This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Kory Faulkner of Southern Illinois, FS Jameel Smith of Youngstown State, P/PK Miles Bergner of South Dakota and TB Martin Ruiz of Youngstown State.
Offense
QB Kory Faulkner, Southern Illinois
6-4, 227, Sr., Ste. Genevieve (Mo.) High
Faulkner accounted for all three of SIU’s TDs in Saturday’s 27-24 upset of No. 7 South Dakota State. The senior captain threw for 185 yards. His lone touchdown pass was a 59-yard completion to John Lantz to tie the game at 17-17 on the first drive of the second half. Faulkner also added a pair of rushing touchdowns, his first two of the season.
Defense
FS Jameel Smith, Youngstown State
6-0, 205, Fr., Miami (Fla.) Norland High
Smith returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter of the Penguins’ 35-24 win at Indiana State. Smith’s INT return tied for the second-longest in school history. YSU led 7-3 at the time of Smith’s pick before he returned it up the sideline, followed some blocks and had some nifty moves for the score. Smith finished the game with six total tackles.
Special Teams
P/PK Miles Bergner, South Dakota
6-1, 215, Fr., Longmont (Colo.) High
With 1:24 remaining, Bergner made a career-long and game-winning 41-yard field to give South Dakota its first-ever MVFC victory in a 17-14 win against Missouri State. Bergner also had three touchbacks on four kickoffs and averaged 43 yards on six punts. His six punts netted 39.5 yards. He had a 51-yard punt and pinned on kick inside the 20.
Newcomer
TB Martin Ruiz, Youngstown State
5-11, 195, Sr., Tampa (Fla.) Robinson High
Ruiz led the Penguins’ ground attack with a career-high 141 yards on 23 carries and scored three touchdowns in a win at Indiana State. He had scoring runs of 44 (on YSU’s first offensive play from scrimmage), 13 and six in the win. Ruiz had 65 yards on just six carries in the first half before helping the Penguins churn out the win with 17 carries in the second half. YSU has won five straight conference games dating back to last year and is off to its first 2-0 start since 2006. Ruiz now has 10 rushing TDs on the year.
ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS:
OFFENSE
RB Marshaun Coprich, Illinois State -- Set career bests with 24 carries, 124 yards and three touchdowns against the Leathernecks. The TD runs were the first three of Coprich’s career at Illinois State.
QB Kevin Earl, South Dakota -- Earl made his first collegiate start Saturday and helped USD earn its first MVFC victory. Earl was 22-of-35 for 159 yards and a touchdown. He led the Coyotes on two fourth-quarter scoring drives that helped the team overcome a 14-6 deficit.
RB David Johnson, UNI -- scored for the 14th consecutive game and notched his 12th career 100+ yard rushing game, finishing with 142 rushing yards and one touchdown. His 85-yard run in the second quarter was the longest TD run of his career.
RB Sam Ojuri, North Dakota State -- Ran for 96 yards on 17 carries averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and he scored the eventual game-winning touchdown on a 19-yard run with 2:52 left in the 24-23 win over Northern Iowa.
QB Mike Perish, Indiana State -- Was 30-of-56 passing for 392 yards and three TDs vs. YSU. He was just three completions, two pass attempts and four passing yards away from the single-game school records.
TB Martin Ruiz, Youngstown State -- Newcomer of the Week this week, also nominated here
DEFENSE
DE Kyle Emanuel, North Dakota State -- Had only four tackles but three solo stops including one tackle for loss…Had three QB hurries including two in the fourth quarter as the Bison kept UNI from crossing midfield…Part of a fourth-quarter defensive effort that allowed only six yards rushing on five attempts and 1-of-9 passing.
LB Charles Elmore, South Dakota State -- Elmore returned an interception 89 yards for a TD in the final minute of the first half to give SDSU a 17-10 lead. He later forced a fumble at midlfield that led to a TD in the fourth quarter. Elmore also was credited with six tackles, including one for loss.
LB Jake Farley, UNI -- notched a game-high 11 tackles and had his first career sack, forcing the Bison to punt after UNI had gone up 20-10.
LB Christian Hoffmann, Missouri State -- Hoffman was involved in two huge plays -- one that prevented a TD and one that let to a score. He had an interception and a fumble recovery and added 2 solo tackles.
