This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include WR Anthony Warrum of Illinois State, DE Andrew Van Ginkel of South Dakota, PK Zak Kennedy of Youngstown State and QB Aaron Bailey of UNI.
Offense
WR Anthony Warrum, Illinois State, 6-2, 190, Jr., Fishers (Ind.) Heritage Christian High
Warrum set a career-high with 241 yards receiving on eight receptions and tied his career-best with three touchdown catches for the Redbirds against the Jackrabbits. He averaged 30 yards per grab in the game and upped his season touchdown receptions total to 13, tying him for first on the ISU single-season list with Rickey Garrett (1998). He also moved over 1,000 yards receiving on the season (1,031), making him just the seventh player in school history to eclipse that mark and the third in the last two seasons for ISU. Warrum had touchdown grabs of five yards, 70 yards and 14 yards, respectively, all from QB Tre Roberson.
Defense
DE Andrew Van Ginkel, South Dakota, 6-4, 230, R-Fr., Rock Valley (Iowa) High
Van Ginkel had a sack, forced a fumble, and recovered two fumbles in Saturday's win against Southern Illinois. His strip sack and recovery set up a 44-yard touchdown drive for the Coyotes' first score of the game. He recovered a fumble on the SIU 19 with 5:21 remaining that preceded the game-winning touchdown. He was credited with 3 solo tackles and also had a QB hurry. The win for USD was the 200th victory in coach Joe Glenn's career and lifted the Coyotes to 5-4, ensuring their best overall record since joining the MVFC in 2012.
Special Teams
PK Zak Kennedy, Youngstown State, 6-0, 160, Fr., Youngstown (Ohio) Cardinal Mooney
Kennedy made a pair of field goals and was 5-of-6 on PAT attempts in the Penguins’ impressive 47-7 win over Missouri State. He made field goals of 20 and 43 yards in the game. His 43-yard kick in the fourth quarter was his 17th field goal made of the season, tying the school record for most in a season. It is the seventh time in school history a kicker has made 17 FGs in a season. The only non-playoff season in which a kicker made 17 field goals was Paul McFadden in 1982.
Newcomer
QB Aaron Bailey, UNI, 6-2, 226, Jr., Bolingbrook (Ill.) High/Illinois
Bailey had his hand in five of UNI's eight TDs in the Panthers' 59-13 rout against #23 Indiana State. He rushed for four touchdowns, tying the school record in total touchdowns in a game and rushing touchdowns in a game. He is the first Panther to rush for four touchdowns since 2010 when Tirrell Rennie accomplished the feat against Illinois State. The Bolingbrook, Ill. native finished the game against Indiana State with 54 yards on the ground along with his four scores, adding 114 passing yards (8-13-0, 114 yards) including a passing touchdown to Charles Brown for 10 yards in the fourth quarter.
OTHERS NOMINATED:
OFFENSE
QB Easton Stick, NDSU -- Directed the Bison to more than 500 yards of total offense for the second straight week in the 59-7 win over Western Illinois. Stick was 12 of 20 passing for 197 yards with four touchdowns to four different receivers. He also ran nine times for 86 yards averaging 9.6 yards per carry..
WR Billy Reed, SIU -- Had 142 receiving yards on five catches. Reed averaged 28.4 yards per catch and had a 79-yard touchdown reception. His 142 yards were the most for SIU since 2010.
QB Ryan Saeger, USD -- Threw a career-best three TD passes, including a game-winning 5-yard strike to tight end Aaron Ramsey on 4th-and-goal with 3:09 remaining. Saeger was 26 of 39 for 269 yards. He also ran for 48 and scored on a quarterback sneak in the first quarter.
WR Jake Wieneke, SDSU -- Caught four passes for 104 yards and two TDs in South Dakota State’s 25-20 victory over Illinois State. Wieneke’s touchdown receptions covered 14 and 74 yards and he topped the 1,000-yard mark in receiving yards for the second consecutive season on his season-long TD reception.
QB Hunter Wells, YSU -- Threw for 241 yards completing 15-of-25 passes for 241 yards and three TDs with one interception in a 47-7 win over Missouri State. He had passing scores of 6, 10 and 72 while passing for more than 200 yards in a game for the fourth time this year. Wells played just the first three quarters.
DEFENSE
LB Lee Wright, YSU -- Had nine stops, including eight solos, in the Penguins’ 47-7 win over Missouri State. In the past two games, Wright has 23 tackles, 21 of which have been solo stops. Against the Bears, he forced a fumble and had a pass breakup as well.
LB T.J. Lally, SDSU -- Lally registered a team-high nine tackles to spearhead a Jackrabbit defense that held Illinois State in check en route to a 25-20 victory on Nov. 7. He added a pass breakup and QB hurry.
S Alec Kocour, ILS -- Intercepted a pair of passes and finished the game with six tackles, four of which were solo stops, against SDSU. He was also credited with a quarterback hurry in the contest and his two interceptions gave him the team lead in that category with three on the season.
OLB Chase Allen, SIU -- Had a game-high 13 tackles in SIU’s game on Saturday. Allen had a six-yard sack as one of his seven solo tackles against South Dakota. Allen ranks 12th nationally and third in the MVFC in tackles per game (11.3), and he has double-digit tackles in seven of the last eight games.
LB Nick DeLuca, NDSU -- Had a team-high eight tackles including a sack in the 59-7 win over Western Illinois. He also had one of NDSU’s seven QB hurries as the Bison defense held Western Illinois to 205 total yards and nine first downs. WIU had just 1 yard rushing by halftime and finished with 33.
DL Karter Schult, UNI -- Led the Panthers in tackles in UNI’s win against #23 Indiana State. He racked up seven total tackles, including 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. The junior leads the league in sacks and tackles for loss and with his 1.5 sacks he is now tied for seventh all-time at UNI for sacks in a season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Cam Pedersen, NDSU -- Was 8 of 8 on PAT kicks and 1 of 1 on FGs in North Dakota State’s 59-7 home win over Western Illinois. His 32-yard field goal after the Bison forced a fumble gave NDSU a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and snapped a streak of three straight field goal misses over the previous three games.
DL Drew Iddings, USD --- Blocked what would have been a game-tying, 51-yard field goal attempt with 46 seconds remaining to preserve the Coyotes’ 34-31 win against Southern Illinois. Defensively, Iddings had six tackles, a sack and forced the fumble the preceded the Coyotes’ game-winning touchdown.
NEWCOMER
DE Andrew Van Ginkel, USD -- won Defensive Player of the Week
PK Zak Kennedy, YSU -- won Special Teams Player of the Week
LB Riggs Baxter, WIU -- Making his first collegiate start at linebacker, the true-freshman made a career-high 13 tackles. He had a total of nine tackles in his seven games played entering the contest.
QB Taryn Christion, SDSU -- Accounted for 372 yards of total offense and three touchdowns as South Dakota State knocked off second-ranked Illinois State, 25-20. Christion, who entered the game on the Jackrabbits’ third offensive series, completed 15-of-30 passes for 307 yards and gained 65 yards on nine carries. He threw TD passes of 14 and 74 yards and had a 10-yard touchdown run.
QB Easton Stick, NDSU -- also nominated at Offensive Player of the Week
RB Jonathan Mixon, SIU -- Had 98 yards on just eight carries for SIU on Saturday. Mixon broke off a 62-yard run that set up a Saluki touchdown and nearly became the third Saluki freshman this year with a 100-yard rushing game (Daquan Isom, Chris Perkins).
