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Meachum and Chestnut Earn National and Conference Honors Accolades
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Following a record setting Saturday in a 49-26 win over Bryant, Sacred Heart running backs Jordan Meachum and Julius Chestnut have been recognized with weekly awards on both a conference and national level.
Jordan Meachum – Senior
Northeast Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week
College Sports Madness - FCS National Offensive Player of the Week
College Sports Madness - Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Week
STATS FCS - Honorable Mention for National Offensive Player of the Week
CFPA FCS - Honotable Mention National Player of the Week
Julius Chestnut – First-Year
Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week
STATS FCS - Honorable Mention for National Rookie of the Week
Meachum broke the school record for rushing yards in a game with 318 yards on 23 carries, surpassing the previous benchmark of 302, set by Marvin Royal in 2000 against Iona. Meachum's 13.8 yards per carry also broke the school's single-game record of 13.1 (minimum 10 carries), set by Kiheme Cowan against Robert Morris in 1998. The 318 total yards also sits as the fourth-most in a single game in Northeast Conference history.
Meachum scored three touchdowns on the day, all of which came on the first play of drives. He got SHU on the board with a 40-yard run at 9:47 of the first quarter to tie the game 7-7. He added a 71-yarder at 6:00 of the second quarter, putting SHU up 27-14. He then put the exclamation point on his day with a 99-yard run to make it 47-20 at 13:26 of the fourth quarter. The run tied the longest play from scrimmage in NEC history and on that play, he became the first rusher in SHU history to eclipse the 300-yard plateau in a game, and the first player in NEC history to accomplish the feat in a conference matchup.
Meachum shares the NEC Offensive Player of the Week honor with Central Connecticut's Aaron Dawson, who rushed for a NEC record 361 yards and set a Division I record with 308 rushing yards in one half. Meachum's efforts earned him one of 12 honorable mentions from STATS FCS in its National Player of the Week balloting.
Chestnut scored three touchdowns while rushing for a career-best 166 yards on 13 carries. His 12.6 yards per carry is good enough for third-best in school history.
Chestnut scored a 75-yard TD run on his first carry of the game, knotting the score at 14 late in the first quarter. He added a 10-yard TD run to make it 20-14 SHU at 9:08 of the second quarter, and put SHU up 40-20 at 4:42 of the third quarter on a 61-yard scoring run. Chestnut also chipped in on special teams, forcing a fumble on the second half kickoff, which led to a SHU touchdown and made it a two-possession game early in the third quarter.
The Pioneers have now won nine weekly awards this season, with Chestnut and Meachum each having two to their credit.
Sacred Heart (5-3, 3-0 NEC) will host Robert Morris at Campus Field this Saturday at noon.
