Stevenson’s Burris goes deep to rally Florida A&M to victory

Stevenson High School product Armand Burris had a career day at wide receiver on Oct. 9, helping Florida A&M rally to a 28-27 win over Alabama State in Montgomery, Ala.

Entering the game with four catches for 26 yards over the Rattlers’ prior five games, the 6-foot-1, 194-pound sophomore exploded for 216 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions against Alabama State.

Helping A&M snap a four-game losing streak and earn its first conference victory, Burris was named Southwestern Athletic Conference offensive player of the week.

Alabama State led 27-14 in the fourth quarter before Burris struck with a pair of long receptions.

He caught Florida A&M quarterback Armond Parker’s pass at the Alabama State 46-yard line and ran it in for an 88-yard touchdown.

A little over five minutes later from the Rattlers’ own 11-yard line Parker again found Burris deep, hitting him at the Alabama State 45-yard line. The sophomore speedster took it in for an 89-yard touchdown, leading to Parker’s 2-point conversion pass for the win.

Usual suspect

Illinois Wesleyan junior Alysa Lawton (IC Catholic Prep), libero for the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s No. 1 women’s team in Division III, earned her third College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin defensive player of the week honor this season. Lawton was the first Titan woman to do that since the league split weekly offensive and defensive honors in 2004.

On the other side of the net, Wheaton College outside and right-side hitter Mary Patrick (Wheaton Academy) was the CCIW’s offensive player of the week. The 5-foot-9 sophomore helped beat Augustana College with 15 kills on 25 attempts without making an attacking error. Patrick added three digs and two blocks in the four-game match.

Momentum

Elsewhere at Wheaton College, the men’s golf team ended its fall schedule with momentum going into spring. Junior Freddie Chan (Wheaton Academy) earned the fall’s final CCIW men’s golfer of the week accolade.

The Wheaton Academy connection is strong with the Thunder. Chan’s round of 70 at the 21-team Benedictine Eagle Invite at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club tied him as medalist with three teammates including seniors Wyatt Brown and Luke Pringle, both Wheaton Academy graduates.

Brown was a two-time fall CCIW player of the week before Chan got it Oct. 8 by scoring two eagles and a birdie on the back nine at St. Andrews.

Low man

Oakton College sophomore golfer Matthew Halupka attended Notre Dame High School and lives in Des Plaines. He did the city and Oakton proud by setting program and Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) records in a round at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont.

Playing in an ISCC competition on par-71 Cog Hill No. 1, Halupka shot a 64 to record records both for the Owls program and for a conference match. The consistent Halupka scored 32s on both the front and back nines. He needed every stroke, as Elgin Community College sophomore Nooa Hakala (Huntley), runner-up that day, shot a 65.

Halupka finished the brief fall season as the Skyway Conference’s player of the year with an average score of 66.25, another conference record.

Dynasty

In other golf news, Aurora University won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference men’s golf title for a 10th straight year. The Spartans beat runner-up St. Norbert by 36 strokes over three rounds Oct. 10-12 at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.

All six Aurora golfers — including sophomore Brandon Burggraf (Geneva), freshman Trenton Kurtz (Stevenson) and junior Clay Heilman (St. Charles North) — earned all-conference honors with top-10 finishes.

Boomer

Illinois Wesleyan junior Matt Worthington (Lake Zurich) needed only two punts in the Titans’ 44-7 win Oct. 10 over Carroll University to land on D3football.com’s Team of the Week.

Earning his second Team of the Week notice, Worthington boomed punts of 67 and 66 yards against Carroll, the two longest punts of the season in the CCIW.

The previous week Worthington’s teammate, junior receiver Will Nazha (Barrington), was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week, as well as CCIW offensive player of the week. Nazha had nine receptions for 168 yards with touchdowns of 43 and 44 yards in a 34-14 win over Carthage.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com