(Posted October 15, 2001)

Huntingdon, Pa. - Juniata College junior wide receiver Nate Leach (Shade/Central City) was named to the national D3Football.Com Team of the Week, while freshman quarterback Greg Troutman (Meyersdale/Meyersdale) and senior inside linebacker Josh Seiders (Wyomissing/Wyomissing Hills) received honors from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Troutman was the ECAC Southeast Division III Offensive Player of the Week. Seiders picked up ECAC Southeast Division III recognition as an honor roll performer.

Leach, Troutman and Seiders led Juniata to its greatest come-from-behind victory in the history of the College Hill football program on Saturday during its 39-35 win at home over Moravian. Juniata was down, 35-6, with 3:50 left in the third quarter before tallying 33 unanswered points. No Eagle team has come back from a larger deficit to win a game.

A 23-yard reception by Leach with 39 seconds remaining in regulation completed Saturday's come-from-behind effort. He caught a career-best 13 passes (just one shy of the Juniata single-game record) for a personal-high 206 yards (the seventh-highest total in blue and gold annals). He hauled in scoring strikes of 31 and 23 yards on the day. His 31-yard snag came in the third quarter and pulled the Eagles to within, 35-19.

For the year, Leach leads Juniata in receptions (30), receiving yards (437) and touchdown receptions (three). He is averaging 87.4 receiving yards a game and 14.6 yards per catch.

Troutman completed 27 of 64 pass attempts and threw for a personal-best 432 yards, including 271 in the second half. He also ran for a season-high 108 yards on 15 carries and all 108 came in the third and fourth quarter. Troutman was responsible for all five Juniata touchdowns and all five came in the second half of the outing. His 54-yard sprint for a score at the 3:14 mark of the third quarter ignited the 33-point explosion by the Eagles. He later led Juniata on a 12-play, 95-yard game-winning scoring drive following a blocked field goal by the Eagle defense. Troutman hit Leach with his third touchdown pass of the day with a 23-yard score with 39 seconds to play to cap the long drive that started with 2:21 remaining. Juniata was out of time outs when the contest-clinching drive opened. His other scoring strikes covered 31 and 56 yards, while his second touchdown run went for 14 yards in the early stages of the fourth quarter. Overall, he had 540 yards in total offense.

For the year, he has completed 110 of 243 attempts for 1,170 yards (234 per game). Troutman has also thrown seven touchdown passes and scored three times on the ground.

Seiders led the Eagle defense in tackles for the fifth consecutive week. He posted 16 stops on Saturday, including five solo efforts. He also had two tackles for lost yardage, a quarterback sack, an interception and a forced fumble. His sack, interception and forced fumble all occurred during the Eagle comeback. The pick by Seiders, which came at the Moravian 26, changed the battle of field position for Juniata and led to a score by the Eagles that made it 35-27. Two Moravian possessions later, Seiders forced a Greyhound fumble and four plays later, the Eagles were back in the end zone and down by just two points, 35-33, with 7:05 to go. His defensive unit also stoned Moravian inside the Juniata 10-yard line with a little two minutes to play and forced a field-goal attempt that was blocked by the blue and gold.

For the season, Seiders has 76 tackles (an average of 15.2 a game), including 26 solo efforts. He has posted 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage, five sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery and three forced fumbles.

Juniata is currently 2-3 overall and 2-3 in the MAC. The Eagles will travel to Lebanon Valley on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. conference tilt.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.