This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include RB James Robinson of Illinois State; RB Pierre Strong Jr. of South Dakota State; SS Korby Sander of UNI; and PK Jerry Nunez of Indiana State.

Offensive Player of the Week
RB James Robinson, Illinois State
5-10, 220, Jr., Rockford, Illinois (Lutheran HS)
Junior running back James Robinson was nearly unstoppable in Illinois State’s 35-28 win over Youngstown State in the regular-season finale. The Rockford, Illinois, native rushed for a career-high 256 yards and scored twice to help give the Redbirds secure their ninth winning season in the last ten years. The 256 yards were the third-most by a Redbird back in a game in school history and it set a new Hancock Stadium record. Robinson averaged 11.1 yards per carry against the Penguins and scored touchdowns on runs of 37 and 7 yards, respectively. He missed the final 11 minutes of the game, after being injured on a 54-yard run that set up a touchdown by Kevin Brown with 11:06 left in the game.



Defensive Player of the Week
SS Korby Sander, UNI
6-0, 212, So., Belmond, Iowa (Belmond-Klemme HS)
Sander led the Panthers with 13 total tackles. He also forced a fumble and tallied an interception on the day to help lead UNI to its third shutout of the season. It is the first time since UNI has recorded three shutouts in one season since 1971 (Hampton and Indiana State were the others this year).



Special Teams Player of the Week
K Jerry Nunez, Indiana State
5-11, 185, Jr., Naples, Fla. (Naples HS)
Jerry Nunez drilled the game-winning kick as time expired against Western Illinois Saturday in Macomb to help the Sycamores to their fifth-straight Missouri Valley Football Conference victory. Battling rain and sleet throughout the game, Nunez connected on all three of his field goals -- 26 yards, 18 yards and the game winner from 27 yards. Nunez is now15-of-19 on the season on field goals and 40-of-41 on PAT attempts. 



Newcomer of the Week
RB Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State
5-11, 195, R-Fr., Little Rock, Ark. (McClellan HS)
Strong rushed 17 times for 253 yards (14.9 ypc) and scored three touchdowns as South Dakota State raced past in-state rival South Dakota, 49-27, on Nov. 17 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Strong opened the scoring with 30-yard touchdown run on the initial drive of the game and added a 73-yard scoring run later in the first quarter. He capped the scoring with a 46-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Strong’s 253 yards were the 10th-most in a game in school history. He has topped the century mark each of the last three weeks and now leads the team in rushing with 777 yards – 577 of which have come in November games.


OTHERS NOMINATED

Offense
RB Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State -- earned Newcomer of the Week honors

TB Tevin McCaster, Youngstown State -- Rushed for 142 yards and 33 carries in the Penguins' 35-28 loss at Illinois State. It was the final game of his career for McCaster who finished with 2,970 yards on 626 carries and had 36 touchdowns in his career.

RB Peterson Kerlegrand, Indiana State -- Had a career day for the Sycamores, surpassing career highs in carries and rushing yards after going for 102 yards on 21 carries for a 4.9 yards per carry average. Kerlegrand broke for a 31-yard rush in the second quarter, moving the Sycamores from their own goal line to setup a 99-yard scoring drive. He also went for 26-yards on the final drive of the game to setup the game-winning field goal. A credit to the ISU offensive line after Kerlegrand becomes the fourth different Sycamore to rush for over 100 yards this season.
 
QB Eli Dunne, UNI -- Dunne was 23-34 for 227 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. He moved to fourth all-time on the UNI touchdown pass list with his 50th touchdown pass. He didn’t throw an interception and was only sacked once on the day. He threw passes to six different receivers and was without TE Briley Moore (his top receiver) coming into the game.

QB Austin Simmons, South Dakota -- Simmons passed for 295 yards and two touchdowns and added 79 yards and two scores rushing against fifth-ranked South Dakota State Saturday in Brookings. He attempted 58 passes – second-most in program history – and completed 34. He surpassed Wesley Beschorner for the second-most yards thrown in a season in program history (3,124). It was also his first two-touchdown rushing game.

