ST. LOUIS — For the third time in just four games played, Illinois State senior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh has earned Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Sunday.
Vandenburgh was previously honored by the MVFC as Defensive Player of the Week after strong performances in wins for the Redbirds over Valparaiso and Eastern Illinois. This honor is his third in as many games played and the fourth in his career at ISU.
Vandenburgh was all over the field against Southern Illinois on Saturday night. The Freeport, Illinois, native tied his career high with 14 tackles against the Salukis and finished the game with a sack and 3.5 tackles-for-loss. The double-digit tackle effort was his third in four games for the Redbirds and he extended his streak of games with three or more tackles-for-loss to three straight. He now leads the Redbirds in tackles (44), sacks (6) and tackles-for-loss (10.5) on the season, with the sack and tackle-for-loss numbers already setting career season-bests.
He and the Redbirds will hit the road next Saturday as they head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on Northern Iowa at the UNI Dome, with kickoff set for 4 p.m.
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