Illinois States Andrew Papoccia and Andy King helped the Redbirds snare two of the four Rawlings Gateway Football Conference Player of the Week awards for their efforts in last Saturdays 40-7 win over Southwest Missouri State.
Papoccia, a redshirt freshman, was named the defensive player of the week, while King, a junior, was named the top offensive lineman.
Papoccia, from Sterling, Ill., had six tackles, one sack for a four-yard loss, two passes broken up and a fumble recovery that he returned 17 yards.
Illinois State limited SMS to just 184 yards of total offense. The Bears completed 11-of-30 passes and rushed 37 times for only 60 net yards. SMS was just 3-of-19 on third down, had only 10 first downs for the game and only avoided the shutout by scoring with 2:35 remaining.
SMS running back Jason Ringena, who entered the game averaging 101 yards per contest, was limited to just 62 on 26 carries (2.4 per rush).
King, a Lincoln native, graded out at 77% with seven knockdown blocks and no sacks allowed.
The Redbirds rolled up 539 total yards with 350 through the air and 189 on the ground. Kevin Glenn had all the passing yardage plus three touchdowns, while Willie Watts rushed for 154 yards (6.7 per attempt) and a pair of scores.
ISU averaged 7.3 yards per play and converted 10-of-18 third downs.
The other Gateway weekly awards went to Western Illinois running back Charles Tharp on offense and WIUs Mike Scifres on special teams.
Illinois State won its last six games and finished the season at 7-4 overall and 4-2 (second) in the Gateway Football Conference
The Redbirds established a school record for total offense in one season with 5,037 yards and enjoyed the fourth-best season ever against the rush by allowing just 122.7 yards per game.
