Southern Illinoise University Athletics
QB Joel Sambursky Named Gateway ConferencePlayer of the Week
11/14/2004 | 12:00:00 | Football
Nov. 14, 2004
This week's Players of the Week in the Gateway Conference are QB Joel Sambursky of Southern Illinois; RB Lerron Moore of Western Kentucky; LB Deonte' Smith of Western Kentucky; and K Jon Scifres of SMS. Each were key compenents in their teams' victories this past Saturday.
Co-Offensive
QB Joel Sambursky, Southern Illinois
Jr., 6-0, 195, Liberty (Mo.) High
Sambursky set a school record for pass completion percentage, connecting on 12-of-13 attempts for a 92.3 percentage in the win against Indiana State. In just one half of play, he threw for 246 yards and 4 TDs. The four touchdowns are tied for second-most in a game in school history. He also had a one-yard TD run. Sambursky became the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for 2,000 yards in a season. His 245-yard effort gave him 2,061 for the season.
Co-Offensive
RB Lerron Moore, Western Kentucky
Jr., 5-10, 210, Columbus (Ohio) Bishop Watterson
Moore tied a school record with four touchdowns and ran for a career-high 219 yards to lead the Hilltoppers to a 45-3 victory over Western Illinois. The junior -- who had 146 yards by halftime -- scored on a 9-yard run to give WKU the lead for good just under six minutes into the contest, and he doubled the Toppers lead with an 8-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter after carrying on 10 of the 11 plays of the scoring drive. It was the most yards rushing for a Hilltopper since Donte Pimpleton posted 245 in a 58-14 win at Illinois State on Nov. 3, 2001.
Defensive
LB Deonte' Smith, Western Kentucky
Sr., 6-1, 210, Louisville (Ky.) St. Xavier
Smith led WKU with 11 tackles while recording a sack in the Toppers 45-3 win over Western Illinois. He paced a defense that allowed just 178 total yards, including less than 100 both rushing and passing, to a Leatherneck offense that entered the contest averaging 30.8 points and 396.1 yards per outing. The 95 passing yards and 178 total yards our defense allowed were the lowest by an opponent this season.
Special Teams
K Jon Scifres, SMS
Jr., 6-2, 197, Destrehan (La.) High
Scifres hit his 14th and 15th field goals of the season without a miss, a 23-yarder just before halftime and a 34-yarder late in the fourth quarter to provide the margin of victory for SMS in a six-point win. He added all four of his PATs, and averaged 34.2 yards on five punts. Scifres was 15-for-15 on field goals and 36-for-37 on PATs for the year for a team-high 81 points.