QB Easton Stick, North Dakota State -- Stick went 16 of 21 passing for a season-high 302 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for one TD in North Dakota State’s 65-17 victory over Southern Illinois. He completed passes to seven different receivers and led the Bison on four straight touchdown drives to open the game. He averaged 18.9 yards per completion ranks second nationally in that category.

QB Sean McGuire, Western Illinois -- completed 16-of-27 passes for 202 yards and also rushed for 18 yards.  He connected with five different receivers.


Defense
S Robbie Grimsley, North Dakota State -- Grimsley made his 15th and 16th career interceptions in North Dakota State’s 65-17 victory over Southern Illinois. He finished the game with three tackles and part of a defensive unit that forced three first-half turnovers and held SIU to a season-low 88 rushing yards. Grimsley is the new active career leader in FCS with 16 picks, which ranks second all-time at NDSU and seventh in conference history. 

LB Jonas Griffith, Indiana State -- Went for nine tackles (eight solo) in Saturday’s win against Western Illinois. The redshirt junior made 4.5 tackles for loss for 10 yards, including two on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter to force the Leathernecks to punt. Griffith also picked up a sack in the game for six yards. 

LB Armand Dellovade, Youngstown State -- Had a game-high 11 tackles, including four TFLs in the Penguins 35-28 loss at Illinois State. His 11-tackle effort pushed him over 100 for the season as he finished the year with 102 stops. In his YSU career he was credited with 337 total tackles in 49 games played.

DE Ryan Earith, South Dakota State -- Earith registered four tackles and a sack in the Jackrabbits’ 49-27 victory over South Dakota. In posting his sack, Earith jarred the ball loose and recovered the fumble at the USD 26 in the final minute of the first half. SDSU cashed in with a touchdown to build its lead to 35-7. Earith also was credited with three quarterback hurries in the contest.

Quentin Moon, Western Illinois -- recorded a game-high 13 tackles (5 solo) with 1 TFL and 1 sack (totalling 10 yards in ISU losses), in the season-ending game against Indiana State.


Special Teams
PK Austin Errthum, UNI -- Was 3-3 from field goals and notched eight touchbacks on eight kickoffs. He is from 34, 43 and 27 on the day. Errthum is now 18-21 on the year in field goal attempts. He leads the MVFC in makes and percentage at .857 (over 10 attempts). He is also tops in kickoff average, net and has nearly doubled up the number of touchbacks on the season as everyone else in the league.

WR Je’Quan Burton, Southern Illinois -- The true freshman returned the opening kickoff at North Dakota State 100 yards for a touchdown. It tied SIU’s record for the longest kickoff return in school history. It was Burton’s only return of the day, however he also added two carries for 5 yards and caught two passes for 14 yards.

PK Zak Kennedy, Youngstown State -- Kennedy kicked two field goals and had two PAT kicks in his final game of his YSU career. Kennedy made a pair of 41-yard field goals in the first half of the Penguins' 35-28 loss at Illinois State. He finished his career with 54 made field goals, 140 made PATs and 302 points scored.


Newcomer
RB Kevin Brown, Illinois State -- Brown played in his first career game and scored twice to help the Redbirds come from behind for the victory. Called into action because of an injury to starter James Robinson in the fourth quarter, Brown scored from five yards out with 11:06 left in the game to tie the score at 28. He later found the end zone from 16 yards out with just under six minutes to play to put ISU up 35-28 and that score would prove to be the game winner. Overall, Brown rushed for 41 yards on 13 carries with the two scores and also caught a pass for 22 to help the Redbirds pick up the victory.

TE Miles Joiner, Youngstown State -- Joiner capped off a strong first year with a 58-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Penguins' 35-28 loss at Illinois State. Joiner's 58-yard score gave the Penguins a 28-21 lead early in the fourth and was their first lead of the game. Joiner caught a team-high four TD passes in 2018.

S James Kaczor, North Dakota State -- Was third on the team with a season-high five tackles in North Dakota State’s 65-17 victory over Southern Illinois. Kaczor made two tackles on kickoff coverage and was in on two tackles for loss. He had just two tackles in his previous seven games combined.