This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Austin Simmons of South Dakota; LB Dylan Draka of Illinois State; PK Sam Fenlason of Illinois State; and RB Jalen Bussey of North Dakota State.
Offensive Player of the Week
QB Austin Simmons, South Dakota
6-1, 215, Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa (Lewis Central HS)
Simmons passed for 180 yards, ran for 72 and accounted for five touchdowns in three quarters of work against the nation’s 22nd-ranked defense. He led the Coyotes on four consecutive touchdown drives of 75 yards or more to start the game, and passed for four touchdowns for the fourth time in his career. Simmons also surpassed his predecessor, Chris Streveler, for third place on the Coyotes’ all-time passing list with 6,162 yards.
Defensive Player of the Week
LB Dylan Draka, Illinois State
6-0, 240, Jr., Wheeling, Illinois (Wheeling HS)
Draka did it all for the Redbirds in their big road win over No. 4 South Dakota State. The junior linebacker recorded five tackles, including four solo stops, and tallied three TFLs in the victory over the Jackrabbits. Draka was also credited with a forced fumble, a pass breakup and recovered a pair of fumbles for the Redbirds. His sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter set up Sam Fenlason’s fourth field goal make of the contest to make the score 27-18. Draka and the Redbird defense forced four turnovers on the day and limited the Jackrabbits to just 81 yards rushing and 260 yards of total offense, who came into the contest averaging 234 yards on the ground and 422 total yards per game
Special Teams Player of the Week
PK Sam Fenlason, Illinois State
6-2, 225, Sr., San Diego, California (Idaho)
Fenlason was stellar in the Redbirds’ big road win over No. South Dakota State. The senior placekicker tied his career high with four made field goals in the win over the Jackrabbits, including a career-long 46-yarder to clinch the victory. Fenlason’s first field goal make of 33 yards cut the SDSU lead at halftime to just one at 11-10. A 32-yarder late in the third quarter trimmed the Jackrabbits’ lead to 18-13 and his 37-yarder early in the fourth quarter cut the deficit to 18-16. He capped off his career day with the long 46-yard bomb with 6:33 left in the game to bring the score to its final at 27-18.
Newcomer of the Week
RB Jalen Bussey, North Dakota State
5-5, 153, Fr., Brandon, Fla. (Tampa Catholic HS)
Bussey had a team-high 173 all-purpose yards in his first collegiate game as North Dakota State beat Western Illinois 57-21. Bussey came on in the fourth quarter, and his first attempt was a 65-yard touchdown run. He added a 50-yard kickoff return and 45-yard touchdown run on consecutive plays and finished with six rushes for 123 yards and two TDs.
OTHERS NOMINATED
Offense
WR Landon Lenoir, Southern Illinois
Lenoir recorded career highs with nine catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns in SIU’s 37-14 win over Missouri State. He caught the first two passes of the game, scoring on a 14-yard post route to put Southern up by a touchdown. He added a 15-yard touchdown at the start of the second quarter to make it 20-0.
RB Trevor Allen, UNI
Allen rushed 12 times for 62 yards and a touchdown in the Panther's 17-9 win over Indiana State.
WR Dante Hendrix, Indiana State
Redshirt sophomore Dante Hendrix put up a season high 135 yard receiving on five catches Saturday at Northern Iowa. The Florence, Kentucky native made three catches of 25 yards or more and two catches over 40 yards. Hendrix made a 48-yard diving catch in the fourth quarter to put the Sycamores at the three yard line as the Sycamores were within one score of No. 5 UNI on the road.
WR Christian Watson, North Dakota State
Watson had career-highs of four catches and 121 receiving yards with one touchdown in North Dakota State’s 57-21 win over Western Illinois. Watson scored on a 51-yard passing play and another reception for 41 yards. He is second in the conference averaging 21.5 yards per reception and three of his four touchdowns this season have been plays of 40 or more yards.
Defense
DL Elerson G Smith, UNI
Smith recorded a pair of sacks, including a strip sack to end Indiana State's final drive in the Panther's 17-9 win over Indiana State. He leads the MVFC with 12.0 sacks and 16.5 TFLs on the year. He also had eight tackles Saturday. The Panthers held Indiana State out of the endzone.
DE Derrek Tuszka, North Dakota State
Tuszka made a team-high six tackles in North Dakota State’s 57-21 win over Western Illinois. Five of his six stops went for zero or negative yards and he finished with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks. Tuszka is second in the conference with 9.5 sacks this season and seventh in NDSU history with 25.5 career sacks.
S Denzel Bonner, Indiana State
Safety Denzel Bonner recorded a career high 13 tackles (four solo) in a loss to No. 5 Northern Iowa. The senior added one tackle for loss in the game.
