FOREST, Va. – Guilford College’s Matt Pawlowski (Greensboro, N.C./Northwest Guilford) was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Offensive Football Player of the Week for the second time this season Sunday. The announcement marks the sophomore’s fifth weekly honor of his career.
A 6-2, 190-pound quarterback, Pawlowski engineered one of the biggest comebacks in college football history in Guilford’s 35-31 league win over Emory & Henry College Nov. 16. The Wasps scored on the second-half’s opening possession to take a commanding 31-0 lead with 9:21 left in the third quarter.
Pawlowski led the Quakers to their first touchdown on the ensuing possession, triggering a string of five straight touchdowns. His passing fourth score of the game, a 42-yard pass to Adam Smith (Mocksville, N.C./Davie), came with 19.7 seconds left in the game and capped the improbable victory. The triumph marked Guilford’s school-record fifth ODAC win of the year and sealed the Quakers’ first winning campaign (6-4) since 2007.
Pawlowski completed a career-high 37 passes in 52 attempts for 358 yards and four scores without an interception. He also ran for a team-high 22 yards on eight carries and accounted for 380 total offensive yards. Pawlowski completed over 71 percent of his passes in his third 300-yard passing game of the season. His 37 completions stand 10th in school history.
For the season, Pawlowski passed for a league-high 24 touchdowns, fifth-highest in school history, and three interceptions. He completed 190-of-308 passes for 2,373 yards. His 61.7 pass completion percentage ranks second in school history. Pawlowski was also the Quakers’ second-leading rusher this year with 251 yards that gave him 2,624 total offensive yards, the ODAC’s fourth-highest figure.
Coach Chris Rusiewicz’s Quakers finished second in the ODAC with a 5-2 record. Guilford enjoyed its first 4-0 ODAC start in school history and is slated to return as many as 18 starters in 2014.