This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include WR Raylen Sharpe of Missouri State; LB Garret Ollendieck of Indiana State; WR/RS Red Wilson of North Dakota; LB Amir Abdullah of Illinois State; and LG Jake Kubas of North Dakota State.
Offensive Player of the Week
WR Raylen Sharpe, Missouri State
5-9, 172, Jr., Allen, Texas (Allen HS /Houston)
Sharpe matched a Missouri State season record with his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season (third in a row) to help the Bears to a dominant 35-16 win over No. 15 Northern Iowa. He pulled in 11 receptions for a career-high 160 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. His catch total was the second-highest, single-game reception sum in the league this season, trailing only his own 13-reception performance vs. NDSU in October. Likewise, his game-high 175 all-purpose yards was two yards shy of a career high. Sharpe had three chunk plays of 35, 34 and 29 yards on the day, and his 10-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter put the game on ice and capped an impressive, 12-play, 7-minute game-clinching drive that gave the Bears a 28-9 lead at the time. His 35-yard reception on that drive set up his key TD moments later. In Saturday's contest, Sharpe eclipsed 900 receiving yards on the season, becoming just the fourth player in Missouri State history to reach that milestone, while moving within one reception (65) and one receiving touchdown (7) of Bears single-season records. The All-America candidate captured the MVFC lead in both receiving yards per game (100.56) and receptions per game (7.22), which now rank 3rd and 5th, respectively, among all players in the FCS ranks.
Defensive Player of the Week
LB Garret Ollendieck, Indiana State
6-2, 230, Jr., Cresco, Iowa (Crestwood HS)
Garret Ollendieck had another monster game on the defensive side of the ball for Indiana State as the Sycamore junior linebacker posted his first career 3.0-sack game. The Cresco, Iowa native finished the contest with 11 tackles including three sacks against Western Illinois. He also added two quarterback hurries as ISU consistently harried the Leathernecks’ passing game on Saturday afternoon. Ollendieck was disruptive in the fourth quarter with his sack of WIU’s Matt Morrissey setting up a 4th-and-14 inside Western territory. The next play, he went back through the middle for a quarterback hurry on a play that resulted in an incompletion and turnover on downs. Justin Dinka scored three plays later for the game-clinching touchdown. Ollendieck leads the Sycamores with 13.5 tackles-for-loss and 7.0 sacks in the 2023 season.
Special Teams Player of the Week
WR/RS Red Wilson, North Dakota
5-9, 185, Sr., Americus, Ga. (Mesabi Range College)
In the 14-10 loss at No. 6 South Dakota, Red Wilson helped North Dakota get off to a good start, returning the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. He ended the game with three returns for 143 yards. With his return, he became just the fifth player in UND history to run back the opening kickoff for a score.
Newcomer of the Week
LB Amir Abdullah, Illinois State
6-3, 215, Jr., Chicago, Illinois (Whitney Young HS/Nebraska-Kearney)
Outside linebacker Amir Abdullah did it all for the Redbird defense in their dominant 44-7 win at home over Murray State. The junior transfer from Nebraska-Kearney, led the Redbird defense with nine tackles on the day and added a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, and recorded a 30-yard interception return that set up a Redbird field goal. His interception was one of three on the day for the Redbirds, who allowed just seven points on the day and held the Racers to just 123 yards passing.
Offensive Lineman of the Week
RG Jake Kubas, North Dakota State
6-4, 308, Sr., Dickinson, N.D. (Trinity HS)
Kubas graded out at 90% with no tackles for loss or sacks allowed in North Dakota State’s 34-10 victory over Southern Illinois. Kubas led the Bison offensive line in physicality points and helped NDSU rush for 217 yards and four touchdowns against the No. 3-ranked defense in the FCS. The Bison also passed for 232 yards and averaged 7.0 yards per play.
OTHERS NOMINATED
WR Jadon Janke, South Dakota State -- Janke caught seven passes for a career-high 166 yards with two touchdowns in South Dakota State’s 34-0 road victory over Youngstown State on Nov. 11. Janke’s first touchdown covered 16 yards in the second quarter and gave the Jackrabbits a 17-0 lead. He scored on a 56-yard pass play on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter and added a 50-yard reception on the final play of the same quarter. Janke has two touchdown receptions in each of the last two games to take over the team lead with seven. He also has moved into a tie with his twin brother, Jaxon, for fourth place in career touchdown catches at SDSU with 27.
