This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Mark Gronowski of South Dakota State; RB Dom Williams of UNI; CB Cameron Tisdale of South Dakota; PK Colt McFadden of Youngstown State; and QB Zack Annexstad of Illinois State.
Special Teams Player of the Week
PK Colt McFadden, Youngstown State
6-0, 194, Sr., Poland, Ohio (Poland/Kent State)
McFadden connected on a 42-yard field goal as time expired to help the Penguins rally for a 28-27 win at Western Illinois on Saturday. With the wind at his back, McFadden came on four seconds remaining to convert a 42-yard try as YSU overcame a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes to earn the win. McFadden kicked a 25-yard field goal earlier in the contest. He has made nine of his last 10 attempts all of which have come in MVFC play.
Co-Offensive Player of the Week
QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State
6-3, 220, So., Naperville, Ill. (Neuqua Valley HS)
Gronowski accounted for a career-high five touchdowns — three passing and two rushing — in South Dakota State’s 49-35 road victory at No. 20 North Dakota on Oct. 22. He completed 15-of-20 passes for 197 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft late in the first half, followed by scoring tosses of 10 yards to Jaxon Janke and 2 yards to Zach Heins in the third quarter. Gronowski capped a 21-point third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run, then added a 10-yard rushing TD in the fourth quarter. Gronowski added a 16-yard reception that set up his first rushing touchdown.
Co-Offensive Player of the Week
RB Dom Williams, UNI
5-10, 200, R-Sr., McKinney, Texas (Independence HS)
Williams notched a record-breaking performance for UNI against Missouri State tying the program’s single game record with four rushing touchdowns. Williams is the tenth player in UNI history to run for four touchdowns, and first since Aaron Bailey to do so in 2015, also against Missouri State. Aided by dominant offensive line play, Williams notched his second game of 100+ rushing yards this season and fourth of his career. Williams leads the MVFC in rushing touchdowns this season (9) and ninth in the nation while averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
Defensive Player of the Week
CB Cameron Tisdale, South Dakota
5-10, 180, Sr., Clearwater, Fla. (Largo HS)
Tisdale forced two turnovers and both led to Coyote touchdowns in a 27-24 upset of No. 14 Southern Illinois Saturday on Dakota Days. He forced a fumble in the first quarter that was recovered and returned to the SIU 6 for a short touchdown drive. He picked off Nic Baker for his first collegiate interception with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and USD drove down and kicked the game-winning field goal. Tisdale added three tackles and a pass breakup.
Newcomer of the Week
QB Zack Annexstad, Illinois State
6-2, 220, Jr., Norseland, Minnesota (IMG Academy/Minnesota)
Annexstad put together his best day as a Redbird and led his team to a gritty 27-21 road win at Indiana State. The transfer from Minnesota completed 24-of-38 pass attempts for a career-best 274 yards and accounted for four touchdowns for the Redbirds in their victory over the Sycamores. Annexstad scored twice on the ground on runs of nine and three yards, respectively, and threw a pair of touchdowns passes in the win for Illinois State. His first TD pass of the day was a 56-yarder to Jalen Carr and his second was an 18-yarder to his older brother, Brock. Annexstad and the Redbirds scored on each of the team’s first three possessions of the game and never looked back to improve to 5-2 on the year and 3-1 in league play.
OTHERS NOMINATED --
TB Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown State -- McLaughlin rushed for 207 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown as the Penguins rallied to beat Western Illinois, 28-27, on Saturday in Macomb. It was the second time in as many games that McLaughlin rushed for more than 200 yards leading the Penguins to consecutive victories. On the final drive of the game, he had the final 15 yards on carries of seven and eight yards to help set up the Guins' game-winning field goal. He scored on a 14-yard run just before halftime and caught a pass for 35 yards. He tied the school record for career 200-yard rushing games with four.
RB Shomari Lawrence, South Dakota -- Lawrence ran 11 times for a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown against the nation’s ninth-ranked run defense. Included in the tally was a career-long run of 52 yards in the first half and a 29-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 24-24 in the fourth quarter. USD went on to win 27-24 on Dakota Days.
WR Dante Hendrix, Indiana State -- Hendrix continues to produce as the redshirt senior posted his third consecutive 100-yard receiving effort of the 2022 season in leading the Sycamores on Saturday against Illinois State. Hendrix hauled in five passes for 107 yards and added his team-leading third receiving touchdown of the season against the Redbirds. Hendrix was active early and often, while his 67-yard reception for a score in the fourth quarter helped pull the Sycamores back within one possession of Illinois State. Hendrix continues to lead the Sycamores with 32 catches for 549 yards on the season.
