Experience matters when the lights shine brightest. For Western Colorado fifth-year senior quarterback Josiah Roy, that experience was the ultimate separator when his team needed it most.
The product of Colorado Springs’ Pine Creek High School turned in a masterclass of poise, efficiency, and clock management under the Saturday afternoon lights in Gunnison, guiding the Mountaineers past the rival Colorado School of Mines Orediggers for a statement 41-20 victory. GAME RECAP
The triumph propelled Western Colorado into the RMAC title game, and Roy’s stellar orchestrating of the offense has officially earned him the prestigious Player of the Week honor from the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. NFFCC RELEASE
Roy sliced through the Orediggers’ defensive front with surgical precision, completing 21 of 39 pass attempts for 305 yards and two touchdowns. But numbers alone only tell half the story of a performance defined by situational mastery.
Striking Fast, Controlling Slow
The Mountaineers’ signal-caller established an explosive tone early in the contest. When Western needed quick points, Roy delivered in rapid fashion—sparking the offense with a lightning-quick, 3-play, 88-yard touchdown drive in the opening half, followed swiftly by a surgical 4-play, 65-yard march to keep the Orediggers on their heels.
If the first half showcased Roy’s arm strength and big-play capability, the second half demonstrated a veteran’s unmatched command of the tempo. Nursing a commanding lead, Roy and the Mountaineer offense completely drained the life—and the clock—out of the game. They orchestrated back-to-back, soul-crushing 10-play touchdown drives that chewed up massive yardage—marching 92 and 75 yards, respectively—to thoroughly ice the victory over Colorado Mines.
By mixing short, rhythm-building completions with timely runs and flawless execution on third downs, Roy ensured that the Orediggers’ offense spent most of the second half watching from the sideline.
A Fitting Accolade for a Local Standout
For a local product who starred locally at Pine Creek High before taking the reins in Gunnison, the NFF Colorado Chapter honor recognizes a career built on resilience and leadership. Guiding a program to a conference championship showdown requires a quarterback who can both accelerate the pace when momentum is needed and lock down the game when victory is in sight.
On a crisp afternoon in the Rocky Mountains, Josiah Roy did both to perfection—cementing his legacy in the crimson and slate and bringing home well-deserved statewide hardware. He is the seventh Mountaineer to be recognized as the NFFCC POW since the start of the program in 2002. Overall, a Western Colorado player has been recognized nine times, including for POW honors for Drew Nash, who Roy replaced as the Mountaineer quarterback this season.
Joining Roy as nominees for this week’s NFFCC award were:
- Frank Acuri, quarterback, Adams State
- Evan Medders, quarterback, Air Force
- Gideon ESPN Lampron, linebacker, Colorado
- Carter Daniels, linebacker, CSU Pueblo
- Solomon Latimer, wide receiver, Fort Lewis
The NFF Colorado Chapter board of directors and representatives from College Sports Communicators at the 10 schools that compete in college football in Colorado will vote to determine the ninth POW recipient this season.
Linebacker Carter Daniels (September 1) and quarterback Navi Bruzon (September 15) from Colorado State Pueblo, quarterback Hauss Hejny (September 8 and October 27) from Colorado State, quarterback Joseph Capra (September 22 and October 20) and running back Max Barnes (October 6) of Colorado School of Mines, and quarterbacks Liam Szarka (September 29), Evan Medders (October 13), and Kemper Hodges (November 3) of the United States Air Force Academy were the first nine NFFCC recipients.
Here are this week’s nominees presented to Sarah Meier, coordinator of the Colorado Chapter’s POW program. PAST RECIPIENTS
- Arcuri, a junior from Sacramento, Calif., generated 288 yards of total offense and scored twice on the ground as Adams State fell 42-34 to New Mexico Highlands. He threw for 212 yards without an interception and rushed for 76 yards on 14 carries. His 19- and 25-yard touchdown runs helped the Grizzlies take a second-quarter lead and build a 10-point advantage after halftime.
- The sophomore quarterback from Maxhaw, N. C., rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in the Falcons’ 24-21 win at Army to win the Commander-in-Chief Trophy for the first time since 2022. Medders recorded career highs in every passing category, hitting 6-8 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown with a long of 25 yards. Medders scored his touchdown to extend Air Force’s lead to a two-score game, 17-7. He threw his touchdown pass, hitting tight end Simon Kibbee from 24 yards to give Air Force the lead for good, 24-21. The touchdown drive was key, not only to giving Air Force the lead, but also because it came after Army scored on two straight possessions to take its first lead of the game. Medders picked up six first downs in addition to his two touchdowns. Air Force’s passing was the difference in the game, helping the Falcons beat Army to secure a record 22nd CIC trophy title. Medders returned from injury after missing last week’s UConn game.
- A fifth-year senior from LaGrange, Ohio, Lampron recorded 18 total tackles (3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks) in the Buffs’ 20-10 setback to Arizona State in Tempe, the most of any Big 12 player in a game this season. He leads the Big 12 with 99 tackles, 11.0 per game, and has 16 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. He is the first inside linebacker to have more than 3 tackles for loss in back-to-back games since Nate Landman in 2020, and he’s the first player to have consecutive multiple-sack games in 33 years since 1993. He’s hit double figures in tackles in five straight games and hit a new career high in four straight, a stretch where he has 61 total tackles, 15.3 per game, 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in those four games. For the second straight game, he had all three tackles in a defensive 3-and-out for the Buffs, something that hadn’t happened since 2019, prior to last week.
- The sophomore from Centennial, Colo., and Mountain Vista High recorded nine total tackles, including three solo stops, and added 1.5 tackles for a loss and one quarterback hurry in the shutout win over the Hardrockers. Daniels and the Pack defense pitched their first shutout of the season against the Hardrockers, holding them to 193 yards of offense on 60 plays and an average of 3.2 yards per game. South Dakota Mines was held to 29 yards rushing on 24 carries, averaging 1.2 yards per carry, and passed for 164 yards. The Pack also held South Dakota Mines’ running back Dawson Dunbar to just 11 yards rushing on nine carries. Dunbar entered the game as the RMAC’s leading rusher, averaging 92.3 yards per game. The Pack also forced SD Mines into a season-high three turnovers (2 interceptions, one fumble). The Hardrockers entered the game with two turnovers on the season. Daniels’ play helped the Pack to its 33rd consecutive RMAC victory, which is tied for the longest conference win streak in school history, while the Pack also extended its NCAA Division II-leading road winning streak to 20 straight games and pushed its regular-season winning streak to 19 consecutive contests.
- A junior from Colorado Springs Doherty High, Latimer caught five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown in Fort Lewis’ 30-13 setback to Colorado Mesa in Durango.
- The fifth-year senior from Colorado Springs Pine Creek High led the Mountaineers into the RMAC title game by completing 21 of 39 passes for 305 yards and two scores in Western Colorado’s 41-20 win over Colorado Mines in Gunnison. Roy led Western to 3-play (88 yards) and 4-play (65 yards) TD drives in the first half, then controlled the clock in the second half with back-to-back 10-play TD drives that marched 92 and 75 yards to ice the win over the Orediggers.
