WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.—Sophomore quarterback Joe Lyons III (Margate City, N.J./Atlantic City) orchestrated a 471-yard offensive effort and sophomore linebacker Daniel Atsou (Capitol Heights, Md./Suitland) was disruptive all afternoon in a 31-21 win over Wilkes University on Saturday, Oct. 25, as the duo earned Landmark Conference Offensive and Defensive Athlete of the Week honors, respectively, as announced by the conference on Monday, Oct. 27.
Lyons, the Offensive Athlete winner, put together a career day, finishing 23-for-29 with 327 yards and two touchdowns, setting career bests in yardage, completions, and completion percentage (79.3%) while playing turnover-free football for the second week in a row. He also threw for the most yards by a Warrior since Will Fish threw for 336 yards against Wilkes in a 2023 contest.
Meanwhile, the Defensive Athlete honoree, Atsou, led the Warriors with nine tackles, while also recording a tackle for loss, recovering a fumble, and breaking up two passes, leading a Lycoming defense that forced two turnovers and tallied four sacks and nine tackles for loss.
On the season, Lyons has thrown for 1,370 yards, eight touchdowns, and six interceptions, while completing 59% of his passes and throwing for multiple touchdowns in three separate games. Atsou leads the Landmark Conference in tackles (70) and is second in tackles for loss (13.5), while adding one sack, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and a blocked kick this season. He has also racked up double-digit tackles twice this year.
This is the second week in a row with a pair of conference award winners for the Warriors, after first year Yahseam Stokes (Philadelphia, Pa. / MaST Community Charter) earned the Defensive Athlete award and senior Ryan Pentz (Mill Hall, Pa. / Central Mountain) took Specialist of the Week honors on Oct. 20. Earlier in the season, junior Terrence Oliver (Sharon Hill, Pa./Academy Park) earned Offensive Athlete of the Week on Sept. 22 and Oct. 7, and first-year Christon Mitchell-Brown (Philadelphia, Pa. / Archbishop Ryan) was Defensive Athlete of the Week on Oct. 7.
The Warriors will hit the road for their penultimate game of the season, going to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Nov. 1 for a Landmark Conference tilt against the Catholic University of America, which will get underway at 12 p.m.