WR Naseim Brantley, Western Illinois -- Brantley found his way into the endzone two more times this season for the Leathernecks, catching touchdown passes of 25 and five yards. Brantley had five receptions for 66 yards.
DL Cordarrius Bailey, UNI - Bailey made his biggest impact as a Panther with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in UNI’s 41-20 win over Missouri State. The former Iowa State defensive lineman’s hit and forced fumble of MSU quarterback Jason Shelley was the first of his career. Bailey also recorded his first two career sacks in Saturday’s win that saw the Panther defense notch a season-high 5 sacks, and hold one of MVFC’s top offenses to just 221 total yards. With Bailey, UNI was also able to hold the Bears to 37.5% on third down, a season-low against MVFC opponents.
T.J. Limehouse, Western Illinois -- Limehouse led the Leathernecks with a team-high 11 tackles on Saturday. Limehouse leads the team with 60 tackles this season.
LB Geoffrey Brown, Indiana State -- Brown posted another double-digit tackling effort on Saturday afternoon as the sophomore linebacker posted a team-high 12 stops and added 0.5 tackles for loss against the Redbirds. He was active early with five tackles in the first quarter and had six total tackles at the halftime break. Brown was key during an Illinois State drive that ended in a blocked field goal with five total tackles on the possession. He added his lone half-tackle-for-loss on a three-and-out possession late in the fourth quarter. Brown has already surpassed his 2021 tackle total and has 63 total stops through seven games in 2022.
LB Isaiah Stalbird, South Dakota State -- Stalbird shared game-high honors with eight tackles and recovered a fumble in the decisive third quarter to help lead South Dakota State to a 49-35 victory at No. 20 North Dakota on Oct. 22. All eight of Stalbird’s tackles were solo stops, including one for loss, and his 8-yard fumble return set up the third of SDSU’s three touchdowns in the third quarter. In addition, Stalbird broke up a pass on fourth down later in the third quarter to end another UND drive.
WR/KR Jadon Janke, South Dakota State -- Janke jump-started a 21-point third quarter for South Dakota State with a pair of key returns at No. 20 North Dakota on Oct. 22. He returned the second-half kickoff 28 yards to give the Jackrabbits good field position and then returned a punt 58 yards to the UND 8 to set up the go-ahead score. In addition to his special teams play, Janke caught five passes for 86 yards and completed a pass to quarterback Mark Gronowski for a 16-yard gain later in the third quarter.
PK Eddie Ogamba, South Dakota -- Ogamba made a career-long 46-yard field goal to end the first half and a 44-yarder with 2:31 left that turned out to be the game winner in a 27-24 victory against No. 14 Southern Illinois Saturday on Dakota Days. Ogamba made all five kicks he took Saturday and had three touchbacks on six kickoffs.
DL Jack Sherman, Indiana State -- Sherman broke through the middle of the Illinois State field goal set and got his right hand on the ball to redirect the Redbirds’ 30-yard attempt in the third quarter for the Sycamores first block on the year. The Terre Haute, Ind. native became the first Sycamore to post a blocked field goal since Gavin Dineen blocked a kick against South Dakota State last season on September 25. The blocked field goal was one of two Indiana State blocked kicks in the game as the Redbirds also had a PAT redirected on Saturday afternoon.
PK Mason Laramie, Western Illinois -- Went 2-2 (40, 30 yards) on field goals in Western Illinois' 28-27 loss to Youngstown State. Laramie also went 3-3 on extra points and had four touchbacks on kickoffs. The Schaumburg, Ill., native is 6-8 on field goals this season with a long of 47 yards and 10-11 on extra points.
Ryan Crandall, Western Illinois -- Crandall, a true freshman, had a career-high 10 tackles in Western Illinois' 28-27 loss to Youngstown State on Saturday. Crandall added his first-career interception, returning it 32 yards to set up a Leatherneck touchdown.
DB Maddix Blackwell, Indiana State -- Blackwell posted his first collegiate interception with a nifty one-handed grab down the right sideline and added five solo tackles and a key tackle for loss in the Sycamores’ Homecoming game against Illinois State. The nickelback trailed the Illinois State tight end down the field and went up with one hand to tip the ball to himself and returned it 11 yards to set up Indiana State’s first scoring drive of the day. Four of his tackles came in the first half, while his final one came late in the fourth quarter with his stop behind the line of scrimmage forcing a Redbirds three-and-out.
QB Aidan Bouman, South Dakota -- Bouman entered the game late in the first half trailing 21-7 and led the Coyotes to a 27-24 win against No. 14 Southern Illinois Saturday on Dakota Days. He led USD to 10 points on his first two drives to close the gap to 21-17 and helped USD march 41 yards inside of five minutes to go to setup the game-winning field goal. Bouman was 11-of-17 for 120 yards and a touchdown in his collegiate debut.