The first Athletes of the Week for the 2014 campaign came out as football was announced today. Central Oklahoma’s Chas Stallard earned Offensive Athlete of the Week, Emporia State’s Deshawn Dinwiddie earned Defensive Athlete of the Week and UCO’s Seth Hiddink was named Special Teams Athlete of the Week.

MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week
Chas Stallard, QB, Central Oklahoma

Stallard shined in his first-ever college game, rushing 17 times for 107 yards and a touchdown in addition to hitting 15-of-23 passes for 204 yards and a score leading UCO to a 26-7 road win over Fort Hays State. The redshirt freshman threw a 28-yard TD pass on a flea-flicker to give the Bronchos a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter, then led an 80-yard TD drive hitting 4-of-4 passes for 42 yards before scoring on an 11-yard scramble late in the period to give UCO a 14-0 halftime lead. Stallard had runs of 29 and 44 yards during third-quarter field goal drives as UCO won its first season-opener since 2007. The 6-0 redshirt freshman quarterback is a native of Cleveland, Okla. where he competed at Cleveland High School.

MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week
Deshawn Dinwiddie, LB, Emporia State

Dinwiddie had a game high ten tackles, two forced fumbles and returned a defensive PAT for a score as Emporia State held Missouri Southern to just 212 rushing yards in the Hornets 53-28 victory. His first forced fumble was on the Lions Michael Nelson two yards behind the line of scrimmage and was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by Kadeem Satchell to give the Hornets a 21-7 lead with 6:00 left in the half. It was the first defensive score for the Hornets since Sept. 8, 2012 at Neb.-Kearney and was followed 14 seconds later by another fumble return for a touchdown and a 27-7 Emporia State lead. After the Lions scored to cut the lead to 27-13 Deshawn returned the extra point that was blocked by his brother Deveon for a defensive PAT and 29-13 Hornet lead with 2:12 left in the half. He then forced a fumble on MSSU’s first possession of the second half that the Hornets would eventually score off of for a 36-13 lead. The 6-2 senior linebacker is a native of Hutchinson, Kan. where he competed at Hutchinson high school before playing two season’s at North Dakota State.

MIAA Special Teams Athlete of the Week
Seth Hiddink, K, Central Oklahoma

Hiddink scored 14 points in UCOs 26-7 road win over Fort Hays State, hitting all four field goal tries and both extra point attempts. He made two first-half PATs as the Bronchos took a 14-0 lead and then scored all 12 UCO points in the second half with field goals of 18, 37, 38 and 48 yards. Hiddink has made 13 consecutive field goals dating back to last season. The 6-4 sophomore kicker is a native of Wylie, Texas where he competed at Wylie High School.

— MIAA Press Release —