RB Mason Blakemore, Illinois State -- Blakemore controlled the game on the ground for the Redbirds in their dominant 44-7 win over Murray State. The junior transfer from Northern Illinois rushed for 169 yards on the ground and tied his season high with three rushing touchdowns in the victory for the Redbirds. Blakemore scored on the first two possessions of the contest for ISU, with the first coming on the first drive of the game from 33 yards out and the second coming on the second Redbird possession from 35 yards out. He would tack on a five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give him three on the day, tying his season high set at Western Illinois. His effort helped the Redbirds rack up a season-high 345 yards on the ground and 510 yards of total offense.
TE JJ Galbreath, South Dakota -- Galbreath equaled his career high with 101 yards receiving on five catches in South Dakota's 14-10 win against No. 10 North Dakota Saturday in Vermillion. All five of his catches went for 13 yards or more and four of them went for first downs. Galbreath's 32-yard catch reached the UND 4 and set up the Coyotes' first touchdown.
RB Justin Dinka, Indiana State -- Dinka put the Sycamores in the lead on Saturday afternoon with his first touchdown of the game, and then added his second in the fourth quarter to secure Indiana State’s first MVFC win of the 2023 season against Western Illinois. Dinka scored from 41 yards out midway through the second quarter to put the Sycamores in the lead against the visiting Leathernecks. He added a late two-yard touchdown run to provide the final scoring margin in the win. Dinka finished with 19 carries for 147 yards in addition to the two touchdowns. It marked his first 100-yard game of the season and third of his career, while the two-touchdown game marked his second multi-score effort over the last three weeks. Dinka added a 22-yard reception to finish the game with 169 all-purpose yards on the field.
WR RaJa Nelson, North Dakota State -- Nelson had a team-high 126 all-purpose yards in North Dakota State’s 34-10 win over Southern Illinois. Nelson led the Bison with four receptions for 81 yards and had four carries for 45 yards. He had 101 yards in the first half including four first downs on six touches to help NDSU to a 13-10 halftime lead.
DL Josh Dinga, Illinois State -- Dinga had the best game of his career on his senior day at Hancock Stadium in a 44-7 win for the Redbirds over Murray State. The Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native recorded career highs in tackles (7), sacks (2.0) and tackles for loss (3.0) for the Redbird defense, which allowed just seven points on the day and held the Racers to just 123 yards passing. Dinga’s two sacks came in three plays, as he dropped Murray State quarterback DJ Williams for a one-yard loss and two plays later got to him again for a seven-yard loss to force a punt.
DE Jake Kava, North Dakota State -- Kava made four tackles with a career-high 2.5 sacks in North Dakota State’s 34-10 win over Southern Illinois. Kava was part of an NDSU defense that held SIU to three-and-out on the first three possessions of the second half and allowed only 60 yards in a scoreless second half.
CB Shahid Barros, South Dakota -- Barros notched his second interception of the season to keep points off the board in South Dakota's 14-10 win against No. 10 North Dakota Saturday in Vermillion. He added three tackles for a defense that limited North Dakota's offense to three points and 211 yards. UND quarterback Tommy Schuster, picked for just the third time this season, was limited to 116 yards passing and star wide out Bo Belquist was limited to a season-low 13 yards receiving.
LB Wyatt Pedigo, North Dakota -- In the 14-10 loss at No. 6 USD, linebacker Wyatt Pedigo had a crucial strip-fumble in the second quarter. On the play, it looked like Carter Bell was going to even the score up at 7-7 after a 64-yard reception, but Pedigo chased him down at the UND 1 and punched out the football, eventually recovering it in the end zone for a touchback. Pedigo finished the game with five solo stops, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
LB Adam Bock, South Dakota State -- Bock recorded a team-high seven tackles and helped set the tone for the Jackrabbit defense in a 34-0 shutout victory at Youngstown State with half-sacks on each of YSU's first drives.
P Harry Traum, Indiana State -- Traum helped Indiana State dominate the field position battle on Saturday afternoon against Western Illinois as the punter dropped two punts down inside the 20 and nearly had a third in the Sycamores’ 27-6 win over the Leathernecks. Traum’s first punt on ISU’s opening possession was downed by the Sycamore coverage team at the WIU 2. His 50-yard punt from midfield late in the second quarter was touched by the Sycamore coverage team at the WIU 1, but ISU was unable to keep the ball from rolling into the end zone. His final punt rolled out of bounds at the WIU 14. He averaged 43.3 yards per punt over his three attempts in the contest.
PK Jake Andjelic, Indiana State -- Jake Andjelic was a perfect 2-for-2 on his field goal attempts and converted all three extra points in Indiana State’s 27-6 win over Western Illinois. Andjelic converted from both 37 and 25 yards in the contest against WIU to improve to 7-for-7 on field goals in the 2023 season. He’s also a perfect 5-for-5 on his PAT attempts after becoming ISU’s primary kicker against Northern Iowa.