WONDER BOYS PUNTER MICHAEL PODOBNIK NAMED GSC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS SEASON

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech’s Michael Podobnik has been named the Gulf South Conference Football Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday after his performance in Tech’s 62-55 season finale loss at Harding.

Podobnik, a redshirt junior punter/kicker from Frankfort, Ill., earns his third Special Teams honor this season and his second honor in the past three weeks as he was also honored following the Ouachita Baptist game on Oct. 22 and the Texas College game on Sept. 10. In addition, it is the seventh and final time this season that Tech has had a player honored as a Player of the Week by the league. Junior quarterback Cole Barthel (Decatur, Ala.) was honored twice as the league’s Offensive Player of the Week, while Podobnik has been honored on special teams three times. Sophomore free safety Tario Dansby (Ashdown, Ark.) and junior defensive back Tito Jose (San Diego, Calif.) were also honored as Defensive Players of the Week by the league.

In this past Saturday’s season finale against the Bisons, Podobnik had a standout effort as both a punter and placekicker for the Wonder Boys as he booted four punts for 210 yards and a 52.5 yard average and placed two punts inside the 20-yard line and boomed a 63-yarder in the fourth quarter. In addition, he was 5-for-6 on extra point attempts, as his only miss was blocked in second quarter.

Along with Podobnik, the league named Harding quarterback David Knighton as the Offensive Player of the Week, while North Alabama defensive end Tim Hunt earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Week honor.

Knighton earns his second honor of the season and third overall thanks to his record-setting performance in Harding’s win on Saturday over Tech. In the win over the Wonder Boys, Knighton, a junior, completed 46-of-62 passes (74.2 percent) for 529 yards and a GSC single-game tying seven touchdowns and also carried the ball six times for 20 yards and a touchdown. The 48 completions set a new GSC record and it was also the fourth-highest mark in Division II history.

Meanwhile, Hunt collects his first-ever accolade and is the second UNA defender to bring home the defensive award this season. In UNA’s 65-17 win over West Georgia this past Saturday, Hunt posted six total tackles, including four solo stops and also forced a fumble and broke up two passes. In addition, Hunt also had 3.5 tackles for a loss of 14 yards and also posted three of UNA’s five sacks for 13 yards.

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