ST. LOUIS – Illinois State linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh and kick returner Jalen Carr each played huge roles in the Redbirds coming away with a win over Valparaiso in the home opener at Hancock Stadium Saturday night. For their efforts, each came away with a Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors on Sunday as announced by the league.
Vandenburgh takes home MVFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career, while Carr earned the first MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week honor in his time at Illinois State.
When the Redbird defense needed a big stop against the Beacons, it seemed Vandenburgh was always in the fray. The Freeport, Illinois, native led the team with 12 tackles, recorded a career-best three sacks, tied a career-high with 3.0 tackles-for-loss and added a forced fumble in the victory. His final sack was one of the biggest defensive plays of the contest, as he took down Valparaiso's Mason Kaplan for the third time with just 23 seconds left on the clock and that led to the game-sealing interception on the next play by Franky West. Vandenburgh has now recorded double-digit tackle efforts in the first two games of the season for ISU and has tied his total for sacks from 2021.
After the Beacons took a 14-7 lead after recovering a muffed punt in the endzone early in the second quarter, Carr took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards to the house for a touchdown to knot the game at 14-14 just seconds later. Carr's kickoff return for a touchdown was the first for the Redbirds since 2017, when Christian Uphoff returned one 100 yards for a score at South Dakota State, and the first touchdown overall in his career at ISU.
Illinois State next welcomes in longtime foe Eastern Illinois on Saturday for the 110th meeting of the Mid-America Classic, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. at Hancock Stadium.
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