Nicholls, Southeastern split Southland weekly football awards

Colonels’ Chase Fourcade, Evan Veron and the Lions’ Tamarcus Russell, Juwan Petit-Frere win week four honors

FRISCO, Texas – Nicholls quarterback Chase Fourcade and linebacker Evan Veron plus Southeastern Louisiana linebacker Tamarcus Russell and returner Juwan Petit-Frere are the Southland Conference Players of the Week, the league announced Monday. All weekly awards are presented by MidSouth Bank.

Fourcade wins offensive honors as teammate Veron splits the defensive award with the Lions’ Veron. Russell claims the special teams’ accolade.

No. 18 Nicholls (2-2, 1-1 SLC) snapped an 11-game drought to No. 11 Sam Houston State (1-2, 0-1) with a 27-7 win Saturday. It was the Colonels’ first win over a ranked opponent since 2008. Southeastern Louisiana (1-3, 1-1 SLC) took down Lamar (1-3, 0-2 SLC) 30-24 in Beaumont. Nicholls travels to contest Lamar this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT while Southeastern returns home to play host to Northwestern State on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Offensive Player of the Week: Chase Fourcade, Nicholls – Jr. – Quarterback – Metairie, La.

Fourcade proved his efficiency running the Colonel offense Saturday, completing 15-of-23 pass attempts for 197 yards and a touchdown while adding 60 yards on the ground in nine carries. The junior quarterback’s 12-yard touchdown strike to Damion Jeanpiere in the second quarter gave Nicholls the lead that the team would never let go of en route to the victory over the No. 11 Bearkats.

Honorable Mention: Chason Virgil, Southeastern Louisiana; Jake Blumrick, Stephen F. Austin.

Co-Defensive Players of the Week: Evan Veron, Nicholls – Jr. – Linebacker – LaPlace, La.; Tamarcus Russell, Southeastern Louisiana – Jr. – Linebacker – Dadeville, Ala.

Veron matched his career best Saturday of 2.0 sacks set earlier this season against Kansas. Veron finished with four stops in the 20-point victory over Sam Houston, also drawing a holding penalty. The Colonel defense limited the Bearkats to 53 yards rushing on 30 carries, holding Sam Houston to single digit points in a regular season game for the first time since 2009. The junior linebacker ranks ninth in the NCAA in sacks with 5.0 to his name, also ranking 10th in tackles for loss with 8.5.

Russell led the Lions with 12 tackles and three tackles for loss in the conference win over Lamar. The senior linebacker posted eight solo stops and assisted on four others. A native of Dadeville, Ala., Russell leads SLU with 44 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss through the first four games of 2018.

Honorable Mention: Davon Jernigan, Lamar; Ryan Woods, Stephen F. Austin.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Juwan Petit-Frere – Jr. – Kick Returner – Orlando, Fla.

Petit-Frere averaged 51.0 yards per kickoff return in the Lions victory against Lamar on Saturday. The junior from Orlando, Fla., returned a kickoff 81 yards to set up a Lion field goal. Through four games, the consensus preseason All-American is averaging 31.1 yards per kickoff return.

Honorable Mention: Lorran Fonseca, Nicholls; Remi Simmons, Stephen F. Austin.

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.