This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include TB Jaleel McLaughlin of Youngtown State; QB Tommy Schuster of North Dakota; LB James Kaczor of North Dakota State; CB/RS Montrae Braswell of Missouri State; and LB Malachi McNeal of North Dakota.

Co-Offensive Player of the Week 
TB Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown State
5-9, 183, Sr., Marshville, N.C. (Forest Hills/Notre Dame (Ohio))
McLaughlin rushed for 227 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown as the Penguins dropped a 25-22 decision at Missouri State on Saturday. He scored on a 65-yard run against the Bears. During the contest, McLaughlin became the NCAA's all-time leader in career rushing yards. He now has 8,082 yards to break the record of 8,074 set by Mount Union's Nate Kmic (2005-08). Additionally, McLaughlin set a school record with the fifth 200-yard rushing performance of his YSU career.



Co-Offensive Player of the Week
QB Tommy Schuster, North Dakota
6-0, 200, Jr., Macomb, Mich. (Chippewa Valley)
In the 28-19 win over South Dakota, Schuster went 24-for-28 passing for 223 yards and three touchdowns. He surrendered one interception before halftime but was not sacked in the game. It was his eighth game this season with at least 20 completions. This season alone, Schuster has a completion percentage of 71.6. His career completions percentage is 67.1 percent, up from 64.8 percent at the beginning of the season.  Already this season, Schuster has cemented his place in UND history as the all-time record holder at UND for passing yards in a career (6,487), all-time career completions (601) and UND Division I touchdown passes thrown (40). In the last nine-plus quarters, Schuster has completed 46 of his past 54 attempts (85.2 percent).



Defensive Player of the Week
LB James Kaczor, North Dakota State
6-0, 215, Sr., St. Cloud, Minn. (St. Cloud Tech)
Kaczor made a game- and career-high 14 tackles and recovered an onside kick with 37 seconds left to clinch North Dakota State’s 21-18 road win over Southern Illinois. Kaczor made nine tackles in the first half for a Bison defense that spent more than 20 minutes on the field but held a 7-3 halftime lead. He also had one sack assist. Kaczor leads the Bison with 64 total tackles and is second on the team with 4.5 tackles for loss.



Special Teams Player of the Week
CB Montrae Braswell, Missouri State
6-0, 190, Jr., Avon Park, Fla. (Avon Park High/Central Michigan)
Braswell's 56-yard kickoff return in the second quarter of Saturday's senior day win over Youngstown State set up a Bears go-ahead touchdown and gave the Bears a 7-6 halftime lead. The All-American return specialist averaged 28.5 yards on four kick returns and finished with 115 all-purpose yards on the afternoon.



Newcomer
LB Malachi McNeal, North Dakota
6-0, 235, R-Fr., Waukegan, Ill. (Warren Township)
McNeal came up with a blocked punt right before intermission that gave UND momentum and led to a 14-3 lead on the scoreboard at the break. North Dakota defeated South Dakota 28-19 with the help of the block before intermission. It is McNeal’s second blocked punt this season, with the other one coming in the 49-35 loss to No. 1 South Dakota State. 


OTHERS NOMINATED

QB Jason Shelley, Missouri State -- In his final home game, senior Jason Shelley mounted his sixth fourth-quarter comeback victory for MSU, leading the Bears on a 92-yard game-winning TD drive in the final period against Youngstown State on Saturday. Shelley's 9-yard touchdown pass to Ty Scott capped the 13-play, drive that took just over four minutes and produced the seventh and final lead change of the senior day win. Shelley racked up 221 yards passing on the day. Shelley finished 19-of-37 with no interceptions -- his 7th game this season with no interceptions. The two-year MSU starter (22 games) reached 40 career TD passes, extended his school record with his 15th straight game with a TD pass, and eclipsed a school record with his 19th career 200-yard passing effort.  

RB Justin Dinka, Indiana State -- Dinka paced the Sycamores rushing attack against Western Illinois as ISU racked up 163 total rushing yards and held onto the ball for 38:25 in the 21-0 win over the Leathernecks. Dinka toted the ball a season-high 22 times for 97 yards and added his fifth rushing touchdown of the year in the second quarter to put ISU on the scoreboard. It marked his fifth game with 80-plus rushing yards and second game with 20-plus carries.

WR Jadon Janke, South Dakota State -- Janke caught five passes for a career-high 129 yards in South Dakota State’s regular season-ending 31-7 victory over Illinois State on Nov. 12. His 51-yard reception on the first play of the second quarter set up the Jackrabbits’ first score of the game and he added a 43-yard reception in the third quarter to put SDSU in the red zone. 
 
LB Zeke Vandenburgh, Illinois State -- The top-ranked Jackrabbits had a hard time slowing down the Redbird senior, who set a career-best with four tackles for loss and tied his career high with three sacks, matching the mark he set earlier this season against Valparaiso. He also recorded the first interception of his stellar career at Illinois State, while finishing with 10 total tackles and a pass breakup against the Jacks. With that performance, he upped his season totals to a MVFC leading 10.5 sacks and 17.0 TFLs.

CB C.J. Siegel, North Dakota -- In the 28-19 win against South Dakota, C.J. Siegel helped North Dakota close the door on a potential comeback, blocking the extra point after USD scored to make it 28-19. With the block, the Fighting Hawks kept it a two-score game with 12:37 left.  Siegel also had three tackles and a pass breakup in the win. With the breakup, Siegel now has 23 pass breakups in his career, tying him with Coach Joel Schwenzfeier (2008-10) for No. 4 on the UND Division I list.

DL Gianini Belizaire, Indiana State -- Belizaire and the Sycamore defense bottled up the Western Illinois offense on Saturday afternoon as Indiana State posted its first shutout since the 2018 season opener. Belizaire finished the game with four tackles, including 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a career-high 1.5 sacks, while adding a forced fumble. The Gonaives, Haiti native was dominant when needed including setting up a 3rd-and-20 in ISU territory to push WIU out of field goal range, while his first half-sack forced a WIU punt. He finished by ending another WIU scoring threat in the fourth quarter with a strip sack on 3rd-and-10 to push the Leathernecks out of field goal range.

LB Jason Freeman, South Dakota State -- Freeman led a stifling Jackrabbit defense with seven tackles, including a sack, in South Dakota State’s 31-7 home victory over Illinois State on Nov. 12. As a team, the Jackrabbits held Illinois State to 100 yards of total offense and limited the Redbirds to seven first downs. 

LB Ferrin Manuleleua, Missouri State -- The senior linebacker racked up a game-high and career-high 15 total tackles to help lift Missouri State to a 25-22 win over Youngstown State on senior night. Manuleleua notched 4 solo stops and a tackle for loss in his pinnacle effort, also racking up two stops on third down in his final home contest. Thirteen of Manuleleua's tackles were of YSU standout running back Jaleel McLaughlin, helping MSU snap the Penguins' four-game win streak.

QB Evan Olaes, Indiana State -- Olaes made the most of his first collegiate start as the redshirt freshman was an efficient 16-of-24 for 187 yards and a touchdown in leading the Sycamores to a 21-0 win. Olaes connected with seven different receivers in the game while adding a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dante Hendrix on a late two-minute drill just before the halftime break. He added eight carries for nine yards in the win.

DT Jaxon Duttenhefer, North Dakota State -- Duttenhefer made a career-high five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in North Dakota State’s 21-18 road win over Southern Illinois. He picked up his second sack of the season on SIU’s final drive of the game to force the Salukis into a 2nd-and-22 and made a touchdown-saving tackle inside the 10 with less than a minute to play.