WATCH NCAA II FOOTBALL TOP PLAYS OF THE WEEK
INDIANAPOLIS --- The honors keep rolling in for Tusculum University's Lor'renzo Pratt as his 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Saturday's win over Carson-Newman was named the NCAA Division II Football Play of the Week.
In the second quarter with the Pioneers' trailing 14-7 following a Carson-Newman touchdown, Pratt took the kickoff from his own 9-yard line and was met at the 27-yard line by a scrum of Tusculum and C-N players. As the video showed, Pratt bounced off the pile of humanity, broke to his right and sprinted down the sideline for the eighth-longest kickoff return in Tusculum history.
Pratt's kickoff return was voted the top play by the NCAA, beating out several outstanding nominees including Malik Brown's (Henderson State) 100-yard interception return for a TD; Jay Edwards' (Tarleton State) diving interception catch off a deflection; James Brania-Hopp's (Washburn) one-handed TD reception; and Justin Brown's (Emporia State's) end of the game field goal block to send the game into overtime.
The play was captured on video by the production duo of Bryson Ford and Trey Hinton (both members of the TU baseball team) on the Pioneer Sports Network.
Pratt, a senior from Cocoa, Florida, rushed for a career-high 151 yards and rushed for three 4th quarter touchdowns in Tusculum's 41-28 South Atlantic Conference win on Saturday. He finished the game with four touchdowns including his 91-yard kickoff return to the end zone in the second quarter. He scored on runs of 1, 47 and 1 yards in the final 12 minutes for the Pioneers.
Pratt finished the game with 262 all-purpose yards (151 rushing, 12 receiving, 99 return) which is the seven-highest in a TU game in program history. His four touchdowns are tied with four other players for the second-most in school history.
Tusculum (5-3) returns to action this Saturday when they travel to VMI for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff against the NCAA-FCS Keydets.
NCAA II Football Plays of the Week (Week 9)
1. Tusculum's Lor'renzo Pratt's 91-yd kickoff return for a TD
2. Henderson State's Malik Brown's 100-yd interception return for a TD
3. Tarleton State's Jay Edwards' diving interception catch off a deflection
4. Washburn's James Brania-Hopp's one-handed TD catch
5. Emporia State's Justin Brown's end of the game FG block