Arkansas Tech's Jones earns final Gulf South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week Accolade

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

Jones is the second Wonder Boy to earn GSC Player of the Week accolade as redshirt freshman quarterback Rico Keller (Marrero, La.) was named the GSC Offensive Player of the Week following the Arkansas-Monticello game on Sept. 27.

In addition, Jones is the first Wonder Boy to earn Special Teams Player of the Week since both former Wonder Boys Frantz Simeon and Travis Cockerham were honored for their special teams play last season.

Jones earns this week’s final GSC Special Team Player of the Week honor after being a perfect 4-for-4 on his extra point attempts, while also connecting on two field goals in the second quarter. 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 Cockerham hit two field goals in last season’s first-round NCAA D-II Playoff game against UNC Pembroke and also doubled Tech’s season total 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 Cockerham, the league named Ouachita Baptist senior quarterback Eli Cranor and Harding sophomore defensive end Josh Aldridge as the GSC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively.

Cranor earns his first-ever accolade after helping lead the Tigers to its 52-34 win Saturday at Southern Arkansas. Against the Muleriders, Cranor combined for 296 yards of offense, including running for 124 yards on 22 carries and passing for 172 yards on 15-of-16 attempts. In the win, he scored two rushing touchdowns and threw for another score. The 15-for-16 effort through the air tied a GSC single-game record for completion percentage (93.8) and he also OBU’s single-season record for passing yards (2,570) and total offense (3,083).

 Aldridge is the fourth Harding defensive player to claim accolades from the league this season. In Harding’s 29-28 home win Saturday over 15th-ranked North Alabama, Aldridge recorded five tackles, including four solo stops, 3.0 tackles for a loss of 19 yards and he had two sacks for 17 yards. In addition, Aldridge forced two UNA fumbles and helped the Bison set a new single-season school mark for sacks (43).