Area colleges went 3-for-3 in producing offensive players of the week for their respective conferences.

A weekend filled with big offensive statistics started last Thursday, when Lake Erie College running back Anthony Bilal rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in 36-33 loss to Gannon. On Tuesday, Bilal, a Riverside graduate, received Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Bilal's yardage total is the second highest in LEC history. Kameron Alexander rushed for 214 yards against Tiffin on Nov. 6, 2010. Bilal, a Riverside graduate, had an electrifying 71-yard touchdown run with less than five minutes remaining against Gannon.

Quarterbacks Ray Russ of Notre Dame College and Mark Myers of John Carroll also started 2013 with big games.

Russ, a South graduate, received the first ever Mountain East Conference Offensive Player of the Week award by completing 27 of 38 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-31 victory over Malone. The yardage total is a career high for Russ.

Myers, the Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, also produced huge passing numbers, completing 26 of 41 passes for a school-record 526 yards in a 41-0 victory over St. Norbert in Chicago. Myers, who threw four touchdown passes, held the previous record of 474 yards, a total he reached Oct. 12, 2012 against Muskingum. John Carroll started playing football in 1920, meaning it takes some huge numbers to hold the top two spots on any school-record list.

Bilal is a sophomore. Russ and Myers are juniors.

Perhaps last week's performances -- and this week's awards -- are harbingers for huge seasons from the second-year starters.

-- Guy Cipriano | @newsheraldguy