The Utica University football team concluded the regular season in stellar fashion as of today, with the final D3football.com Team of the Week featuring SEVEN Pioneer players receiving recognition among Division III's top performers. Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley), Logan Frederick (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls), and the entire Pioneer offensive line (Mike Malzahn, Gavin Grech (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun), Carson Tessitore (East Islip, NY/East Islip), Adante Bianchino, and Aidan Olsen (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont)) were honored for having premier performances at each of their respective positions, placing nearly half of the starting lineup on D3football.com's last honor roll. Each of these players aided in the Pioneers' massive win over Brockport this past Saturday, as the team stormed back from a halftime deficit to win 28-20. For Douglas and the offensive line, this was their first honor of the season. For Frederick, the star tight end grabbed his third D3football.com Team of the Week honor of the 2025 season. 

The Pioneer offensive line delivered another outstanding performance in the orange and blue's amazing comeback win over Brockport, keeping a clean pocket as they allowed zero sacks and zero quarterback pressures, enabling quarterback Tyler Szalkowski (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) to throw for over 300 yards yet again. Utica's front five has been a major reason for the team's 5-game win streak, as they've yet to allow a quarterback sack since way back on October 4th against Cortland, five weeks prior to Saturday's game. The Pioneer offensive line has kept the pocket completely clean for over a month and a half running. 

Frederick was another benefactor of the offensive line, as he continued to be dominant in the Pioneer pass game. The Section III product ended up having another high-volume outing against Brockport as he racked up 11 catches for 92 yards, even while battling poor passing conditions against one of Division III's better secondaries. Frederick helped the Pioneers keep the ball moving in the second half, setting them up to come from behind and steal a 28-20 win in the final few minutes. 

On the other side of the ball, Douglas had an amazing weekend during the Pioneers' 28-20 comeback win on the road against Brockport. The stellar safety was everywhere on Saturday, wrapping up eight tackles (four solo), three pass breakups, and a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play from scrimmage to help cement the massive victory. Douglas led a defensive effort that held the Golden Eagles to just nine completions and exactly 100 passing yards during the regular season finale. He was also selected as the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week.

The Pioneers have placed more players on the D3football.com Team of the Week than nearly any other program in all of Division III this season. With today's trio, the team has now gathered eight different Team of the Week spots, garnered by 10 different orange and blue athletes. Here is a list of every Team of the Week recipient so far:

Logan Frederick (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 3
Tyler Szalkowski (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Isaiah Thomas (Kingston, NY/Kingston) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Jordyn Davis (Hempstead, NY/Uniondale) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Eli Douglas (Ausable Forks, NY/Ausable Valley) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Mike Malzahn - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Gavin Grech (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Carson Tessitore (East Islip, NY/East Islip) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Adante Bianchino - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1
Aidan Olsen (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont) - D3football.com Team of the Week: 1

The Pioneers will wrap up their season this Saturday when they face Rowan University in this year's Asa S. Bushnell Bowl. That game will be the first-ever postseason football matchup to take place at Gaetano Stadium, and will kick off at 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon.

Check out our game preview this Thursday at 12:30!