APPLETON, Wis. -- A pair of Lawrence University football players picked up weekly awards in the wake of the Vikings' 50-21 victory over Knox College last Saturday.
Sophomore safety Sam Laes was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week and earned Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors. Senior quarterback Eric Aspenson was named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week.
Laes, a Green Bay, Wis., native and former star at Ashwaubenon High School, recorded six tackles, including five solo, intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and recorded a pass breakup. He also scored his first collegiate touchdown on a fake punt.
Laes, also a wrestling and baseball standout for the Vikings, recovered Brent Newman's fumble late in the first quarter at the Knox 23-yard line. Lawrence scored a touchdown three plays later to go up 20-0. Lawrence led 30-7 midway through the third quarter when Eric Aspenson threw to Laes for a first down on a fake punt. Laes cut across the field and broke several tackles to go 42 yards for his first college touchdown. On the ensuing Knox possession, Laes intercepted Knox quarterback George Nicholson at the Knox 45 and returned the ball to the Knox 10. Lawrence scored on the next play to go up 44-7.
On the season, Laes is third on the team with 38 tackles.
A native of Rockford, Ill., Aspenson tossed a school-record five touchdown passes against Knox. The former standout at Rockford Lutheran High School completed 14 of 21 passes for 308 yards and ran nine times for 47 yards. Aspenson, who averaged 22 yards per completion, completed touchdown passes of 73, 71, 42, 23 and 10 yards to break the record of four touchdown passes in a game he shared with five other players.
Aspenson's five touchdown passes gives him 43 for his career and moved him into second place on Lawrence's career list. He passed Ken Meyer, who tossed 41 TD passes from 1973-76. Lawrence Hall of Famer Jim Petran is the career leader with 59. Aspenson also became the first Lawrence quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in a game since Chris McGinley did it vs. Ripon on Nov. 9, 2002.
The Vikings (2-4 overall and MWC) return to action Saturday when they travel to Beloit College. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.