Weber State had two players earn player of the week honors and announced a new football rivalry trophy to begin the week.

Here’s more on Weber State sports this week.

REID, JONES WIN WEEKLY HONORS

Weber State football junior linebacker Winston Reid was named the FCS national defensive player of the week, as well as garnering the same honor from the Big Sky Conference, for his play in a 45-7 win over Idaho State on Saturday.

Reid had two sacks against Idaho State, forcing a fumble both times. The second was recovered by Garrett Beck and returned 66 yards for a touchdown. Reid also posted a team-high seven tackles, with four solo tackles. Reid is now second in the Big Sky with four forced fumbles.

STATS Perform is the entity that names players to national honors each week in FCS football.

Third-year men’s basketball forward Dillon Jones was named the Big Sky Conference’s first player of the week Tuesday after a stellar three games to open the college basketball season.

In three games against Washington, Western Colorado and Colorado State, Jones averaged 16.3 points, 11 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest while shooting 47% from the field and 80% from the free-throw line.

NEW FOOTBALL RIVALRY TROPHY

Southern Utah’s departure from the Big Sky put a pair of rivalries on ice, or at least on a pause (WSU has future games scheduled), with Weber State and Northern Arizona.

So Weber and NAU, having one of the most-played series in Big Sky football history, agreed to play for a rivalry trophy as the two teams will now be scheduled to play every season — starting with this week’s regular-season finale in Flagstaff.

The two schools announced the Red Rock Rivalry on Monday. The name apparently comes from the fact that a person driving from one school to the other would drive through the many red-rock regions of southern Utah and northern Arizona.

The two programs could not have played a more evenly matched football series to date; the Wildcats and Lumberjacks are 27-27 in the all-time matchup.

The trophy appears to be a pillar of sandstone, sculpted at the top to look like mountain peaks, fronted by a metal ledger where the winner of each year’s game will be inscribed.

8-WIN MARK ACHIEVED

Weber State football’s win over Idaho State got the Wildcats (8-2) to eight wins this season, a notable mark in the history of the program.

Head coach Jay Hill has now coached the Wildcats to eight wins in four seasons since taking over in 2014. Prior to that, WSU reached eight wins only five times from 1962 to 2013.

WSU is playing for nine wins this week at Northern Arizona, a mark achieved only five times in the program’s history — with three of those accomplished by Hill-coached teams.

SOFTBALL SCHEDULE RELEASED

Though the schedule is not listed on WSU’s website, Weber State softball posted a graphical schedule for the upcoming 2023 season on Instagram.

The post confirms previous reports that the Big Sky powerhouse will participate in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Classic, a prestigious in-season tournament hosted by the University of Oklahoma at the Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City where the Women’s College World Series is played each year. That’s scheduled for March 17-19.

As is usual, Weber State opens the first six or so weeks on the road with the weather as it is in Northern Utah. The Wildcats will play in five tournaments hosted by UNLV, Grand Canyon and Arizona State, Utah Tech, Arizona, and finally one from March 9-11 hosted by Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.

WSU opens its home slate with one nonconference game at Wildcat Softball Field, a March 15 game hosting New Mexico. Road games against Utah Valley and Utah conclude the nonconference schedule.

With SUU’s departure, the Big Sky softball conference has just six teams. WSU will host three of its five conference series at home, starting with Idaho State and Portland State at home to open conference play, and later hosting Northern Colorado. WSU plays Sacramento State and Montana on the road, concluding at Montana, before hosting the conference tournament in Ogden.

Each conference series will be three games over a Friday and Saturday each weekend.

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