Following Saturday’s road win over the VMI Keydets, Catamount football secured two-thirds of the weekly awards handed out by the conference office on Monday afternoon. Western Carolina redshirt junior RB Donnavan Spencer was selected as the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week while redshirt freshman PK Julian Pletz garnered SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week as the conference announced its SoCon Football Players of the Week presented by GEICO.
The players of the week are selected by the league office from nominations submitted by the sports information or media relations personnel of each conference school. The awards are the first for the Catamounts collectively this fall, while also representing the first weekly plaudits for both Spencer and Pletz in their careers.
Spencer totaled a career-best 247 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s 43-35 road win over VMI, the Catamounts’ first league victory of the season which halted a myriad of droughts. The Charlotte, N.C., native carried the ball 28 times for 137 yards and two TDs, falling just two yards shy of his career-high. For Spencer, it was the third, 100-yard rushing game of his career. The versatile back also hauled in a pair of passes out of the backfield for a career-best 110 yards and a score which came on a 78-yard pitch-and-catch on WCU’s first play from scrimmage in the contest.
Additionally, Spencer was dubbed the offensive player of the week in the SoCon by College Sports Madness on Sunday afternoon.
Western Carolina placekicker Julian Pletz accounted for 13 points in the Catamounts’ 43-35 win at VMI on Saturday. The Liberty Township, Ohio, product was 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts, converting from a career-long 44 and 41 yards in the second quarter and from 26 in the fourth. Pletz, who was also 4-for-4 on point-after kicks, split kickoff duties on the day, kicking off three times.
Western Carolina (2-7, 1-5 SoCon) opens a two-game homestand this weekend, returning to E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field to host mountain-rival ETSU (2-7, 0-6 SoCon) in the gridiron grudge match in the “Blue Ridge Border Battle.” Saturday’s on-campus festivities get underway with Catamount men’s basketball hosting Gardner-Webb – an NCAA tournament team a season ago – in its home-opener at Noon in the Ramsey Center with a special Heroes Day Tailgate Town available just outside.
Fans will want to be in their seats early for the “Pride of the Mountains” Marching Band performance and special Heroes Day tributes to all military – active and veteran – and first-responders.
Kickoff of the “Ingles SoCon Game of the Week” between WCU and ETSU is scheduled for 3:30 pm in a game that will be broadcast on the Nexstar family of stations (clearances to be announced) with an online stream available on ESPN+. The game will also be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with a 2:30 pm air time following the conclusion of the men’s basketball broadcast that begins at 11:30 am.
For tickets, visit CatamountSports.com or call (800) 34-GOWCU.