Saint Joseph’s College junior quarterback Billy VandeMerkt, Urbana University senior defensive end Perry Jenkins, and William Jewell College freshman running back and return specialist Thomas Cook have been named Great Lakes Valley Conference Players of the Week, it was announced by the league office Monday.  VandeMerkt was named GLVC Offensive Player of the Week, Jenkins earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Cook was picked as Special Teams Player of the Week.
VandeMerkt led the Pumas to a 65-49 victory at William Jewell on Saturday, completing 24 of 31 passes for 449 yards and nine touchdowns, while also rushing 14 times for 78 yards.  His nine passing TDs, 449 passing yards, and 527 total yards, established new conference records as well.  The Riverside, Ill., native registered a pass-efficiency rating of 294.89 for the game, while leading SJC to the impressive road win that pushed the Pumas to fourth-place in the GLVC standings at 3-2 and an overall record of 4-4.  This is the second weekly honor for VandeMerkt as he was honored with the first-ever GLVC Offensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 3 earlier this year.

The same came be said for Jenkins, who was tabbed the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week after the season opener.  The Columbus, Ohio, native earns his second career award and the third defensive distinction for Urbana as Roy Harvison earned the same award on Sept. 17.  In the 31-23 victory over McKendree, which improved Urbana to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in league play, Jenkins notched eight tackles, including four solo, one-and-a-half TFL, one sack, two quarterback hurries and four pass breakups.  Two of those PBUs occurred on third and fourth down during McKendree’s final two possessions of the game with the Bearcats trailing by eight with a minute to go.