Junior linebacker Brady Crenshaw earned the first Northwest Conference Defensive Athlete of the Week honors on Monday, announced by the conference office. The Lebanon, Oregon, native had a stellar debut to the season last Saturday against UW-Oshkosh, making 13 total tackles, eight of which were solo. 

The junior has competed in 20 total games for his career thus far, including 12 games a season ago. He entered last week with 18 total tackles for his career, and earned his first solo tackle for loss. A versatile player in multiple facets of the game, Crenshaw returned one kick against the Titans, taking it back 27-yards. One week into the season, Crenshaw will continue to be a huge piece of the Wildcat defense going forward, including the next game in two weeks where Linfield plays host to the Chapman Panthers. 

In the latest Division III football rankings, the Linfield football team fell to No.24 in the American Football Coaches Association rankings, while going unranked in the D3Football.com polls. The next matchup for the 'Cats comes on September 20, where the team hosts Chapman on Maxwell Field at 1 p.m.