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| Wright (Temple athletics) |
Isaiah Wright has always been an explosive athlete, and he earned a major weekly honor from the American Athletic Conference for his most recent efforts.
The Temple University sophomore and Waterbury native tallied 154 all-purpose yards, including a spectacular kickoff return for a touchdown in a 35-24 win over Cincinnati. That return earned him AAC Special Teams Player of the Week accolades.
The Bearcats scored to get to within 20-14 near the midway point of the third quarter. The response from the Owls came from Wright, and it was swift. Wright fielded the kickoff at his own 2 and ran from the right side of the field toward the center. He got a key block around midfield, then another at the Cincinnati 25 to finish off the awesome kick return in 13 seconds. What was a six-point Temple lead became 26-14.
Wright wasn’t done doing damage to the Bearcats. He took the pitch running left on a reverse, then pulled up and completed a pass for the two-point conversion and a 28-14 lead.
Oh yeah, and Wright had three catches for 39 yards. All in a night’s work for the versatile Wright, who continues to be a multi-purpose threat for Temple.
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| Smith (CCSU athletics) |
K.J. Smith and Cole Phelps,
Central Connecticut State University football
The road to redemption has been paved for the Blue Devils, and these two former area standouts played a part.
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| Phelps (CCSU athletics) |
CCSU scored the final 14 points and defeated Duquesne 28-27 on the road Saturday to clinch the fifth Northeast Conference championship in program history. Even bigger news is the Blue Devils also earned a berth to the NCAA FCS Playoffs, the first in program history. The seven-game win streak Eastern is on is the longest for the program since 1967.
Smith, a junior from Bristol Eastern, started the game at tight end and finished with a reception for eight yards. Phelps, a sophomore from Wolcott, started at right guard on the offensive line.
The Blue Devils improved to 7-3 with the win and 5-0 in the NEC with one conference game against Robert Morris left.
In 10 games this season, Smith has nine catches for 94 yards. He has started nine of those 10 games.
Phelps has started on the offensive line in all 10 games.
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| Root (Post athletics) |
Brianna Root, Post University volleyball
This former Bristol Eastern leader was named First Team All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference for the third straight season.
The junior made the team for the third time in her three years at Post. For the second time in three seasons, Root led the conference in assists. She tallied 1,062 of those in the regular season, and she is second among active players in the East Region with 3,602 career assists.
When Root passed 3,000 career assists, she became the third Eagle to attain that milestone. Root is averaging 9.32 assists per set, good for third in the conference.
Root was also second on the team, 13th in the CACC, in digs with 331. Root had 13 double-doubles during the regular season.
Post struggled in non-conference play but went 15-4 in the CACC to finish 17-13 overall. The Eagles open CACC Tournament play tonight against Georgian Court at 7 p.m.
Malik Petteway, Robert Morris University basketball
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| Petteway (Robert Morris athletics) |
The transfer from Northwest Florida State bounced back from a tough debut with his first double-double as a Division I basketball player.
Petteway scored 10 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked a shot and nabbed three steals in 20 minutes of play in Robert Morris’ 75-61 loss to Grand Canyon. Petteway compiled those stats coming off the bench after starting the season opener against Ohio State.
Against Grand Canyon, Petteway went 4-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the foul line. He had four offensive rebounds and seven on the defensive end for his tally of 11.
Robert Morris plays its second and final game in the Grand Canyon Classic on Wednesday against San Diego.
Statistics and information compiled from the team website of each athlete.
