This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include RB Kirby Vorhees of South Dakota State; LB Josh Navratil of North Dakota; RB CharMar Brown of North Dakota State; WR/RS Jackson Williams of North Dakota State; and JJ Guedet of Illinois State.



Offensive Player of the Week
RB Kirby Vorhees, South Dakota State
5-11, 205, R-Fr., Lutz, Fla. (Steinbrenner HS)
Vorhees needed only five carries to rack up 179 rushing yards to score three touchdowns in South Dakota State’s 41-0 road win at Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 21. Vorhees shed several would-be tacklers to score touchdowns of 20 and 22 yards on his first two rushing attempts in the second quarter, then broke through the line for an 80-yard touchdown on his first carry of the third quarter. His two other rushing attempts covered 39 and 18 yards, giving him an average of 35.8 yards per attempt. As a team, South Dakota State rushed for 341 yards and five touchdowns.



Defensive Player of the Week
LB Josh Navratil, North Dakota
6-2, 235, Sr., Pine Island, Minn. (Pine Island HS)
Navratil had five tackles (four solo), one sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in the 41-24 victory over San Diego. Navratil’s fumble recovery late in the third quarter led to C.J. Elrichs’ 31-yard field goal to bring the tally to 34-17 heading into the final stanza.



Newcomer of the Week
RB CharMar Brown, North Dakota State
5-11, 214, RFr., Omaha, Neb. (Creighton Prep HS)
Brown rushed 24 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns averaging 5.2 yards per carry in North Dakota State’s 41-24 homecoming victory over Towson. In just the fourth game of his career, he posted NDSU’s first 100-yard rushing performance in six games since the second round of the 2023 playoffs and the most carries by a Bison player since March 2021 when Hunter Luepke rushed 28 times for 190 yards and three TDs in a win against North Dakota. Brown had 41 yards on five straight carries in the fourth quarter to lead the Bison on a scoring drive that made it a two-possession game late.



Special Teams Player of the Week
WR/RS Jackson Williams, North Dakota State
5-11, 177, Fr., Omaha, Neb. (Millard West HS)
Williams had a game-high 169 all-purpose yards in North Dakota State’s 41-24 homecoming victory over Towson. On his first collegiate punt return, he went 67 yards for a touchdown to give the Bison a 17-3 second quarter lead. He also had one fair catch and returned four kickoffs for an average of 21.3 yards with a long of 35 yards in the fourth quarter to spark the Bison scoring drive that made it a two-possession game late. Williams leads the MVFC with 224 kick return yards this season and is second in the league averaging 28.0 yards on eight attempts.



Offensive Lineman of the Week
OT JJ Guedet, Illinois State
6-8, 305, Sr., Washington, Illinois (Washington HS / Minnesota)
Guedet led the way for the Redbird offensive line in their dominant 31-7 win over rival Eastern Illinois in the 112^th Mid-America Classic. The Washington, Illinois, native anchored the offensive line unit that helped running back Wenkers Wright rush for 150 yards and a score on the ground for his third-consecutive 100-plus yard effort. The ISU offense also put up a season-best 518 yards of total offense against the Panthers, which featured a balanced attack of 253 yards on the ground and 273 yards through the air.


OTHERS NOMINATED

QB Aidan Bouman, South Dakota -- The passing game got going this week for Bouman (R-Jr., Buffalo, Minn.) and the Coyotes. He went 18-for-24 (75.0%) in the 42-3 win over Drake, throwing for his first touchdown of the season. His 219 yards surpassed his passing yards total for the first two games of the season (199 yards).

QB Tommy Rittenhouse, Illinois State -- He completed 77 percent of his passes (17-for-22) and recorded season bests in passing yards and touchdowns in the victory over the Panthers. Rittenhouse threw for a season-high 228 yards and a career-best three touchdown in the win, while also rushing for 47 yards, which included a big run of 30 yards. His first touchdown of the game came on ISU’s first drive of the game, a 31-yard strike to Daniel Sobkowicz that capped off a 98-yard scoring drive. On ISU’s next possession, Rittenhouse rolled to his right and found Xavier Loyd alone in the back of the endzone for a 12-yard touchdown. His final touchdown of the game was his second to Sobkowicz, who made a defender miss and scored from five yards out to make the score 21-0 in the second quarter.

QB Jacob Clark, Missouri State -- Clark led Missouri State to a dominant offensive performance Saturday at UT Martin, completing 25-of-33 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions and no offensive turnovers. Clark's passing yardage (388) was the sixth-highest in program history, while his single-game completion percentage (.788) ranked third. His efforts helped MSU reel off 24 unanswered points to help the Bears erase an early 7-0 deficit with a 90-yard TD drive in the final minute of the first half to give MSU its first lead, along with three TD passes.  MSU's 403 total yards was its second-highest offensive output of the season.

WR Bo Belquist, North Dakota -- Belquist paced North Dakota with three grabs for 116 yards and a pair of scores in the 41-24 win over San Diego. He hauled in a 69-yard strike from Simon Romfo early in the third quarter to knot the score up at 17-17 and later in the quarter had a 41-yard reception for a touchdown to extend UND’s lead to 31-17. Belquist now has eight 100-yard receiving games in his career.  His 357 receiving yards through the first four games this season are the most for a UND receiver in a four-game stretch to start the season since Greg Hardin put down 416 yards receiving in the first four games of 2013.

WR Xavier Loyd, Illinois State -- Loyd caught his second touchdown in as many weeks and tied for the team lead in receptions in Illinois State’s big 31-7 win over in-state rival Eastern Illinois. The Blue Springs, Missouri, native recorded seven catches for 75 yards and scored his second touchdown in a Redbird uniform in the victory over the Panthers. Loyd had a long grab of 27 yards in the contest and racked up 25 yards after the catch against EIU, and hauled in a 12-yard touchdown catch from Tommy Rittenhouse on the team’s second drive of the game.

LB Dallas Winner-Johnson, Missouri State -- MSU's redshirt freshman linebacker logged a team-high 10 tackles in Saturday's win at UT Martin, including 4 solo stops and a tackle for loss. Six of his tackles took place on first down, limiting the Skyhawks opportunities in a memorable breakout performance.

RB Sawyer Seidl, North Dakota -- Seidl led North Dakota on the ground in the 41-24 win against San Diego, rushing 13 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 9.5 yards per carry and scored on a 70-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 14-10 early in the second quarter. It was Seidl’s first 100-yard rushing game of his career. 
  
S Keondre Jackson, Illinois State -- Jackson led the way for an impressive Redbird defense that held Eastern Illinois to just seven points in a dominant 31-7 victory at Hancock Stadium. The Freeport, Illinois, native led the team with seven tackles and added his first interception of the season, which he returned 24 yards to set up a score for the Redbirds. In all, the Redbird defense allowed just 192 yards of total offense and the secondary led by Jackson gave up just 87 yards in the air.

DL Nick Gaes, South Dakota -- Gaes (Sr., Alta, Iowa) led the game with his 1.5 sacks, accounting for half of the Coyotes sacks in the 42-3 win over the Drake Bulldogs. He was consistently in the Bulldog backfield all afternoon long, forcing the Drake QB to throw before he was ready. Gaes currently leads the team with his three sacks on the season. 

S Colby Huerter, South Dakota State -- Huerter marked his return to the starting lineup by sharing team-high honors with seven tackles and adding an interception as top-ranked South Dakota State pitched a 41-0 shutout Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana. Huerter’s interception and subsequent 38-yard return came on the final play of the first quarter.

PK Ian Wagner, Illinois State -- Wagner accounted for seven points for Illinois State in its 31-7 win over rival Eastern Illinois on Saturday night at Hancock Stadium. Wagner was 4-for-4 on extra point attempts and converted his only field goal attempt of the game, when he split the uprights from 28 yards out in the third quarter to give the Redbirds a 24-7 lead at the time. Wagner also handled the kickoff duties for ISU, with five touchbacks on six kickoffs on the day.

CB Dalys Beanum, South Dakota State -- Beanum returned a first-quarter punt 88 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring in South Dakota State’s 41-0 road win at Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 21. His  88-yarder marked the longest punt return by a Jackrabbit since 2007 as he ended the night with three returns for a total of 102 yards and also contributed three tackles on defense.

KR Keyondray Jones-Logan, South Dakota -- The current FCS leader in kickoff returns for a touchdown struck again against the Bulldogs, making it two games in the Dome with two returns for a score. Jones-Logan (So., Orlando, Fla.) took the opening kickoff 99-yards for the score. He’s tied for the national lead after the weekend and has tied the single-season and career record in USD history for most kickoff returns for a score (Bob Koch had two in 1968 and two for his career).