By Tiffany Williams –
Week 1 of the college football season produced several standout individual performances across CAA Football, from explosive rushing performances to defensive plays that completely changed games.
NewsTalk New England looked across the opening-week performances to select the five offensive and five defensive players who stood out the most.
Quarterbacks are not included in the offensive rankings. They will be considered separately for the NewsTalk New England CAA Quarterback of the Week.
Top Five Offensive Players
1. Joey Koch, RB, UAlbany
Joey Koch didn’t need a heavy workload to become one of the most dangerous offensive players on the field in UAlbany’s 28-14 victory over New Hampshire.
Koch carried just seven times but rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown, averaging an incredible 20.6 yards per carry.
His 79-yard run in the second quarter was the longest offensive play of the game and eventually led to his own three-yard touchdown run. Koch later broke another 35-yard run that helped UAlbany set up Aidan Semo’s second touchdown.
Koch was the biggest home-run threat in a UAlbany rushing attack that accumulated 374 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per carry.
2. Amari Pryear, RB, Hampton
Amari Pryear was one of Hampton’s biggest offensive weapons in a 45-0 victory over Virginia-Lynchburg.
Pryear rushed eight times for 132 yards, averaging 16.5 yards every time he carried the football.
His biggest play came during the third quarter when he broke loose for 65 yards, moving Hampton from its own 17 deep into Virginia-Lynchburg territory and helping set up another Pirates touchdown.
He later added another 20-yard run.
Hampton finished with 263 rushing yards, and Pryear accounted for more than half of them despite receiving only eight carries.
3. Cleveland Charlton, WR, Towson
Cleveland Charlton played a major role in Towson nearly completing a 21-point comeback against Maine.
Charlton caught four passes for 136 yards and a touchdown, averaging 34 yards per reception.
His 56-yard reception late in the first half moved Towson into scoring position and helped the Tigers finally break through after falling behind 21-0.
Charlton struck again in the third quarter when Andrew Indorf found him for a 59-yard touchdown that brought Towson within 21-15.
He later caught an 18-yard pass during Towson’s final possession before Maine forced a fumble and secured the 21-18 victory.
Even in defeat, Charlton was one of the conference’s most explosive offensive players during Week 1.
4. O’Shawn Ross, RB, Bryant
O’Shawn Ross provided Bryant with the consistent rushing presence it needed in a 24-6 victory over Stonehill.
Ross carried 18 times for 102 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.7 yards per attempt.
His production was especially important because Bryant’s passing game generated only 108 yards.
Ross converted a critical fourth down with a 16-yard run during Bryant’s opening touchdown drive and later broke a 26-yard run during the fourth quarter that helped set up another Bulldogs touchdown.
Bryant rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns as a team, with Ross leading the way.
5. Alex McClelland, RB, Rhode Island
Alex McClelland’s Week 1 performance wasn’t about accumulating 100 yards.
It was about finishing drives.
McClelland carried the football only three times in Rhode Island’s 34-7 victory over Merrimack.
Two of those three carries ended in the end zone.
McClelland scored on runs of five and four yards, giving Rhode Island an important red-zone weapon as the Rams turned a 7-7 game into a convincing victory.
Rhode Island rushed for 169 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry, but McClelland delivered the points when the Rams reached scoring territory.
Top Five Defensive Players
1. Caden Rice, DB, Hampton
Caden Rice delivered one of the defining defensive plays of Hampton’s 45-0 shutout.
Virginia-Lynchburg received the second-half kickoff trailing 17-0 and needed something positive to begin the third quarter.
Rice made sure it didn’t happen.
On third-and-18, Rice intercepted Thomas Adamsky and returned the football 32 yards for a touchdown.
Instead of Virginia-Lynchburg beginning a comeback, Hampton’s advantage increased to 24-0 without the Pirates’ offense ever taking the field.
The pick-six helped begin a 21-point third quarter that put the game completely out of reach.
2. Temond Marcus, Hampton
Hampton earns two positions among the defensive Top 5 because Temond Marcus impacted the game in multiple phases.
Marcus blocked a Virginia-Lynchburg punt during the first quarter, giving Hampton possession at the Dragons’ 28. The Pirates turned that short field into their first touchdown.
Later, Virginia-Lynchburg produced its best scoring opportunity of the first half.
The Dragons drove all the way to the Hampton 3.
A fumble ended the threat, and Marcus recovered it at the Hampton 12.
Virginia-Lynchburg had driven 56 yards and was only a few yards away from potentially making it a one-score game.
Marcus helped make sure the Dragons left the possession with nothing.
3. Andre DePina-Gray, DB, Rhode Island
Andre DePina-Gray completely reversed one of Merrimack’s best scoring opportunities in Rhode Island’s 34-7 victory.
Merrimack had driven deep into Rhode Island territory and was threatening to cut into the Rams’ advantage.
DePina-Gray intercepted the football at the goal line.
Then he went the other way.
Seventy-five yards.
His interception return carried the football all the way to the Merrimack 25.
A possession that appeared capable of producing points for Merrimack instead ended with Rhode Island suddenly threatening on the opposite end of the field.
4. Moses Meus, DB, Rhode Island
Moses Meus gave Rhode Island its second defensive player among the Week 1 Top 5.
With the Rams already in control late in the fourth quarter, Meus intercepted Cole Meehan at the Merrimack 49.
He didn’t simply secure the turnover.
Meus returned it all 49 yards for a touchdown.
The pick-six with 45 seconds remaining completed Rhode Island’s 34-7 victory and capped a night in which the Rams repeatedly turned Merrimack mistakes into game-changing plays.
5. Gideon Bedada, Bryant
Gideon Bedada gets the final position after helping Bryant’s defense keep Stonehill out of the end zone throughout a 24-6 victory.
Bedada produced one of the game’s earliest momentum-changing defensive plays when he sacked Stonehill quarterback Jack O’Connell and forced a fumble.
Toby Brown Jr. recovered it for Bryant.
That play helped establish the tone for a Bulldogs defense that repeatedly tightened when Stonehill moved into scoring territory.
Stonehill finished with 304 yards but never scored a touchdown.
Bryant held the Skyhawks to two field goals, made important red-zone stops and finished with two sacks, five tackles for loss, three pass breakups, a blocked kick and the game’s only recovered turnover.
Bedada’s sack and forced fumble were at the center of that defensive effort.