Houston nets AstroTurf SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors in first career start

VIDEO: Alonzo Houston Interview

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Linebacker Alonzo Houston (Wimauma, Fla.) only needed one start to make an immediate impact on the field. 

Now, the freshman has earned AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week honors from the league office, the conference announced Monday, following his performance in the Eagles' 31-14 win on ESPN 3 over Wingate.

"It feels good to be recognized," Houston said. "This only motivates me to do more. I want to keep working to become better to play better than the previous game."

Houston is the second player in as many weeks to be recognized by the league office.  Antonio Wimbush (Kingsland, Ga.) landed offensive player of the week honors last week after scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 184 yards against Virginia Union. 

He is Carson-Newman's first defensive player of the week from the league office since defensive back Jason Williams earned the honor following the Eagles' penultimate regular season game in 2015.  Williams had five tackles and a pick six against North Greenville that week. 

Houston led Carson-Newman's defense with nine tackles, two tackles and a pick. He was an instrumental part of a unit that held Wingate to an eight-possession series where the Bulldogs picked up six three-and-outs and were intercepted (once by Houston) twice.

The Eagles limited the Bulldogs to just 66 yards rushing, less than half their season average.  They also held the SAC's second-leading rusher Dom McNeil to 79 yards on 20 carries. He entered the game averaging 119 yards on the ground. 

Houston and the rest of the Eagles will be in action this week at Newberry.  Kickoff from the Palmetto State is set for 1 p.m.  Pregame coverage for the contest starts at noon on the Eagle Sports Network on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live