LB Cody Crider, Southern Illinois
Crider had six tackles, including 4.0 tackles for loss in SIU’s 37-14 win over Missouri State. The four TFLs were a career high for Crider, who has undergone three surgeries on the same knee, the most recent one in 2018. His future was uncertain, but Crider regained his starting spot and is the second-leading tackler on the 2019 Salukis with 73 stops and 12.5 TFL. During the win against MSU, he made two stops behind the line during a goal-line stand that helped preserve Southern’s victory.
LB Jack Cochrane, South Dakota
Cochrane led South Dakota with seven tackles – all solo – including a sack and two tackles-for-loss in the Coyotes’ 56-21 win against Youngstown State Saturday. Cochrane and the Coyotes totaled six sacks in all and limited the Penguins to 312 total yards including just 66 on the ground. YSU entered with the nation’s 22nd-ranked ground game.
LB Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State
Rozeboom registered a season-high 14 tackles with a sack versus Illinois State on Nov. 9. His sack resulted in a safety in the second quarter. In posting his 23rd double-digit tackling performance of his career (in 50 games), Rozeboom became SDSU's career tackles leader with 446, surpassing the 435 tackles by Greg Osmundson from 1986-89.
Special Teams
P Brady Schutt, South Dakota
Schutt pinned three of his four punts inside the 15-yard line Saturday against Youngstown State. He dropped a punt inside the 5 just before halftime that bounced off a Penguin and the Coyotes recovered the muff and promptly scored to take a 35-14 lead into halftime. Schutt, the nation’s third-leading punter, averaged 41.2 yards and netted 40.2 on his four punts.
K Jerry Nunez, Indiana State
Nunez accounted for all nine points in a loss to Northern Iowa Saturday, connecting on a trio of field goals. The Naples, Florida native put the Sycamores in front early with a 24 yard field goal in the first quarter before hitting from 41 in the second and 28 yards out in the third.
PK Matthew Cook, UNI
Cook hit a pair of field goals to help UNI hold off Indiana State 17-9.
P Brendan Withrow, Missouri State
Withrow matched the fourth-best single-game punting average in school history in Saturday’s game at SIU, accumulating six punts for a 47.8 average, including three punts of 60 yards or better and a long of 69. His season punting average (42.7) is currently the third-highest all-time at MSU.
LB Luke Giegling, Southern Illinois
Giegling blocked a punt on the first series of the game, splitting two defenders on a play that allowed SIU to take possession at the Missouri State 28. Two plays later, Southern scored a touchdown and went on to win, 37-14.
RS Justin Hall, Western Illinois
Hall recorded 158 all-purpose yards against the top-ranked NDSU Bison. He totaled 140 kick return yards on seven attempts, with the longest going 33 yards. The Northern Illinois transfer currently ranks 13th in the nation in combined returns (669 yards).
PR Trevor Heit, North Dakota State
Heit averaged 17.5 yards on two punt returns in North Dakota State’s 57-21 win over Western Illinois. He has six returns for 20-plus yards this season including a 27-yard punt return into Western Illinois territory on Saturday. Heit leads the conference and ranks ninth in the FCS with 13.7 yards per punt return.
Newcomer
RB Javon Williams Jr., Southern Illinois
Williams Jr. rushed 10 times for 113 yards (11.3 ave.) and completed both of his passes for another 62 yards. One of his throws was a 34-yard touchdown strike to tight end Jacob Garrett, that put SIU up, 13-0. The Salukis went on to win, 37-14, for their fourth-straight victory.
Spencer Perry, UNI
Perry grabbed and interception and notched six total tackles on the day to help UNI take down Indiana State 17-9. The transfer from South Alabama has started the last three games for the Panthers.
WR Carter Bell, South Dakota
Bell hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Austin Simmons on a 3rd-and-5 play in the first quarter that gave the Coyotes a 14-0 lead. It was his first collegiate touchdown on his third collegiate catch and in his third collegiate game. Bell finished with two catches for 19 yards.
WR Dominique Dafney, Indiana State
Dafney led the Sycamores with 80 yards rushing out of the wildcat against No. 5 Northern Iowa. Dafney averaged five yards per carry with a long rush of 21 yards in the game. The Sycamores went for a total of 125 yards on the ground against the Panthers who entered the game as the top rushing defense in the MVFC.
RS Justin Hall, Western Illinois
Hall recorded 158 all-purpose yards against the top-ranked NDSU Bison. He totaled 140 kick return yards on seven attempts, with the longest going 33 yards. The Northern Illinois transfer currently ranks 13th in the nation in combined returns (669 yards).