Thomas is big hit at Bowling Green
Bryan Thomas is having a big final season for Bowling Green’s football team.
Thomas, a redshirt senior defensive end from Washington, has been disruptive in the opponent’s backfield. He has made 30 tackles for the Falcons, and more than one-third (11) of them have been behind the line of scrimmage. Thomas leads the team with six sacks and has been a force against the run as well, forcing five fumbles. The latter total ranks fourth in the nation entering Bowling Green’s season finale Friday against Ball State.
The Falcons already have clinched the Mid-American Conference’s East Division title and will play in the league title game Dec. 5 in Detroit.
Thomas has overcome a knee injury early in his career and is one of only 11 players on the Bowling Green roster who have started at least 20 career games. Thomas has made 35 starts.
“Bryan is a very tenacious, physical player,” Bowling Green coach Dino Babers said. “He’s what I would call an ‘old school’ player, and I respect that a lot.
“He’s a guy who would play hard on a parking lot if that’s where the game was. He’s always going to play hard.”
Duquesne’s Lacey Levers, a sophomore middle hitter and a Chartiers-Houston graduate, helped the Dukes to a winning season.
Levers was second on the team with 257 kills and 65 blocks. She was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for Oct. 12-18 when she registered 32 kills, a .429 hitting percentage and eight blocks. The week began with Levers setting her career-high with 19 kills in the Dukes’ victory over Robert Morris.
Duquesne ended the year with a 16-12 record.
Two former Peters Township standouts will be playing for Fordham when the Rams host Sacred heart in the first round of the FCS playoffs Saturday in the Bronx, N.Y.
Austin Hancock, a senior middle linebacker from McMurray, and Andrew Erenberg, a junior strong-side linebacker from Venetia, have been key contributors for the Rams. Hancock is the team’s leading tackler with 68 stops, which includes 2 ½ sacks. Erenberg has played in seven games with seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
• Corey Hunsberger has been a contributor at Marietta since arriving at the Ohio Athletic Conference school last year. Hunsberger, a sophomore defensive back from Washington and a Trinity graduate, has started 20 consecutive games for the Pioneers and was fifth on the team in tackles this fall with 60. His season high for tackles in a game was eight, which he accomplished three times – Otterbein, Heidelberg and Muskingum.
• Joe Phillips, a sophomore defensive lineman at Slippery Rock, was named to the All-PSAC West Division second team. Phillips, a Washington graduate and a transfer from The Citadel, made 30 tackles, including eight for loss, had 4 ½ sacks and intercepted a pass for The Rock, which won the PSAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Mike Lamberti, a 6-5 junior forward from South Fayette and a former Observer-Reporter Player of the Year, has started all five games for undefeated West Liberty. Lamberti is averaging 8.6 points per game and leads the Hilltoppers with 6.2 rebounds per game.
• Morgan Kurtz, a junior guard from Washington and a Trinity graduate, is the leading scorer for the Penn State-Beaver women’s team. Kurtz is averaging 15.2 points per game. She scored a season-high 23 points in the Lady Lions’ 97-68 victory Nov. 20 at Thiel.
Lauren Cassano, a senior from Venetia, and Megan Bilko, a junior from Canonsburg, have kept Grove City’s women’s team in the fast lane by dominating the competition this season.
Cassano, a three-time NCAA Division III All-American and the Grove City record holder in two backstroke events, swept the backstroke events in the Wolverines’ win over Allegheny, then finished in a dead heat for the win with teammate Keegan Reed in the 200 individual medley while competing as exhibition competitors. The Peters Township graduate also earned the overall win in the 200 backstroke in Grove City’s meet with Case Western and Gannon.
Bilko, a Canon-McMillan graduate, is a five-time All-American and school record-holder in four individual events. She won the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly against Saint Vincent, the 200 freestyle against Allegheny, and the 1,650 freestyle and 400 individual medley at the Clarion University Fall Classic. Bilko and Cassano teamed with two teammates to win the 400 freestyle relay at the Clarion meet.