Bruno Honored as NWC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Harmon Bruno (Danville, CA/San Ramon Valley HS), a senior outside linebacker at Willamette University, has been selected as the Northwest Conference Football Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week for his performance in WU's season opener against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday, Sept. 3. UW-Stevens Point, ranked #23 in the D3football.com Top 25 Preseason Poll, held off the Bearcats in a defensive battle, 8-6.

Bruno led the Bearcats with 12 total tackles against the Pointers, as he achieved six unassisted tackles and six assists. He also registered one tackle for a loss.

Strengthened by Bruno's solid play, Willamette limited UW-Stevens Points to just 204 total yards. The Bearcats gave up less than four yards per running play (43 for 168, 3.9 avg.) and held UWSP to 36 passing yards. The Pointers recorded only nine first downs and did not produce a touchdown.

UW-Stevens Point achieved its scoring on a first-half field goal, plus a safety and another field goal in the second half. Jamiere Abney (Sr., TB, Bremerton, WA/Bremerton HS) scored a rushing touchdown for Willamette with 27 seconds left in the game, but the Bearcats' successful two-point conversion pass was nullified by a penalty when wide receiver Jake Knecht (Jr., Issaquah, WA/Skyline HS/Illinois State Univ.) stepped out of bounds and then back in-bounds before making the catch.

UWSP moved to 1-0. Willamette, which received points in the D3football.com Preseason Poll but was not in the Top 25, dropped to 0-1.

The Bearcats will host #9-ranked Hardin-Simmons University (Texas) this weekend on Saturday, Sept. 10. Game time at McCulloch Stadium is set for 1:30 p.m. (PDT). Hardin-Simmons, 1-0 on the season, defeated Coe College (Iowa), 44-14, in its season opener.