Cooper, Guidry, Raborn Earn Final Weekly Football Awards
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana’s Marcus Cooper, Northwestern State’s Peyton Guidry and Gunnar Raborn of McNeese are the Southland Conference Football Players of the Week, the league announced Monday. Southland Players of the Week are presented by
UniversalCoin.com.
Cooper was named Offensive Player of the Week while Guidry earned Defensive Player of the Week and Raborn was tabbed for special teams distinction.
All teams concluded their 2017 seasons with wins last week, with the Lions finishing with a 6-5 record (6-3 SLC), the Demons at 4-7 (4-5 SLC) and the Cowboys at 9-2 (7-2 SLC).
Offensive Player of the Week: Marcus Cooper, Southeastern Louisiana – Fr. – Running Back – Altair, Texas
Cooper posted his Southland-high fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season in Thursday’s season-ending 21-17 win over No. 17/25 Nicholls. The freshman finished with 143 yards on 12 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. In his first collegiate season, the Jerry Rice Award candidate led the Lions with 646 rushing yards and finished the season with a single-season school record 10.1 yards per carry.
Honorable Mention: Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State; Chris Jones, Northwestern State; Carlos Blackman, Central Arkansas.
Defensive Player of the Week: Peyton Guidry, Northwestern State – Sr. – Linebacker – Cut Off, La.
Guidry made a career-high 18 tackles, including 3 for lost yards, in the Demons’ 38-21 win over Stephen F. Austin. He intercepted a pass at the SFA 27 to set up NSU’s first touchdown, while the Demons kept the Lumberjacks’ offense under 300 yards until their final series. Guidry had tackles in two goal line stands - one early in the third quarter ending with a fourth-down stop with Guidry involved, the other a tackle for loss at the three-yard line in the fourth quarter, culminating the drive with a missed field goal. Guidry’s 18 tackles rank 14th nationally in FCS this year and is the second-most by any Southland defender.
Honorable Mention: Max Lyons, Southeastern Louisiana; Dominique Hill, McNeese; Chris Terrell, Central Arkansas.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Gunnar Raborn, McNeese – Jr. – Placekicker – Lafayette, La.
Raborn nailed a 52-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter to give McNeese a 10-0 lead, then hit a 24-yarder in the third to put the Cowboys up 13-0 en route to a 13-3 win over Lamar on Saturday night. His 52-yarder was the third-longest in school history and the longest make for McNeese since 2010. It also ranks as the third-longest in the league this season.
Honorable Mention: Chris Stewart, Sam Houston State; Patrick Ponder, Central Arkansas.
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.