Beaufort's Clark named National Division II Special Teams Player of the Week for Newberry

Newberry College punter Kyle Clark, a Beaufort High School graduate, has been named the Division II National Special Teams Player of the Week by D2Football.com, as announced Wednesday morning.

Clark was previously named the AstroTurf/South Atlantic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday.

The Beaufort native was spectacular in the Wolves' 38-31 conference-opening win over Tusculum, averaging 45.6 yards per punt on nine punts. He had two punts of over 60 yards in the game with a 66-yarder and a 64-yarder.

While his average was impressive, his ability to pin the Pioneers deep in their own territory was remarkable, as he had four punts downed inside the opposition's 5-yard line.

His 52-yarder with 36 seconds remaining in the first half pinned Tusculum at its own 1-yard line, where the Pioneers went three-and-out and shanked a rushed punt out of the endzone. Newberry would score from 24 yards out on its next play to tie the game at halftime 17-17.

His 32-yard punt that rolled dead at the Tusculum 2 with 13 seconds remaining in the game virtually eliminated any chance of a Tusculum comeback.

The preseason All-American ranks second in the SAC and sixth in Division II with a 44.1 season average and his career average of 40.3 yards per punt ranks him sixth amongst active Division II players.

He is Newberry's first Division II National Player of the Week since 2010 and just its fifth overall.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Beaufort's Clark named National Division II Special Teams Player of the Week for Newberry."