This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Jason Shelley of Missouri State; CB David Miller of Southern Illinois; P Cade Peterson of North Dakota; and WR Jeremiah Webb of South Dakota.

Offensive Player of the Week
QB Jason Shelley, Missouri State
5-11, 197, Frisco (Texas) Lone Star High/Utah State
Shelley passed for 320 yards, accounted for three touchdowns and broke the Missouri State single-season passing yardage record to lead the Bears past Northern Iowa for the second straight season. He also engineered the Bears' game-winning 75-yard touchdown drive in the game's deciding moments, marking the fourth time this season the MSU signal caller has produced a game-winning, fourth-quarter scoring drive. Shelley completed 22-of-33 with no interceptions on the afternoon and fired a 55-yard, game-winning TD strike to Naveon Mitchell with 55 seconds left in the game to secure the win over UNI. Shelley also rushed for a pair of second-half scores, both of which put Missouri State up by 14 points at the time. Saturday's effort marked Shelley's fourth 300-yard passing game of the season, his 10th 200-yard passing game and his fifth game with no interceptions. He eclipsed 3,000 yards of total offense for the season (already a school record) and eclipsed Jay Rodgers' (1999) season record for passing yards with 2,817. The win over UNI ensured Missouri State (6-2) a two-top finish in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with the club's sixth conference victory of the season. It marks just the second time in school history (1978), the Bears have won six league games and also wrapped MSU's first unbeaten home campaign since 2010.



Defensive Player of the Week
CB David Miller, Southern Illinois
5-9, 170, R-Fr., Columbus (Ohio) Gahanna Lincoln High/Navy
Miller had two interceptions for SIU’s defense in a 47-21 win over Indiana State. The redshirt freshman, who has played this season in place of injured All-American James Ceasar, has three interceptions in the last two games. Southern’s defense limited the Sycamores to 291 yards, much of it coming in the fourth quarter after the Salukis had built a 40-7 lead.  Miller also had four tackles, which included three solo stops.



Special Teams Player of the Week
P Cade Peterson, North Dakota 
6-1, 180, Sr., Kewaskum (Wis.) High
Totaled four punts on the afternoon ... Pinned two of those punts inside the 20 and one inside the 10 ... Averaged 36.5 yards per kick ... Did not allow a return all game ... Had a long of 42.



Newcomer of the Week
WR Jeremiah Webb, South Dakota
5-11, 205, R-Fr. (3rd year), Chicago (Ill.) Urban Prep Bronzeville HS
Webb entered with three career catches for 32 yards, but caught five passes for 153 yards and made perhaps the greatest play to win a game in program history. Webb’s 57-yard catch in the end zone on the final play of the game gave the Coyotes’ a 23-20 win against SDSU Saturday. It secured USD its first winning record in the Valley, a chance to compete for its first Valley crown and gives USD a great chance to make the FCS playoffs for the second time.


OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

WR Dante Hendrix, Indiana State -- Hendrix turned in a 10-catch, 83-yard game with a pair of touchdowns in the Sycamores loss to Southern Illinois. Hendrix scored on one-yard touchdown receptions in both the second and fourth quarters to highlight his afternoon in pacing the Indiana State offense. The redshirt junior wide receiver has been one of the top receivers in the conference since returning from injury a month ago and has 32 catches for 340 yards and three touchdowns over the past month.

WR Deion McShane, UNI -- McShane had a season-high 86 receiving yards, including a pass for 43 yards from Theo Day in UNI's loss to No. 16 Missouri State. He notched two touchdowns. 

RB TaMerik Williams, North Dakota State -- Williams made his first start in a North Dakota State uniform and produced the best rushing game of the season by a Bison running back. Williams finished with a career-high 18 carries for 137 yards – both single-game highs for an NDSU running back this year – and scored two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 50 yards. Williams averaged 7.6 yards per carry and was one of eight Bison rushers who combined for 454 ground yards in the game.

AP Javon Williams, Southern Illinois -- led a Saluki ground game that generated 282 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry in the 47-21 win over Indiana State. Williams had 10 carries for 79 yards (7.9 avg) and two touchdowns. His first TD came on the final play of the first half, when SIU elected not to kick a field goal with 5 seconds remaining. Operating from the Wildcat, Williams plowed in from six yards out to give SIU a 19-7 halftime lead.

LB Adam Bock, South Dakota State -- Bock registered a game-high 14 tackles, including a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, in South Dakota State’s 23-20 last-second loss at South Dakota on Nov. 13. He also broke up a pass at the goal line. Bock recorded double figures in tackles for the fifth time this season and eighth time in his career, upping his team-leading total to 88. 

LB Jaxson Turner, North Dakota -- Finished tied for third on the team with four tackles ... Came up with a pair of sacks ... His second sack of the game came on a third down that forced a punt, leading to the go-ahead touchdown by UND in the fourth quarter ... Became the program's DI leader for career sacks with 21. 

DL Jared Brinkman, UNI -- Brinkman led UNI in tackles and sacks. He had five solo tackles and was in on three more. He had two sacks for a loss of 11 yards. He had three tackles for a loss of 16 yards. 

DE Brayden Thomas, North Dakota State -- Thomas had two sacks for 19 yards to lead a disruptive NDSU front line that played 11 players in a 49-17 win at Youngstown State. Thomas finished with three tackles and was one of five Bison defensive linemen to record a tackle for loss as NDSU totaled five sacks and eight TFLs while holding YSU’s 12th-ranked rushing offense to 59 net yards.

LB Tylar Wiltz, Missouri State -- Wiltz brought down 8 ball carriers and had a key first-quarter interception that led directly to Missouri State's first points of the game in Saturday's 34-27 win over Northern Iowa. Wiltz also racked up a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss in the victory, while his second career pick led to the Bears taking a 3-0 lead on their first offensive series of the afternoon.

WR Deion McShane, UNI -- McShane was had three kickoff returns for 52 yards. His longest was 22 yards. He also took one punt return for three yards. 

PK Cole Frahm, South Dakota State -- Frahm booted a pair of 37-yard field goals and made both of his extra-point attempts for eight points in a losing effort for South Dakota State on Nov. 13. Frahm is now 16-of-22 on field goals this season.  His 16 made field goals are the most in a season by a Jackrabbit kicker since Justin Syrovatka made 19 in 2015. 

QB Theo Day, UNI -- Day had his longest rush as a Panther when he kept the ball himself for a 25-yard rush. He had 43 yards in rushing for the day.