Beaver freshman named In The Huddle Rookie of the Season

In The (D3FB) Huddle has named Bluffton University football player Montez Archer Jr. (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) its Rookie of the Season.

The HCAC Defensive Player, Special Teams Player and Newcomer of the Year was recently honored by the In The (D3FB) Huddle podcast for his outstanding season. Members of the podcast were stunned to find out that Jr. was his name, not his class.

Archer kicked off 2021 with an otherwordly two-game stretch, picking off six passes in a span of eight days as the Beavers took down Manchester and Anderson to open Heartland Conference play.

He was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week twice, while earning HCAC Player of the Week three consecutive weeks. Archer's seven interceptions leads all of NCAA Division III for pickoffs. He is also tops in the country with 531 kickoff return yards and 234 punt return yards. His 21.3 yards per punt return is currently 3rd in the nation.

The sensational freshman moved into second place on the single-season interceptions list with the seven pickoffs and his 65 fumble return yards is already 2nd on the career list.

He led the Beavers and was second in the Heartland Conference with 54 total tackles, including 40 solo stops. Archer also broke up seven passes in addition to the seven interceptions and he chipped in with two TFL's.