FRC - CIS football players of the week (#5): Grenon, Shortill, Mark honoured

OTTAWA (CIS) – Laval quarterback Tristan Grenon, McMaster linebacker Nick Shortill and Calgary kicker Johnny Mark are the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football players of the week for the period ending Sept. 29, 2012.

The selection was made by a committee comprised of members of Football Reporters of Canada (FRC).

Grenon, a fourth-year business administration student from Quebec City, was honoured on offence following a career-best performance in a dominating 48-10 road win against nationally-ranked Sherbrooke, on Saturday. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound pivot, in his first season as the Rouge et Or’s starting QB, completed 29 of 35 passes (83%) for 360 yards and three touchdowns and gained another 25 yards on six rushes while leading his troops to 29 first downs and 557 total yards of offence. Grenon connected with receiver Matthew Norzil for a 63-yard major on Laval’s first play from scrimmage 31 seconds into the contest, and hit Norzil again at the 10-minute mark, this time for a 50-yard touchdown that gave the reigning RSEQ champions a 16-0 lead.

Saint Mary’s running back Michael Dawes, McMaster quarterback Kyle Quinlan and Calgary receiver Richard Snyder were also up for the award.

Shortill, a second-year science student from Nobleton, Ont., took home the weekly honour on defence after he helped the top-ranked Marauders to a 33-27 road win over No. 7 Western in front of close to 11,000 homecoming fans in London, on Saturday. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore racked up a game-high 11 tackles, including three quarterback sacks for 23 yards of losses, part of a nine-sack effort by the McMaster defensive unit. Ten of his tackles were of the solo variety.

Saint Mary’s lineman Nigel Romick, Montreal lineman Jean-Samuel Blanc and Calgary linebacker Jordan Verdone were also nominated.

Mark, a second-year science student from Peterborough, Ont., was the choice on special teams after he tied a single-game team record with six field goals in a 45-4 domination of Saskatchewan, Saturday night in Calgary. The 6-foot, 175-pound sophomore was good on all six of his attempts, splitting the uprights from 41, 13, 19, 24, 37 and 11 yards. The 2011 all-Canadian added three extra points and two singles to account for more than half of the Dinos’ points in the contest with 23, and also averaged 45 yards on eight punts, including a pair that landed inside the five-yard line and subsequently forced the Huskies to concede safeties.

Acadia punter Kyle Graves, Laval kicker Boris Bede and Queen’s returner Chris Patrician were also up for the distinction.

Offensive nominees:
AUS: Michael Dawes, running back, Saint Mary’s
RSEQ: Tristan Grenon, quarterback, Laval (recipient)
OUA: Kyle Quinlan, quarterback, McMaster
CWUAA: Richard Snyder, receiver, Calgary

Defensive nominees:
AUS: Nigel Romick, defensive lineman, Saint Mary’s
RSEQ: Jean-Samuel Blanc, defensive lineman, Montreal
OUA: Nick Shortill, linebacker, McMaster (recipient)
CWUAA: Jordan Verdone, linebacker, Calgary

Special team nominees:
AUS: Kyle Graves, punter, Acadia
RSEQ: Boris Bede, kicker, Laval
OUA: Chris Patrician, returner, Queen’s
CWUAA: Johnny Mark, kicker, Calgary (recipient)

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE: WEEK 6 (all times local)

October 4
19:00 No. 1 McMaster (5-0) at York (1-4), SSNCanada.ca (web)
19:00 Waterloo (1-4) at Laurier (2-3), Rogers Waterloo (TV) & www.laurierathletics.com/live (web)
19:00 Bishop’s (2-3) at McGill (1-4), SSNCanada.ca (web)

October 5
19:00 Mount Allison (1-3) at Saint Mary’s (1-3), Saint Mary’s, Bell Aliant (web)

October 6
13:00 No. 7 Western (3-2) at No. 9 Guelph (4-1), SSNCanada.ca (web)
13:00 Ottawa (0-5) at Toronto (2-3), SSNCanada.ca (web)
13:00 Sherbrooke (2-3) at Concordia (2-3), Radio-Canada (TV & web) & SSNCanada.ca (web)
14:00 No. 10 Acadia (3-1) at StFX (1-3), Eastlink (TV & web) & SSNCanada.ca (web)
19:00 No. 5 Queen’s (4-1) at Windsor (3-2), Cogeco (TV)

October 7
13:30 No. 3 Montreal (5-0) at No. 4 Laval (5-0), Radio-Canada (TV & web)

-CIS-