KANSAS CITY, Mo. -  Gunner Yates of Southern Oregon has been named the NAIA Football Offensive Player of the Week, Parker Fryar of Northwestern (Iowa) has been named the NAIA Football Defensive Player of the Week and Cole Thompson, Friends (Kan.) has been named the NAIA Football Special Teams Player of the Week.  The trio was selected based on their performances from September 16-22 and were chosen out of a pool of conference/Continental Athletic Conference (Independents)/unafilliated group nominees. 

Players of the Week are announced weekly throughout the regular-season on Mondays on naia.org, Instagram and X.

X - @NAIA
Instagram - @PlayNAIA

NAIA Football Offensive Player of the Week

Gunner Yates, Southern Oregon - SO - Running Back

• Rushed 31 times for 293 yards and had the first 4 touchdowns for SOU in their upset of 9th ranked College of Idaho
• His rushing yardage total was the highest for any Raider since 2003 
• He now leads the NAIA in rush yards/game (160) and ranks 2nd in rushing TDs (9) 

NAIA Football Defensive Player of the Week

Parker Fryar, Northwestern (Iowa) - SR - Linebacker

• Was a force defensively, totaling 12 tackles with one interception and a tackle for loss
• Has reached double figures in tackles in back-to-back weeks 
• Currently sits tied for second in the conference in tackles per game (9.7)

NAIA Football Special Teams Player of the Week

Cole Thompson, Friends (Kan.) - SO - Kicker

• Nailed the biggest kick of his career by hitting a 40-yard walk-off field goal to give the the Falcons their first victory over Kansas Wesleyan in a decade 
• Was two-of-three on field-goal attempts and made both of his extra-point attempts
• Averaged 59.8 yards on five kickoffs, including one touchback

For a full archive of the 2024 NAIA Football Players of the Week, click HERE