DB David McDaniel, Western Illinois -- McDaniel set up two of the Leatherneck TDs. He recovered a fumble on the Redbirds’ opening drive of the second half, and Western scored on the next play. He also recorded the team’s first blocked kick this year, a punt in which Western scored three plays later. He added seven tackles.
DT Bradon Prate, Illinois State -- Finished with a half sack, two tackles-for-loss and a pass break up against the Leathernecks. Prate was also credited with a pair of quarterback hurries and was instrumental in the Redbirds allowing just 72 yards on the ground and 211 yards of total offense to the Leathernecks.
LB Bryan Presume, Southern Illinois -- Presume recorded 10 tackles and a pair of sacks in SIU’s 27-24 win at South Dakota State. He also recovered a fumble in the third quarter.
DB Mark Sewall, Indiana State -- made his return to the full time Sycamore defensive lineup following an injury to lead the team with eight total tackles, including a pair of TFLs against nationally-ranked Youngstown State.
LB Tyler Starr, South Dakota -- Starr was the star of a defense that limited Missouri State to a season-low 177 yards of offense – half the Bears’ season average. He led the Coyotes with eight tackles, including two sacks of quarterback Kierra Harris, who finished 7 of 16 for 72 yards and two interceptions.
NEWCOMER
RB Trevor Bouma, South Dakota -- Bouma led the Coyotes in both rushing and receiving, and scored the game-tying touchdown in the Coyotes 17-14 win against Missouri State Saturday – the program’s first MVFC victory.
LB Dylan Cole, Missouri State -- Started his sixth straight game and racked up seven total tackles, two tackles for loss and 3 solo stops while the Bears held the Coyotes to 279 total yards and just 120 yards on the ground.
K Thomas Kinney, Southern Illinois -- Kinney was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and also converted all three of his extra point attempts. On less than perfect field conditions, Kinney nailed a 35-yarder and a season-long 42-yarder. Both of his field goals broke a tie game to give the Salukis the lead.
WR Lance Lenoir, Western Illinois -- Lenoir set personal highs with 7 catches totaling 105 yards and 2 touchdowns. He surpassed his season TD total and became the first Leatherneck in a span of 12 games to record at least 7 catches and 100 receiving yards. His 42 yard TD reception was his longest catch this year.
WR Sampson Levingston, Indiana State -- Levingston had two receptions for 56 yards, and three TDs. He had TD receptions of 21 and 27 yards, and the eight yards on his receiving total came following a double lateral to Levingston who went the final eight yards for his third touchdown reception of the game.
QB Blake Winkler, Illinois State -- Completed a career-high 20 passes on 29 attempts and threw for a career-best 234 yards and two touchdowns for the Redbirds in the win against Western Illinois.
WR Carey Woods, North Dakota State -- Caught his first career TD pass in the second quarter against UNI with the Bison trailing 13-0. The 23-yard strike from Brock Jensen was Woods’ longest reception of the year.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Thomas Kinney, Southern Illinois -- see special teams nominees
P/K Nathan Knuffman, Western Illinois -- Knuffman tied for the third-most punts in program history in a game, getting 11 attempts at Illinois State, while averaging 39.9 yards per punt. He had a long of 57 yards and landed three inside the 20-yard line. P CJ Laros, Illinois State -- Punted a career-high nine times for 373 yards and averaged 41.4 yards per punt. He recorded a long punt of 50 yards and three placed punts inside the WIU 20 yard line.
P Ben LeCompte, North Dakota State -- Punted eight times with a 45.4 average…Had five punts inside the 20 and one touchback…Long punt of 64 yards…Shortest punts went for 30 and 34 yards, which were downed at the UNI 7 and 3, respectively…Also handled four kickoffs with a 61.5 average.
RB Vernon Scott, Missouri State -- Scott’s blocked punt and runback for a touchdown late in the third quarter gave the Bears a 14-6 lead midway through the second half.
PK Tyler Sievertsen, UNI -- finished the game against North Dakota State with 11 points off of three key field goals and two PATs. He notched a career-long 50-yarder later in the first quarter to put UNI up 6-0.
