This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference Players of the Week include QB Mark Gronowski of South Dakota State; DB Woo Governor of UNI; K Griffin Crosa of North Dakota State; and S Dillon Thomas of Missouri State.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State
6-3, 220, So., (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley H.S.)
Gronowski set single-game career highs in completions, yards and passing touchdowns in No. 2/3 South Dakota State's 28-14 road win at No. 4/6 Missouri State. He completed 22-of-29 passes for 319 yards and accounted for all four Jackrabbit touchdowns through the air. Gronowski book-ended touchdowns of 3 and 40 yards to Jadon Janke, while also connecting on scoring strikes of 13 yards to Jaxon Janke and the go-ahead 21-yarder to Zach Heins early in the fourth quarter. Gronowski directed scoring drives of 70 and 84 yards in the fourth quarter that took a combined 8 minutes and 35 seconds off the clock.
 


Defensive Player of the Week
DB Woo Governor, UNI
6-0, 190, So., (Plant City, Fla./Central Michigan)
Governor made program history in UNI’s 52-17 rout of Western Illinois with two interceptions returned for touchdowns, totaling 97 return yards. His first came during WIU’s second drive of the third quarter, returning a deflected pass off teammate Bryce Flater for a 43-yard score. The very next drive, Governor returned his second interception 49 yards for six points. Saturday marked the first time the Panthers recorded two pick-sixes in a game since 2017. In addition to his takeaways, Governor also notched four total tackles. He has three interceptions on the season.


 
Special Teams Player of the Week
K Griffin Crosa, North Dakota State
6-1, 167, RJr., (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto HS)
Crosa kicked two field goals and four extra points in North Dakota State’s 34-17 win at South Dakota. His conversions from 26 and 25 yards were the first two field goals of the season for North Dakota State and Crosa’s first field goals since the 2020-21 spring season after redshirting last year. He has made 43 consecutive PAT kicks dating back to 2019.


 
Newcomer of the Week
S Dillon Thomas, Missouri State
6-2, 189, Sr., (Kansas City, Mo., Park Hill South/Northern Illinois)
  The Northern Illinois transfer racked up a game-high 11 total tackles for the Bears vs. No. 2 South Dakota State, including seven solo stops (also a game-high). His defensive effort was just one shy of his career high 12 tackles (vs. Toledo in 2019 while at NIU).


Others Nominated

FB Jacob Garrett, Southern Illinois -- Caught five passes for 78 yards versus North Dakota, including two more touchdown catches. After catching three TDs in the first four years of his career, he has four in the last two games, including a pair during last week’s win at Northwestern. Garrett scored Southern’s first TD against UND from eight yards out, and also grabbed the final TD from 25 yards away, in SIU’s 34-17 win against the Fighting Hawks. Known as one of the top blocking fullbacks in FCS football, he was the key lead blocker on Avante Cox’s 8-yard touchdown reception just before halftime.

FB Hunter Luepke, North Dakota State -- Luepke rushed 20 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns averaging 7.3 yards per carry in North Dakota State’s 34-17 win at South Dakota. Luepke had 118 of NDSU’s 200 second-half rushing yards as the Bison scored 24 unanswered points to erase a 17-10 halftime deficit. North Dakota State kept the ball on the ground for 61 of its 80 plays and rushed for a season-high 356 yards. Luepke has back-to-back 100-yard rushing games including 115 yards and two touchdowns at Arizona last week. He has scored eight total TDs in NDSU’s first four games.

QB Theo Day, UNI -- Day threw for a season-high 3 touchdown passes in the Panthers’ 52-17 rout of Western Illinois. The Canton, Mich. native completed 23-of-26 passes with no interceptions and 260 passing yards, contributing to three of UNI’s 5 offensive touchdowns against the Leathernecks. After this weekend’s action, Day is tied with Missouri State’s Jason Shelly for the most passing touchdowns in the MVFC this season with 8.

LB Luke Weerts, North Dakota State -- Weerts made a team- and career-high seven tackles with one sack and his first career interception in North Dakota State’s 34-17 win at South Dakota. Weerts led a Bison defense that limited South Dakota to 1 of 10 on third down with five three-and-out possessions and forced four turnovers.

CB Myles Harden, South Dakota -- Forced two more turnovers Saturday, bringing his total to six in four games. Harden leads the Valley with four forced fumbles and three interceptions. He became the first player this season to intercept a pass thrown by an NDSU quarterback. He is also the eighth-leading tackler in the Valley and had eight tackles Saturday (seven solo).

DE Richie Hagarty, Southern Illinois -- had a pair of sacks for an SIU defense that sacked North Dakota quarterback  Tommy Schuster seven times. Hagarty also had a pair of quarterback hurries and three tackles. His sacks totaled losses of 17 yards.

PK Matthew Cook, UNI -- Matthew Cook converted on all 8 of his kicks, including 7 PATs in UNI’s 52-17 win at Western Illinois. Cook notched one 34-yard field goal late in the second quarter of the Panther win, but came through on all 7 of his PAT attempts on a day both the UNI offense and defense rolled into the end zone. His lone field goal at WIU was his 57th made kick of his career, moving him into 3rd all-time in school history past Mackenzie Hoambrecker (2000-02). Cook is also 2 field goal attempts shy of tying Hoambrecker and Brian Mitchell (1989-91) for 3rd in career field goal attempts at UNI.

P Grant Burkett, Missouri State -- Burkett posted the ninth-best single-game punting average in school history in Saturday's game vs. No. 2 South Dakota State, keeping the Bears in the game with his consistent ability to flip the field and put the Jackrabbits in long-drive situations. He had 7 punts for 331 yards for a 47.3 average, including three punts of 50 yards or more (52, 56, 51) with 5-of-7 fair caught and 3 downed inside the SDSU 20-yard line.

RB Harrison Bey-Buie, UNI -- In just his third game at UNI, Harrison Bey-Buie scored his first touchdown as a Panther late in UNI’s 52-17 win at Western Illinois on Saturday. Bey-Buie notched 49 net rushing yard, second most in the UNI victory while breaking into the end zone in the final 93 seconds of the game on a four-yard run. He previously played at Eastern Illinois from 2020-21.