The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced its weekly awards following Week 0 of the 2026 football season. Davenport running Cephus Harris (offensive), Roosevelt defensive back Derek Whaley (defensive) and Saginaw Valley State placekicker Teagen Lenderink (special teams) earned player of the week honors.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cephus Harris, Davenport
Cephus Harris shattered the single-game rushing yards record on Saturday in a 32-20 victory over Gannon. Harris set the previous record of 185 yards in last year's finale against national champion Ferris State. On Saturday, he rushed for 351 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns on the ground. He had a 10-yard scamper to open the scoring in the first quarter. He also raced 75 yards on the first play of the third quarter to give DU a 20-7 lead. Just over 10 minutes later, Harris busted an 84-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 27-7. The rushing total was the tops of any player in week zero throughout NCAA football. The next closest total was 282 by Andre Branch of Adams State (D2). If you include the 185 against the Bulldogs last season, Harris has rushed for 536 yards in his last two games.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Derek Whaley, Roosevelt
Derek Whaley is the first GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week of the 2026 season after picking up two takeaways in Roosevelt’s season-opening victory over Chicago State. The graduate student from Lansing, Ill. flipped the field in the third quarter with a 38-yard return on a fumble recovery to put the Lakers deep in Cougars territory. He then erased all hopes of a Chicago State comeback with an interception in the fourth quarter to set up Roosevelt’s final touchdown of the game. The linebacker also finished with five recorded tackles and a handful of other gang tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Teagen Lenderink, Saginaw Valley State
Teagen Lenderink earns GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time in his career. Lenderink was active in the Cardinals' 48-24 season-opening win over McKendree on Thursday inside Wickes Memorial Stadium. The junior kicker averaged 64.1 yards per kick and totaled 513 yards with five touchbacks on kickoffs. He tallied six points on the night as well, going 6-for-7 in extra-point attempts.
HONORABLE MENTION
Offense: Jaden Bossie (Roosevelt), Wyatt Bower (Ferris State), Noah Dobert (Northern Michigan), Nic Nora (Michigan Tech), Kellen Reed (Grand Valley State), Connor Wolf (Saginaw Valley State)
Defense: D'Angelo Bellamy (Davenport), Jimmy Downs (Grand Valley State), Chase Koch (Michigan Tech), Tre'Quori Rollerson (Ferris State)
Special Teams: Matthew Bacik (Grand Valley State), Alex Bradley (Roosevelt), Eion O'Sullivan (Ferris State)
