This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Tommy Rittenhouse of Illinois State; LB Logan Kopp of North Dakota State; WR Xavier Loyd of Illinois State; P Kaedin Steindorf of North Dakota State; and OL Jack Kuntz of North Dakota.



Offense
QB Tommy Rittenhouse, Illinois State
5-11, 205, Jr., Geneva, Illinois (St. Francis HS)
Rittenhouse accumulated 475 yards of total offense and accounted for three TDs in Illinois State’s 40-32 victory at Murray State.  He completed 27-of-38 passes for a career-high 347 yards with a T and added a career-best 128 yards and two scores on the ground. Rittenhouse started the scoring on the day with a 40-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter and added his second rushing touchdown of the day early in the third quarter, this one from 26 yards out to give the Redbirds a 23-14. Then, after the Racers cut the ISU lead to one score at 30-22, Rittenhouse came back into the game after leaving for an injury check and proceeded to throw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Sobkowicz to effectively put the game away.



Defense
LB Logan Kopp, North Dakota State
6-1, 220, Jr., St. Louis, Mo. (Lindbergh HS)
Kopp’s made six tackles and his second interception of the season sealed North Dakota State’s 13-9 victory over South Dakota State in the annual Dakota Marker game. Kopp picked off Mark Gronowski at the NDSU 38 with 1:00 left after the Jackrabbits picked up three first downs and advanced to midfield. The interception was the first turnover forced by NDSU in the series since 2019, helping the Bison snap a five-game losing streak to SDSU.



Newcomer
WR Xavier Loyd, Illinois State
6-2, 195, Jr., Blue Springs, Mo. (Blue Springs HS / Kansas State)
Loyd had his best receiving performance as a Redbird in Illinois State’s 40-32 win on the road at Murray State. The Blue Springs, Missouri, native averaged 29.6 yards per catch and finished the game with five grabs for a career-best 148 yards in the win over the Racers. He had receptions of 42 yards from Rittenhouse and a 38-yarder from Jake Rubley, which set up a Redbird touchdown two plays later. 



Special Teams
P Kaedin Steindorf, North Dakota State
6-1, 202, Sr., Sherwood, Ore. (Sherwood HS)
Steindorf averaged 43.8 yards on five punts in North Dakota State’s 13-9 victory over South Dakota State in the annual Dakota Marker game. Steindorf’s two longest punts both went 47 yards, including one out-of-bounds at the SDSU 4 as Steindorf and the Bison limited the Jacks to zero return yards in the punt game.




Offensive Lineman of the Week
OL Jack Kuntz, North Dakota
Sr., 6-4, 320, Devils Lake, N.D.
In the 31-7 win over Northern Iowa, Jack Kuntz and North Dakota’s offensive line helped UND rack up 386 yards of offense with 267 yards rushing and 119 yards passing. The blocking up front also allowed the Fighting Hawks to have 75 plays with the ball, while limiting the Panthers to only 44 plays. In the first half alone, UND ran 49 plays to UNI’s 14. The Panthers only got to QB Simon Romfo once in the contest.  Kuntz graded out at 92 percent with four knockdowns and no pressures or sacks allowed.



OTHERS NOMINATED

QB Cam Miller, North Dakota State -- Miller went 7-for-7 on the 92-yard game-winning drive to lead North Dakota State to a 13-9 victory over South Dakota State in the annual Dakota Marker game. Miller’s 20-yard touchdown pass to RaJa Nelson put the Bison ahead with 1:49 left and was the only scoring drive in the second half of a defensive slugfest. Miller finished 20 of 27 passing for 163 yards and two scores, including an 18-yard touchdown to Nelson in the second quarter. The Bison committed zero turnovers and snapped a five-game losing streak to SDSU.

RB Jawaun Northington, Murray State -- Northington was a force for the Racers throughout the day in their contest versus Illinois State, rushing for 104 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 rush attempts. The junior tailback had a 48-yard score to open the game for Murray State as he became the first MSU player with over 100 rushing yards in a game this season.

RB Gaven Ziebarth, North Dakota -- Ziebarth rushed 14 times for 83 yards and a touchdown in North Dakota’s 31-7 win over Northern Iowa. He scored on a 40-yard rush in the fourth quarter to bring the tally to 28-7. Earlier in the game, Ziebarth picked up a blitz that allowed Simon Romfo to connect with Bo Belquist for a 34-yard touchdown pass to put UND on top 14-7 with 3:50 to go before intermission.

RB Charles Pierre Jr., South Dakota -- An offensive explosion for Pierre Jr. (So., Orlando, Fla.) as he rushed for a new career-best 153 yards, as one of the FCS’s best rushing teams recorded just their first 150+ yard rusher this season. He ran the ball for a tied career-best 21 times, averaging 7.3 yards per carry on his way to his second-straight 100-yard rushing performance. He broke off two chunk plays for his two rushing scores, as he broke off a 21-yard TD run to knot the game up at 14-14 in the second quarter. In the third quarter, and even more explosive 50-yard TD run up the middle would give South Dakota their first lead of the night, in part of the 27-3 scoring run to take down the Penguins 27-17, winning for the first-time ever in Youngstown as a program. Additionally, the Valley-leading 12 rushing scores now cracks Pierre Jr. into the USD single-season top-10 mark for rushing touchdowns. 

