This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Sean McGuire of Western Illinois, FS Andrew Gray of South Dakota, CB Darius Joseph of Missouri State, P Garret Wegner of North Dakota State, QB Montgomery VanGorder of Youngstown State and OL Cal Twait of UNI.

Offensive Player of the Week
QB Sean McGuire, Western Illinois
6-3, 228, Sr., Franklin, Ill. (Franklin High)
After the Leathernecks’ MVFC opener against Youngstown State, Sean McGuire recorded back-to-back games with 300-plus passing yards and at least three touchdowns. He currently is tied for No. 1 all-time in Western’s career history with 62 passing TDs. He finished Saturday’s game vs. YSU 22-for-34 with four passing touchdowns (324 yards) and a rushing TD in the 45-38 win against the visiting Penguins.



Defensive Player of the Week
FS Andrew Gray, South Dakota
6-2, 215, Sr., New Lenox, Ill. (Lincoln Way West HS)
Had a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo), an interception and a tackle-for-loss in leading South Dakota to a 31-24 win against Southern Illinois Saturday in Carbondale. Defended more than 100 plays and became the first team to hold the Salukis to less than 41 points all season. Interception came at the USD 11 in the third quarter. Two plays later, USD was in the end zone for a 31-17 lead. SIU scored on four of 19 drives, one was a 20-yard drive following a USD turnover and another came against prevent defense in the final minute of the game.



CB Darius Joseph, Missouri State 
6-0, 195, Jr., Oklahoma City, Oka.
MSU starting cornerback Darius Joseph factored in eight total tackles, including six solo stops, in the Bears to a 24-21 home win over No. 9 Illinois State. MSU’s secondary held the Redbirds’ quarterbacks to just a 52-percent completion rate on the day in helping MSU to its highest-rated victory since 2005. Joseph was also a prominent presence on special teams for the Bears who completed a perfect 3-0 home stand in the month of September.



Newcomer of the Week
QB Montgomery VanGorder, Youngstown State
6-1, 220, Sr., Buford, Ga. (Buford H.S./Notre Dame)
VanGorder broke three single-game YSU passing records in the 45-38 loss at Western Illinois. For the game he was 33-of-57 for 418 yards and three touchdowns. He broke the school record for completions (set in 2008), attempts (set in 1968) and yards (set in 1968) in a losing effort. He had touchdown passes of 21, 11 and four yards all in the second half against the Leathernecks. In the first half he had 83 yards passing on 16 attempts before throwing for 335 yards on 41 attempts in the second half as YSU scored 31 points. He completed passes to 12 different players.



Special Teams Player of the Week
P Garret Wegner, North Dakota State
6-0, 191, So., Lodi (Wis.) High
Averaged 47.4 yards on five punts with three inside the 20 to help North Dakota State to a 21-17 victory over South Dakota State. Wegner booted a 49-yard punt out-of-bounds at the SDSU 2 with just 1:15 left before halftime, and launched a key 54-yarder to the SDSU 7 that led to a three-and-out on SDSU’s final offensive possession. Wegner ranks sixth in the FCS with a league-best 44.9 punting average and the Bison are eighth in the FCS in net punting.



OL Cal Twait, UNI
6-5, 305, Sr., Manson (Iowa)
Manson-Northwest Webster HS
Twait led the UNI offensive line unit that put up a dominant performance Thursday night at  Indiana State. The Panthers rushed for 293 yards on 51 carries for 5.2 YPC. The line helped Eli Dunne to a 16-for-24 performance.


OTHERS NOMINATED
Offense
WR Dakarai Allen, South Dakota -- Caught six passes for a career-high 183 yards in South Dakota’s 31-24 win against Southern Illinois Saturday in Carbondale. Caught an 89-yard touchdown pass from Austin Simmons late in the third quarter that gave USD its largest lead at 31-17. Also had a 40-yard catch that set up a field goal and a 38-yard reception that setup a touchdown.

QB Peyton Huslig, Missouri State -- MSU's junior QB completed 22-of-32 passes for 232 yards in the Bears' win over Illinois State. Huslig also rushed for 52 yards in the victory over the No. 9-ranked Redbirds, giving him 284 yards of total offense on the afternoon. The effort marked Huslig's fifth career 200-yard passing game as the Bears improved to 4-1 (4-0 vs. FCS programs) when he eclipses 200 aerial yards.

QB Montgomery VanGorder, Youngstown State -- earned MVFC Newcomer of the Week honors

RB James Robinson, Illinois State -- Had 151 all-purpose yards at Missouri State in the 24-21 loss on Saturday in Springfield. Robinson carried the ball a team-high 13 times for 54 yards, and caught six passes for 97 yards with a touchdown reception. Robinson averaged 4.2 yards on the ground against the Bears. Robinson’s big play cut the deficit to just a field goal with 3:15 remaining in the game, when he scored on a screen pass for a 43-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Brady Davis.

QB Easton Stick, North Dakota State -- Completed nine passes for 182 yards with two touchdowns and ran for the game-winning score to lift North Dakota State to a 21-17 win over South Dakota State. Stick rushed 15 times for 63 yards averaging 4.2 yards per carry. He ran for six first downs including four third-down conversions as NDSU went 8 of 16 on third down. His longest run of 22 yards came on third-and-21 and set up a 17-yard TD pass on the next play to tie the game 7-7 in the second quarter. Stick completed passes of 28 and 24 yards to spark the eight-play go-ahead scoring drive in the fourth quarter ending with his 5-yard TD run.

