ARKANSAS TECH’S CODY JONES NAMED D2FOOTBALL.COM SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Two days after being named the final Gulf South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, Arkansas Tech freshman kicker/punter Cody Jones (Lexington, Tenn.) has been named the final regular season D2Football.com National Special Teams Player of the Week on Wednesday following his performance in helping the Wonder Boys to its 42-14 season finale win this past Saturday at home on Senior Day over Southwest Baptist.

Jones becomes the first Wonder Boy this season to earn Player of the Week accolades from D2Football.com and the first since former Wonder Boy record-setting quarterback Nick Graziano was named the Offensive Player of the Week three times last season. In addition, Jones is the first Tech player to win special teams honors since punter/kicker Michael Podobnik was honored with Special Teams Player of the Week honors following the Harding game in 2007.

He earns his D2Football.com Special Teams Player of the Week accolade after being a perfect 4-for-4 on his extra point attempts, while also connecting on two field goals in the second quarter on Tech’s win over the Bearcats. In addition, Jones booted six punts for 223 yards and averaged 37.2 yards per punt and downed three of those six punts inside the 20-yard line. The two field goals by Jones were the most by a Wonder Boy kicker in a game since former Wonder Boy kicker/punter Travis Cockerham hit two field goals in last season’s first-round NCAA D-II Playoff game against UNC Pembroke and he also doubled Tech’s season total for field goals heading into the SBU game. Prior to the Southwest Baptist contest, Tech had connected on just 1-of-5 field goals on the year.

Along with Jones, D2Football.com named Mercyhurst junior wide receiver Trevor Kennedy as its Offensive Player of the Week, while Harding sophomore defensive end Josh Aldridge was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Aldridge, like Jones, was named this week’s final GSC Defensive Player of the Week.

Kennedy earns his offensive honor after catching 11 passes for 163 yards in Mercyhurst’s 56-37 win over Bloomsburg in the PSAC Championship game. In the win, Kennedy caught touchdown passes of 81 and 17 yards and also returned a punt 78 yards for a score. For the game, he touched the ball 16 times and gained 306 all-purpose yards and for his efforts, he was named the MVP of the PSAC Championship game.

Aldridge earned his defensive accolade after recording five tackles in Harding’s 29-28 season finale win over then 15th-ranked North Alabama. In the win over the Lions, Aldridge had four solo tackles, along with 3.0 tackles for a loss of 19 yards and two sacks for 17 yards in losses. In addition, he forced two UNA fumbles and helped the Bison set a new single-season school mark for sacks (43).