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GRINNELL, Iowa – Lake Forest College’s Joey Valdivia and Alex Pasiewicz and St. Norbert College’s R.J. Callow have been named the Midwest Conference (MWC) Football Performers of the Week. 

Weekly Notes

Valdivia rushed for 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the game-winner with 30 seconds remaining in a 34-27 victory over visiting Lawrence University on Saturday. He reached the end zone from 32 yards out with 43 seconds to play in the first half and from the 12-yardline on the decisive score. Valdivia added three receptions for 28 yards in the contest.
 
Pasiewicz returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to aid the Forester effort. It was his program record third such score this season. He also set team records with 163 kickoff return yards on the day (on three returns) and moved into first place in school history with 1,361 in his career. In addition to his returns, Pasiewicz converted a pair of fake punts on rushes of 27 and 13 yards.
 
Callow led St. Norbert’s defense in a 48-7 win over Ripon College. Callow finished with a total of 10 tackles, three tackles-for-loss and two quarterback sacks. St. Norbert held the Red Hawks to 211 yards of total offense, including 71 yards in the second half. The Green Knights also forced seven Ripon turnovers.
 
Notable Performances
Jonathan Tucker recorded eight tackles (2.5 for losses) and three quarterback hurries in Cornell College's 28-24 Homecoming victory over Knox College. The freshman defensive end played a big role in helping the Rams rally from a 24-14 deficit late in the third quarter. Cornell held the Prairie Fire to 56 yards in the final quarter and stopped the guests on downs at Cornell's 32 on the final drive.
 
Junior Daniel Brown fired a 61-yard touchdown pass with 11:10 remaining that gave Cornell its first lead and held up as the winning score. The quarterback threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns on the day. 
 
Gabriel Noyce punted six times for a 42.8-yard average for the Rams.  The senior placed two punts inside the 20 and had a long of 59 yards. Noyce also had a game-high seven catches for 41 yards.
 
John Laponte finished Lake Forest's victory over Lawrence on Saturday with nine tackles to match his highest output this season. Among the stops was an eight-yard sack and an additional tackle for loss.
 
Samuel Staehling had another big performance in St. Norbert’s win over Ripon. Staehling became the first St. Norbert player since 2009 with three consecutive 100-yard receiving games with eight receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Staehling caught touchdown passes of 32 and 4 yards to help give St. Norbert a 20-7 halftime lead.