University of Saint Francis backup quarterback David Yoder and place-kicker Emerson Ueber have been chosen Mid-States Football Association Mideast League Player(s) of the Week after conclusion of the regular season on Saturday when USF locked up its 11th MSFA MEL championship.
Yoder (Goshen, IN / Concord H.S.) threw four touchdowns passes in the second half rallying the Cougars from a 17-7 halftime deficit to a 41-24 win over No. 27 Marian University. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound senior connected on 14-of-23 passes (a .609 pass completion percentage) for 224 yards in place of starting QB Josh Miller, who had a stiff ankle that kept him on the sideline in the second half. It is the third time this season that Yoder has come off the bench and earned the conference honor and it is his fourth in the last two seasons.
Yoder is the first USF QB to throw four TD passes in a half since Jeremy Hibbeln did it against Malone in the first half on Oct. 28, 2000. Yoder is the first USF QB to throw four TD passes in a game since Jeff Wedding did it in 2008.
Yoder is second on the USF honors list behind Jeremy Hibbeln (1998-01) and Chris Bramell (2002-05) with five each. It’s the 23rd time in 16 seasons a USF quarterback has earned the weekly conference honor. Earlier this season, Yoder became the first USF quarterback to win back-to-back POTW honors since Antoine Taylor did it in 2002.
Ueber (Fort Wayne, IN / Bishop Dwenger H.S.) picked up the MSFA MEL Special Teams honor for the second time this season after he kicked two field goals and five extra points to lead USF in scoring with 71 points. Ueber has set a USF single-season record for field goals with 10 and increased his USF career field goal record to 21 and is 41-for-42 on PATs.
The No. 6 Cougars are the only team in the MSFA MEL to earn an NAIA Football Championship Series berth and will host No. 9 Faulkner University (Montgomery, Ala.) at noon at Bishop John M. D’Arcy Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The University of Saint Francis, founded in 1890 as a comprehensive university in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, offers more than 60 undergraduate and 14 graduate programs in five schools: The School of Health Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, School of Professional Studies and School of Creative Arts. More than 2,400 students from a broad geographic region attend USF for its academic excellence. The university has a regional campus in Crown Point, Ind.