The Ohio Valley Conference announced the winners for the weekly awards on Monday morning with a pair of Buccaneers earning accolades following the team’s road triumph over The Citadel in the Lowcountry Boil Bowl this past Saturday. Tristan Lennon earned Defensive Player of the Week while Matt Rolader was chosen as the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Lennon finished the game with a team-leading and career-best 10 tackles including a sack and a tackle for loss and a half. His sack against the Bulldogs came on their opening drive while his PBU was on a fourth down midway through the second quarter to end a different possession of theirs. In the second overtime, he paired with Brandon McDonald for a tackle for loss on The Citadel’s first play of the possession, helping lead to the long field goal which was later missed, setting up for the Buccaneers victory.
Rolader made each of his attempts on the day including a 48-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead in the first half. Later in the game, he converted on a 52-yard attempt to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter to send it to overtime with this marking a season long for him. Additionally, he was good on both of his PATs (including one in OT) to finish the day with eight points scored.
These become the second and third weekly accolades from the OVC this season for Charleston Southern. Last week, Baxter Pearce was selected as the league’s Freshman of the Week for his outing at Georgia Southern.
Charleston Southern returns to play next weekend in what will be their first home game of the season as they take on Point. The kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Buccaneer Field with the game to be available live on ESPN+.