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NEC Football Weekly Release (9/7)

9/7/2026


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NEC Offensive Player of the Week: Jack O'Connell, Stonehill
NEC Defensive Player of the Week: Mo Seide, Stonehill
NEC Special Teams Player of the Week: Bryson Costa, Robert Morris
NEC Rookie of the Week: Benjamin Newman, Wagner

Previous NEC Releases: August 31 | Preseason Poll Release | Streaming/TV Package Release

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jack O’Connell, Stonehill
Quarterback, Fifth Year, 6-2, 190 lbs., North Andover, MA/North Andover
Last Week’s Stats: 14-18 completions, 192 passing yards, 2 touchdown throws, 0 interceptions, 9 rushes, 32 rushing yards
Stonehill opened NEC play with a victory on Saturday thanks to the efficiency of veteran signal caller O’Connell. The fifth-year quarterback completed 14-of-18 passes while throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Skyhawks to the commanding 21-3 win at New Haven. After the Chargers got on the scoreboard early with a field goal, O’Connell answered the call by launching a 25-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Aidan Garrett with 9:14 to go in the first quarter. The Skyhawks tacked on another score in the second quarter thanks to a Garrett one-yard scamper before O’Connell provided the final points of the day on a 31-yard heave to senior wide receiver Torance Washington, Jr. to make it a 21-3 advantage before halftime. With the pair of touchdowns, O’Connell pushed his career total to 25, a mark that ranks ninth in program history. He also ranks ninth in Stonehill’s recordbook with 2,949 career passing yards. This is O’Connell’s first career NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Offensive Player of the Week award.

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mo Seide, Stonehill
Defensive Back, Fifth Year, 6-0, 185 lbs., Malden, MA/Everett
Last Week’s Stats: 9 solo tackles, 1 interception, 76 interception return yards
Seide’s second career NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Defensive Player of the Week honor came on the heels of a nine-tackle performance in Stonehill’s first victory of the season. With all nine of his stops being marked as solo, the fifth-year defensive back was the anchor of a Skyhawks’ back line that limited New Haven to just one field goal in the 18-point NEC triumph. In addition, Seide registered his first pick of the season and returned it a career-best 76 yards to prevent a potential Chargers’ score. The interception was the sixth of his career. Seide enters the week ranked 10th in the league with 6.5 tackles per game.

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bryson Costa, Robert Morris
Kicker, Junior, 6-0, 185 lbs., Windber, PA/Windber Area (Gannon)
Last Week’s Stats: 5 punts, 225 punt yards (58-yard long), 45.0 yards per punt, 1 inside-20, 1 touchback, 1 50+ yards
Costa turned in a solid performance on Saturday to lead Robert Morris to a 29-7 win against visiting West Virginia State. The junior kicker averaged 45.0 yards on five punts for 225 total yards. Registering a touchback following a 58-yard blast in the third quarter, the Keystone State product placed one inside the 20-yard line on a 37-yarder. His 58-yard boot is currently the third-longest punt in the NEC this season while his 372 total punt yards on the year rank second on the circuit. This is Costa’s first-ever NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Special Teams Player of the Week. 

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Benjamin Newman, Wagner
Quarterback, Redshirt Freshman, 6-2, 210 lbs., East Rochester, NY/East Rochester
Last Week’s Stats: 23-33 completions, 267 passing yards, 3 touchdown throws, 0 interceptions
Newman guided Wagner to its first victory of 2026 in his first career start against Southern Connecticut on Saturday. The redshirt freshman and East Rochester, NY native completed 23-of-33 passes while registering 267 yards through the air and a trio of touchdowns. Newman put the Seahawks on the board with 5:44 left in the opening quarter when he connected with junior tight end Johans Bars with an eight-yard pass. He struck again less than five minutes later, this time completing a 26-yarder to senior wide receiver Teree McDonald to make it a 14-0 advantage. Newman kept the Seahawks’ rally going with his final touchdown throw of the day, a 30-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Malik Redd with 9:25 left in the second stanza before senior kicker Ryan Liszner capped off Wagner’s game-opening 24-0 run with a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. This is the first weekly award for a Wagner player this season.  


#NECFB PRIME PERFORMERS (Week One)

Zach Chambers, DUQ (LB, Gr)
Chambers made a career- and game-best nine tackles in his Duquesne debut at FBS opponent Air Force on Saturday. The graduate linebacker’s total stops were tied for second-most among all NEC defensive players in Week One. 
 
Ryan Maxwell, LIU (DB, Gr)
Maxwell paced LIU’s defense at FBS opponent Kansas with a career-high nine tackles on Friday evening. Seven of the graduate defensive back’s tackles were solo stops. 
 
Rikervin Encarnacion, NHVN (LB, Sr)
Encarnacion registered 13 tackles, including 11 solo stops, in New Haven’s first-ever league game against Stonehill on Saturday. The 13 tackles are the most recorded by an NEC player in a single game this season.
 
Zaon Laney, NHVN (RB, Gr)
Laney became the first NEC rusher to eclipse the century mark in the Chargers’ inaugural NEC game against Stonehill on Saturday. The graduate student racked up 114 yards on 17 carries, including a 44-yard run in the final quarter. 
 
Galen Combs, RMU (WR, So)
Combs followed an NEC Offensive Player of the Week performance with another explosive game after he scored twice on a pair of 42-yard receptions in Robert Morris’ 29-9 win over West Virginia State. The sophomore wide receiver leads the league with 188 receiving yards, an average of 94.0 per game, while his five touchdowns are the most in the FCS.
 
