Shope, Stripling earn SLIAC player of the week honors
Oct. 20, 2008

Junior wide receiver Colt Shope and sophomore kicker/punter Josh Stripling have earned St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the week honors announced by the conference office Monday. It is the first time the Panthers have had two players earn player of the week honors.

Shope (Easley, S.C./Easley) was the SLIAC football offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 13-19. He had career-highs of 131 yards rushing and 87 yards receiving in the Panthers 37-20 victory over Westminster College (Mo.). Shope averaged 21.8 yards on six rushing attempts, including a long rush of 63 yards, and had one touchdown. He also set school records for longest pass reception (77 yards), longest touchdown reception (77 yards) and yards per reception (29.0 yards). Shope finished the game with a career-high 233 all-purpose yards.

Stripling (Newnan, Ga./Newnan) was the SLIAC football special teams Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 13-19. This is the second straight week Stripling has earned the honor. He set a school record by going 3-for-3 in field goal attempts in the win over Westminster. Stripling tied his career-long with a 42-yard field goal. He was 4-of-4 on PAT attempts and had eight kickoffs for a total of 510 yards, including four touchbacks. In the last two games, Stripling has made five straight field goals.