WHITEFISH -- Montana Western football athletes Dylan Pope, Nate Simkins and Joseph Lema swept the Frontier Conference weekly honors, the league announced on Monday.
Simkins earned the Frontier offensive player of the week honor following a monstrous game from his wide receiver position. The 5-foot-10 junior caught nine passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns for his hometown Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 24 in the NAIA coaches' poll for a second straight week.
Pope, a 5-foot-9 freshman from Sugar City, Idaho, collected the league's defensive player of the week accolade after recording six solo tackles, two assisted tackles, three pass breakups and a pair of interceptions in the Bulldogs' 40-10 victory over Rocky Mountain College. Pope also was credited with 0.5 tackles-for-loss in the win.
Lema, another freshman, made both of his point-after-touchdown attempts, while also tallying an average of 48.6 yards per punt against the Battlin' Bears. The 5-foot-7 Atwater, Calif. native leads the Frontier Conference and is seventh in the NAIA in yards per punt this fall.
Montana Western travels to No. 6 College of Idaho in a key Frontier Conference showdown on Saturday.
