MIAA Media Relations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With huge weekends Emporia State’s Brent Wilson and Fort Hays State’s Shaquille Cooper have been named Co-MIAA/AstroTurf Football Offensive Athletes of the Week. Missouri Western’s Michael Jordan earned the Defensive Athlete of the Week award with Pittsburg State Levi Copelin earning MIAA Special Teams Athlete of the Week.
MIAA/AstroTurf Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week
Shaquille Cooper, RB, Fort Hays State
Cooper rushed for 263 yards in the 27-13 win over Northeastern State on Thursday night in Hays. His 93-yard touchdown run with 2:19 remaining in the game broke a 13-13 tie. It was a new career-high for Cooper, who has now rushed for over 100 yards in five of his six career games at running back. The 263 rushing yards were fourth-most in a single game in FHSU history. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry. He also added 22 receiving yards to finish with 285 all-purpose yards on the night. He has 426 rushing yards over the first two games of the season, averaging 8.5 yards per carry. The 5-10 senior running back is a native of Coral Gables, Fla. where he competed at Coral Gables High School.
MIAA/AstroTurf Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week
Brent Wilson, QB, Emporia State
Wilson threw for 446 yards and five touchdowns to lead Emporia State to a 45-34 come from behind win over Central Missouri. The Hornets trailed 14-3 at the end of the first quarter and 21-10 midway through the second quarter. He tossed touchdown passes of 37 and 45 yards in the second quarter to tie the score at 24 before the game was suspended 41 hours until Saturday. UCM had possession to start the second half and scored to go up 31-24. Wilson answered with a 48-yard TD pass and gave the Hornets their first lead of the game with a 14 yard strike to open the fourth quarter. After the Mules hit a field goal to cut the lead to 38-34, Wilson led the Hornets on a seven play, 66-yard drive and capped it with a two-yard touchdown pass. He became the fourth Hornet quarterback with at least 5,000 yards passing and now has 5,093 yards. He passed Pete Jelovic to move into fourth place on the Emporia State career total offense chart and now has 5,767 yards. His 52 touchdown passes are second all-time to Tyler Eckenrode’s 60 TDs from 2009-12. Through the first two games of 2015 Wilson is completing 73.2% of his passes (60 of 82) for 776 yards and eight touchdowns for an efficiency rating of 180.0. The 6-0 senior quarterback is a native of Ponca City, Okla. where he competed at Ponca City High School.
MIAA/AstroTurf Defensive Athlete of the Week
Michael Jordan, DB, Missouri Western
Jordan had two interceptions and four pass break ups as the Griffon’s defeated Central Oklahoma 26-16. He also finished with four tackles, three solo. Both of Jordan’s interceptions ended UCO scoring threats. The first came in the second quarter at the MWSU 1-yard line with the Griffons leading 16-0. The second sealed the MWSU victory on a late fourth quarter UCO drive in Griffon territory. The 6-0 senior defensive back is a native of Hazelwood, Mo. where he competed at Hazelwood Central High School.
MIAA/AstroTurf Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Levi Copelin, WR, Pittsburg State
Copelin blocked and recovered a pair of second quarter Lindenwood punts, helping No. 5 ranked Pitt State explode for 35 points in the stanza en route to a 56-28 victory over the visiting Lions Saturday (Sept. 12). He blocked the first LWU punt and recovered it at the Lions 2 yard line to help the Gorillas break a 14-14 tie. Later in the period, he blocked another attempt and ran the ball in from 16 yards out for a 35-14 lead with 1:53 to play in the first half. The 6-2 wide receiver is native of Broke Arrow, Okla. where he competed at Broken Arrow High School, and he transferred to Pitt State from the University of Missouri.