards and averaged 35.0 yards per punt, including downing two of his punts inside the 20-yard line. The 22-yard field goal gave Cockerham eight made field goals this season, which is the most by a Wonder Boy since Paul Peletz connected on eight field goals during the 2000 season.

Along with Graziano and Cockerham, the league named Delta State senior linebacker Lardester Hicks-Green as the GSC’s Defensive Player of the Week.

Hicks-Green earns his fourth career honor, second this season, as he spearheaded the Statesmen defense in its 10-3 home win Saturday over Southern Arkansas. Against the Muleriders, Hicks-Green posted a game-high tying 13 tackles, including five solo stops and had a quarterback sack. In addition, he also had a hand in a pair of turnovers, as he recovered an SAU fumble and intercepted a pass to snuff out SAU’s potential game-winning drive with less than a minute to go in the contest.

Graziano, Cockerham and the rest of the Wonder Boys (6-2 overall, 4-2 GSC) return to action on Saturday, Oct. 31, when they host Delta State (4-4 overall, 3-3 GSC) for a 6 p.m. contest in Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field. The game will mark the final regular season home game for the Wonder Boys and will also be the final home game for Tech’s 22-member senior class. The seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to kickoff of the DSU game.   

-- Tech Athletics --