November 22, 2021

IRVING, Texas – For the second-straight week, East Carolina freshman Owen Daffer has been named the American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player-of-the-Week, while junior Holton Ahlers was selected to the Honor Roll according to an announcement by the league office Monday.
 
Daffer earned his second consecutive honor after hitting on a 54-yard game-winning field goal as time expired lifting ECU to a 38-35 win over Navy. The three-pointer, a career-long, was the longest game-winning field goal made in program history besting the previous mark of 47 set by Chuck Berleth in 1986 against Georgia Southern.
 
The Wilmington, N.C. native, who tied his career-high in points (12), logged his fourth multi-field goal contest connecting from 37, 25 and 54 yards. He has scored double-digit points in a game four times and has made at least one field goal in eight consecutive games heading into the season finale against Cincinnati.
 
Ahlers garnered his third league selection of the year after completing 27-of-32 passes for a season-high 405 yards with three touchdowns. He tossed the game-tying touchdown pass with 5:01 to go and then connected on a 46-yard strike under a minute to play setting up Daffer’s game-winning field goal. For his play at Navy, Ahlers was one of eight quarterbacks named to the Manning Award Stars of the Week and was an College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Honorable Mention selection.  
 
The Greenville, N.C. native, who also rushed for 48 yards, tallied 453 total yards and moved into fourth place on The American’s all-time list with 11,280. Ahlers opened the game completing his first seven passes for 133 yards and a score, which was a 40-yard TD strike to Tyler Snead, moving him into third place on the AAC all-time completions list with 793.
 
ECU (7-4, 5-2 AAC) will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 26 when it plays host to No. 4 Cincinnati (11-0, 7-0 AAC). Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. (EST) and will be aired on ABC.

COURTESY EAST CAROLINA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS