Week 5: David Avit, Villanova

/

photo courtesy villanova athletics

Villanova University running back David Avit, a freshman who starred at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, has been named the DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Football Player of the Week after his career day carried the Wildcats to a 24-10 win over Long Island University this past Saturday.

Avit more than doubled the output of his first four collegiate games, setting career-highs with 24 carries for 160 yards and scoring his first collegiate touchdown on a five-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter as Villanova improved to 4-1, with its lone loss coming at Maryland.

Avit had carried just 24 times for 115 yards in the season’s first four games. He already was getting an increased workload against Long Island and then became the team’s primary rusher after teammate Isaiah Ragland (South Lakes) was sidelined by an injury midway through the game.

“I knew I had to instill confidence in myself,” Avit said. “Even though I’m a freshman, that doesn’t mean anything. I know I’ve got the size and I’ve got the speed and the coaches believe in me, so I just have to believe in myself. When I believe in myself, I don’t think anything can stop me.”

The victory was Villanova’s 19th consecutive against FCS regular season opponents and 12th consecutive win at home.

“A lot of people that didn’t see our young backs prior to this season thought that was going to be a big question mark for us,” Villanova Coach Mark Ferrante said. “I think the running backs now have proved to everybody they can play a little bit and it’s good to see.”

This week’s DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Football Player of the Week College Honor Roll:

  • Bucknell CB Aaron Davis (Friendship Collegiate) made two tackles, broke up one pass and returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown as the Bison beat Lehigh, 38-35 in overtime.

  • Frostburg State QB Myles Fulton (Old Mill) completed 18 of 27 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns as the Division II Bobcats beat FCS Mercyhurst, 25-24.

  • Navy QB Blake Horvath completed 9 of 11 passes for a career-high 225 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 84 yards and one touchdown as the Midshipmen improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2017 with a 41-18 win over UAB.

  • Shenandoah QB Steven Hugney (Robinson) completed 16 of 26 passes for 328 yards and five touchdowns as the Hornets beat Juniata, 62-27.

  • Stevenson DB Bryan Kelly (Clarksburg) made six tackles, broke up three passes and forced and recovered a fumble as the Mustangs beat Alvernia, 34-20.

  • Georgetown QB Danny Lauter completed 25 of 33 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 1 minute 10 seconds left, as the Hoyas beat Columbia, 20-17.

  • LSU LB Greg Penn III (DeMatha Catholic) made a career-high 14 tackles as the Tigers beat South Alabama, 42-10.

  • Shepherd LB JT Kouame-Yao (Westfield) made 13 tackles with 4 ½ tackles for loss and one sack as the Rams beat Shippensburg, 38-0.