After aiding the football team in a win against UC Davis Saturday, Nate Thellen is the center of local fanfare and has received several awards, including this week’s Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
The honors round out a strong week for Thellen, who received five other awards, including Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week, the Sports Network National Defensive Player of the week and the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. He was also one of this week’s Boston Herald’s Herald Heroes, in addition to being awarded the Boston Globe’s Gold Helmet Award, which is given each week to one New England player from a Football Championship Subdivision school and one player from a Division II or Division III college.
In the first win of the season for the Huskies, Thellen notched three interceptions against UC Davis. In Thellen’s final interception of the game in the fourth quarter, he ran from the NU 8-yard line for a 92-yard touchdown, putting the final touches on a 27-10 win.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Thellen said.
Thellen’s three interceptions are good enough for second-place in the Huskies’ record books, tying seven others. The last instance was from Matt Lanagan in 1988.
Thellan’s three interceptions accounted for half of the six Husky turnovers. The Huskies haven’t forced six turnovers in a single game since Nov. 23, 2002, when the Huskies recovered seven against the James Madison Dukes.
Thellen’s touchdown came late in the game, after a long series of challenges against the offense.
“I was a little tired,” Thellen said. “I found the energy, and along with some great blocking with the rest of the team, I was able to get down that sideline.”
Thellen is a sophomore criminal justice major, hailing from Brockton. Lettering in track and football at Brockton High School, Thellen went on to be captain of both teams. He was named an All-Scholastic by the Boston Herald and Brockton Enterprise for his academic and athletic prowess. In his senior year, Thellen was named a Big-Three All-Star selection for the year.
Thellen came to Northeastern in the fall of 2006, where he was a redshirt freshman. In the 2007 season, Thellen started at free safety in nine of the 11 games, finishing sixth overall on the team in total tackles. His first career interception came against Rhode Island last season on Nov. 17.
For the season, Thellen has accumulated 25 tackles, and two pass breakups in addition to the three interceptions earned last weekend. For his Northeastern career, Thellen has 77 tackles and 4 interceptions, with six pass breakups, in 15 total games played.
– Jason Woods,
News Correspondent