RB Trevor Allen, UNI -- Rushed for a career-high 180 yards on 26 carries for a 6.9 YPC average. Scored a career-high two touchdowns and didn’t have a negative rush until the fourth quarter when the Panthers were running the clock. Also caught three passes out of the back field for 41 yards. His 221 yards of total offense is also a career high. The Panthers controlled every aspect of the game against Indiana State and were 5-5 in red zone opportunities with two of those touchdowns coming on 18-yard and 16-yard runs by Allen. 
 
Defense
LB Duncan Ferch, UNI -- Had seven tackles and an interception returned for a touchdown to lead UNI to a consecutive shutouts for the first time in a decade. He capped off the scoring with his 19-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on a dominant defensive performance. Indiana State only drove into UNI territory once after halftime. The interception was just the second turnover on the season given up by the Sycamores. 

DL Pete Swenson, Western Illinois -- All seven of Pete’s tackles Saturday were solo, and three resulted in a loss of yards (a combined team-high 17 yards).  He ended the second half vs. YSU with a sack that lost nine yards.

LB Jabril Cox, North Dakota State -- Made a team-high eight tackles with two pass breakups in North Dakota State’s 21-17 victory over South Dakota State. He made seven solo tackles, had one tackle for loss, and had one stop on punt coverage. The Bison defense held SDSU to just 3 of 12 on third down.

LB Bryce Notree, Southern Illinois -- Had a career-high 11 tackles, 10 solo, including two tackles for loss.

LB Zackary Mathews, Illionis State -- Recorded a career-high 16 tackles, including a career-high 10 solo stops. Mathews was the only Redbird on the day with double-digit tackles.

LB Armand Dellovade, Youngstown State -- Had 15 tackles, a sack and a pass breakup in the contest at Western Illinois. He was credited with seven solo tops and eight assisted tackles.

Special Teams
P Mark Schuler, Youngstown State -- Had three punts for an average of 38.0 yards against Western Illinois. He had two punts downed inside the WIU 15-yard line (14 and 11). 

P JT Bohlken, Illinois State -- Had eight punts on the day for 343 yards. Bohlken had an average punt of 42.9 yards with four punts inside the 20-yard line, and two inside the five-yard line including one touchback.

RS Tony Tate, Western Illinois -- Shined with a career-high 93 yards on five returns. His longest of the day went for 28 yards and the second best went for 27.

Newcomer
DE Romeo McKnight, Illinois State -- Had seven tackles including two tackles-for-loss on the day at Missouri State. McKnight finished with three solo tackles along with two tackles-for-loss. 

DB Zach Muniz, Western Illinois -- Played in his first career MVFC game Saturday and had a stellar day with five tackles, a sack, an interception, and three pass breakups. The Leathernecks held a 9-7 lead in the first quarter when Muniz intercepted a pass at the WIU44 and returned 18 yards; the takeaway resulted in a WIU TD. 

WR Damoriea Vick, Missouri State -- Tallied game highs with 7 receptions for 99 yards to help ignite Missouri State's offense in a 24-21 upset win over No. 9 Illinois State. Vick snagged his seven catches on eight targeted passes, including a pair of third-down conversions and four catches for first downs. The true freshman averaged 14.1 yards per reception with five catches for 10 yards or more, including a team-best 36-yard snag in the second quarter.

CB Cameron Tisdale, South Dakota -- Had five tackles and was credited with two pass breakups in USD’s 31-24 win against Southern Illinois Saturday in Carbondale. SIU attempted 61 passes and wide receivers netted 10 catches for 94 yards. That unit was averaging 19 catches for 227 yards entering the weekend.

TE Nigel Kilby, Southern Illinois -- caught 7 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to South Dakota. He became the first Saluki TE since Adam Fuehne in 2015 to have more than 100 yards receiving in a game. Kilby has caught caught 10 passes on the season and leads the team with four touchdown catches.

LB Chris Kolarevic, UNI -- Notched a game-high 12 tackles and broke up two passes in the Panthers’ 33-0 win over Indiana State to start Missouri Valley Conference play. UNI was dominant on defense, earning consecutive shutouts for the first time since the 2008 season. 

Offensive Line
Kyle Sanft, Western Illinois -- Played in each of the Leathernecks 65 plays and helped guide the offense to 475 total yards. Western Illinois passed for 324 yards and rushed for 151 (4.9 yards per carry). Sanft graded out at 89% against the Penguins. 

RT Tyler Weir, South Dakota State -- Weir graded out at 90 percent with 6 finish blocks for South Dakota State in their Sept. 29 Dakota Marker matchup at top-ranked North Dakota. He did not allow a sack or a hit on the quarterback for a Jackrabbit offensive unit that tallied 357 yards of total offense.

OG Marquis Prophete, Missouri State -- Prophete was instrumental in helping Missouri State to defeat its highest-ranked opponent since 2005 by anchoring a slick offensive attack that amassed 394 yards and 23 first downs against No. 9 Illinois State. Prophete graded out at an impressive 90-percent ratio on the day and accounted for seven knockdown blocks. The Bears surrendered just one sack on the afternoon and racked up nearly five yards per play against a stubborn Redbird defense.