ST. LOUIS – After helping lead No. 10 Illinois State to a big non-conference win over Northern Arizona on Saturday night, senior placekicker Sam Fenlason and junior quarterback Brady Davis were each honored as Missouri Valley Football Conference Players of the Week on Sunday.
Fenlason was named the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week, while Davis took home Offensive Player of the Week honors. The duo join junior offensive lineman Drew Himmelman as 2019 weekly MVFC honorees, after he was named the league's Offensive Lineman of the Week after the team's win over Eastern Illinois.
Fenlason had a career night in Illinois State's 40-27 victory over Northern Arizona. The San Diego, California, native connected on a career-high four field goals to help lift the Redbirds to 3-1 on the season. Fenlason had makes of 23, 28, 32 and 29 yards, respectively, in the contest to improve to 5-for-5 on the season in field goal attempts. He became the first Redbird kicker to make three or more field goals since 2017, when Sean Slattery hit three against South Dakota. Fenlason also made all four of his extra point attempts versus NAU to finish with 16 points scored on the night.
Davis and the Redbird passing game exploded in the victory over the Lumberjacks. The junior from Columbus, Mississippi, threw for a career-high 419 yards and tossed a pair of touchdowns. His favorite target was Andrew Edgar, who caught a career-high 12 passes for a career-best 228 yards and both touchdowns. Davis connected with Edgar on a 10-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Redbirds an early lead and later found him for a 53-yard strike late in the third quarter to put the game away. The 419 yards passing were the most for the Redbirds since 2012, when Matt Brown threw for 473 against Eastern Illinois.Â
The Redbirds have a bye week, before welcoming in No. 1 ranked North Dakota State to Hancock Stadium on Oct. 5 to begin MVFC play.
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