HCAC Awards Tietje Weekly Defensive Honor

GREENWOOD, Ind. Chris Tietje was named as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conferences Defensive Player of the week on Monday, as nominated by the leagues sports information directors and announced by the HCAC office.

Tietje brutalized the Tri-State offense all afternoon long, piling up 11 total tackles and three sacks to keep the Thunder out of the end zone until deep into the fourth quarter. Five of Tietjes 11 tackles came via the solo variety, with four resulting in negative yards. The trio of sacks represented a career high for the senior linebacker and resulted in 15 lost yards for TSU.

The Deshler, Ohio, native picked up five tackles in the first quarter and had eight to his credit heading into the final period. Tietje then notched all three sacks over the final 15 minutes as Defiance tried to hold off the surging Thunder offense.

Tietje is currently second among all HCAC players with three sacks, third with five hits for lost yardage and ranks 15th with 20 total tackles.

Tietje and Defiance will have this Saturday off, before returning to action on Sept. 29 with a home game against Manchester. Kick-off is set for 1:30 pm at Coressel Stadium.