QB Jacob Clark, Missouri State -- He completed 22-of-27 passes for 379 yards and three touchdowns in the Bears' homecoming victory over Indiana State on Saturday. Clark also rushed for a touchdown and led MoState to seven scores in 10 offensive possessions on the afternoon.  Clark completed passes to eight different receivers in the game, including a thrilling 82-yard TD pass to tight end Lance Mason in the third quarter, the 10th-longest passing play in team history. Likewise, his 81.5-percent completion percentage on the day was the second-highest, single-game throwing accuracy in program history, trailing only his 84.8-percent earlier this season against Lindenwood. Clark's 379 passing yards marked the third-highest passing total of his young career, his fifth 300-yard passing game of the season and the seventh in 11 career starts. Likewise, in Saturday's game, he became the 14th MSU passer to eclipse 2,000 passing yards in a season and the 13th Bear to hit the 3,000-yard mark in career passing yards.  Saturday's 46-21 win also lifted the Bears to their first 3-0 start in conference play since 1997, their first five-game win streak since 2001-02 and their fourth straight game scoring 30 or more points.

LB Justice Cross, Murray State -- Cross shined bright for the Racers defense with six solo tackles and his first career interception against Illinois State. The Lauderhill, Florida native returned the INT for 36 yards to set up the Racers offense for a score just before halftime in the contest. 

LB Lance Rucker, North Dakota -- Rucker had 1.0 tackle-for-loss, 1.0 sack, a pass breakup and a pair of QB hurries. On UNI’s first two possessions after intermission, Rucker broke up a pass on third down on their first series and then applied pressure on fourth down on the second series, which forced an incomplete pass after he got to the QB and forced the overthrow. Rucker added another QB hurry late in the quarter before finally getting to Matthew Schecklman in the fourth quarter for a 10-yard sack.

LB Geoffrey Brown, Indiana State -- Brown paced the Indiana State defense on Saturday afternoon as the senior linebacker finished the game against Missouri State with eight tackles, including a sack, while adding his first interception of the 2024 season. The Fishers, Ind. native was active throughout the game picking up his first sack of the contest in the second quarter, while his fourth quarter interception led to Indiana State points as he snagged the pass at the MSU 39 leading to a Sycamore touchdown late in the contest.

WR Rashad Rochelle, Indiana State -- Rochelle led the Indiana State offense and special teams on Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mo., as the wide receiver finished with a team-high 162 all-purpose yards in the contest. Rochelle broke off a 63-yard reception shedding a trio of tackles on Indiana State’s first offensive play of the game in setting up the Sycamores’ first touchdown of the game. He added a 10-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter in giving the Sycamores a 15-10 lead late in the first half. He added three kickoff returns for 79 yards, including a 31-yard return late in the first quarter. His 162 all-purpose yards mark a season-high, while his 83 receiving yards set a new season-high for the wide receiver.

DB Jy Martin, North Dakota -- Martin recorded his first interception as a Fighting Hawk in the fourth quarter of the 31-7 win over Northern Iowa. His interception helped set up C.J. Elrichs’ career-long 47-yard field goal.

DB Dennis Shorter, South Dakota -- Shorter was all over the field defensively to help contain the dual threat ability of the Youngstown State quarterback. He was tied for the game-high with seven tackles, while being credited with a pair of pass break-ups in the 27-17 come-from-behind victory. After giving up 14 points on the first two YSU possessions, Shorter and the Coyote defense held firm and posted a second half shutout to allow for the Coyotes to go on a 27-3 scoring run to pick up the program’s first-ever win in Youngstown.

WR Quaron Adams, South Dakota -- Adams (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) sparked the offense after the Coyotes got into a 14-0 early hole, bringing down a pair of big chunk plays of 20+ yards. He was on the receiving end of a 48-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Bouman for the first Yote points of the night, marking his second TD reception of the year and sparking the 27-3 scoring run for South Dakota. Later, in the second half, he’d take an end around 30 yards to midfield, in total coming up with 78 yards of all-purpose yards on offense. On the season, he now has six 20-yard or more plays on the season. 

PK Ian Wagner, Illinois State -- Wagner accounted for 10 points and booted a pair of field goals in Illinois State’s 40-32 road victory at Murray State. Wagner connected on field goals of 20 and 37 yards, with the latter coming with under a minute to play in the game to give the Redbirds a two-score lead at 40-29. Wagner also handled the kickoff duties for the Redbirds, with five touchbacks on eight attempts on the day.

PK C.J. Elrichs, North Dakota -- Elrichs was 4-for-4 on extra point attempts and buried a career-long 47-yarder in the fourth quarter during North Dakota’s 31-7 win over Northern Iowa.