DC's Longsdorf and Hedderly Recognized by D3football.com

MINNEAPOLIS – For the second time this season, D3football.com has named a member of the Defiance College football squad to its Team of the Week for their performance on the gridiron. DC's Kyle Longsdorf and Austin Hedderly were each honored following a 22-14 victory over Mount St. Joseph.

Longsdorf led Defiance in tackles for the sixth-straight game with 16 stops, while adding a sack, two tackles for negative yardage, a quarterback hurry and two passes defended. The senior strong safety also hauled in a potential game-saving interception with 1:19 left in the game.

Along with earning a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week, Longsdorf is the reigning Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, leads the HCAC with 78 tackles and ranks third in the nation with 15.6 stops per contest.

Hedderly was equally effective in DC's win over the Lions, as the senior defensive tackle notched a pair of sacks to go with six tackles and a pass breakup. Hedderly's sack on MSJ's final series helped to stall the last scoring chance for the Lions.

Hedderly joined Longsdorf on the D3football.com Team of the Week for the first weekly award of his collegiate career, after climbing to second in the HCAC with five sacks. Hedderly trails fellow DC lineman, Joemese Scott's, tally of seven for the conference and team leads, with the duo helping Defiance rank 25th in the nation with 3.2 sacks per game.

The efforts of Longsdorf and Hedderly fueled a dominant defensive showing for the Purple and Gold, as Defiance limited Mount St. Joseph to just three rushing yards and 1.8 yards per snap during the second half.

Defiance (2-3, 2-1 HCAC) will be in action on Saturday, when it plays at Earlham (0-6, 0-4 HCAC) in a 1:30 pm start.