Jack O’Connell, STO (QB, 5th Yr)
O’Connell was named the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Offensive Player of the Week after he piloted Stonehill to a 21-3 win at New Haven in the Skyhawks’ first NEC contest of the year. The fifth-year quarterback had an efficient outing, completing 14-of-18 passes while racking up 192 passing yards and two touchdown throws.
 
Aidan Garrett, STO (RB, So)
Garrett put each of Stonehill’s first two touchdowns on the board to lead the Skyhawks to a 21-3 win at New Haven in their first league game of 2026. Catching a 25-yard pass from NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Player of the Week Jack O’Connell to make it a 7-3 advantage with 9:14 left in the first stanza, the sophomore running back increased the lead to 14-3 in the second quarter with a one-yard scamper into the end zone.
 
Mo Seide, STO (DB, 5th Yr)
Seide shot down the Chargers on a 1st and 10 at the Skyhawks’ 48-yard line with his first pick of the season and the sixth of his career. Returning the interception a career-best 76 yards, the fifth-year defensive back, who was pegged the NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Defensive Player of the Week, added nine solo tackles to push his season total to 13.
 
Benjamin Newman, WAG (QB, R-Fr)
Newman converted on 23-of-33 passes to lead Wagner to its first win of the season by way of a 31-7 decision against Southern Connecticut. The redshirt freshman and NEC/Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office Rookie of the Week honoree totaled 267 passing yards and three touchdowns. 

 
#NECFB SLATE ROUTES (AROUND THE LEAGUE IN 9 SENTENCES):

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: Opening the 2026 campaign at then-ranked #12 South Dakota, Central Connecticut is set to take on another top 25 FCS opponent on Sept. 19 in #1 Montana State.

CHICAGO STATE: Chicago State took on its first-ever FCS opponent on Saturday in its first road game of the season when it battled UT Martin in Tennessee.

DUQUESNE: Duquesne’s first road game of the season pitted the Dukes up against Air Force, marking the sixth-straight season that the program faces an FBS squad in its first tilt away from Pittsburgh.
 
LIU: LIU has faced at least one FBS opponent every year dating back to 2021: Kansas (2026), Florida (2025), TCU (2024), Baylor (2023), Kent State & Toledo (2022) and FIU & West Virginia (2021).

MERCYHURST: For the first time in program history, Mercyhurst faced an FBS squad when the Lakers visited New Mexico State on Saturday evening.

NEW HAVEN: Grad student Zaon Laney became the first NEC rusher to hit the century mark this season when he ran for 114 yards in the Chargers’ first-ever NEC game against Stonehill on Saturday.
 
ROBERT MORRIS: Beginning 2026 with wins over Wagner and West Virginia State, Robert Morris is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2004 when it opened the season by defeating Buffalo State and Duquesne.
 
STONEHILL: Stonehill rolled to an NEC-opening 21-3 win at New Haven and in the process, the Skyhawks’ ended the Chargers’ 11-game home win streak which dated back to a loss to St. Anselm (Oct. 14, 2023).

WAGNER: Wagner, which led the NEC a year ago with 11 fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions, has racked up a league-leading three turnovers on two picks and a forced fumble.


#NECFB EXTRA POINTS:
  • Three NEC squads took on FBS teams this past weekend as LIU faced Kansas, Duquesne battled Air Force and Mercyhurst traveled to New Mexico State. 
  • LIU redshirt senior quarterback Ethan Greenwood has amassed 1,560 career rushing yards to rank 16th among active FCS quarterbacks.
  • Stonehill handed New Haven the Chargers’ first loss at home since 2003 with Saturday’s 21-3 triumph.
  • Prior to Saturday’s defeat, New Haven rattled off 11-straight wins, with their last setback at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium coming by way of a 13-9 loss to St. Anselm on Oct. 14, 2023.
  • New Haven graduate running back Zaon Laney became the first NEC rusher to eclipse the 100-yard mark this season when he ran for 114 against Stonehill on Saturday. 
  • Robert Morris is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2004 after opening the season with wins against Wagner and West Virginia State.
  • Stonehill quarterback Jack O’Connell passed current Central Connecticut Director of Athletics Tom Pincince in the program’s record books for most touchdown throws. After tossing two against New Haven, he is now in sole possession of ninth all-time with 25 touchdown throws.
  • Two NEC squads rank within the FCS’s top 10 in third down conversion percentage. Robert Morris is second with a rate of 0.097 while Stonehill is seventh with a 0.208 third-down conversion percentage.
  • Going 2-for-2 on fourth-down conversions, LIU is tied 18 other squads for first in the nation in the category.
  • Duquense limited FBS opponent Air Force to just 19 passing yards on Saturday.
  • Robert Morris’ defense has allowed just 8.0 points per game to rank fourth in the FCS, while the Colonials’ 4.00 sacks per game and 207.00 yards conceded per contest are good for fifth-most and fourth-most in the nation, respectively.



2026 #NECFB WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Galen Combs (Robert Morris)
Sept. 7: Jack O'Connell (Stonehill)
Sept. 14: 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Khalil Hunter (Robert Morris)
Sept. 7: Mo Seide (Stonehill)
Sept. 14: 

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Liam Quigley (New Haven)
Sept. 7: Bryson Costa (Robert Morris)
Sept. 14: 

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Davon Smith, Jr. (Central Connecticut)
Sept. 7: Benjamin Newman (Wagner)
Sept. 14: