ST. LOUIS, Mo. – After helping lead Illinois State to a thrilling 36-35 win on the road at Missouri State, Illinois State junior running back Mason Blakemore has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week by the league office on Monday.
The weekly honor is the second for Blakemore this season, who previously was named the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week after a standout week 2 performance at Western Illinois. He joins quarterback Tommy Schuster of North Dakota (Offensive Player of the Week), linebacker Brendan Webb of South Dakota (Defensive Player of the Week) and kicker/punter Hunter Dustman of South Dakota State (Special Teams Player of the Week) as this week's honorees.
Blakemore bounced back from a tough effort last week and put together one of his best games of the season in Illinois State's win at Missouri State. The Northern Illinois transfer recorded his third 100-plus yard rushing performance of the season, amassing 125 yards on 25 carries with two rushing touchdowns in the contest. His first score of the day came on a 7-yard run late in the first quarter that made the score 14-7 in favor of the Redbirds at the time and later added another 7-yard score late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 28-28. Overall, the Redbirds rushed for 208 yards on the ground against the Bears and posted their second 500-plus total offense effort of the year.
Blakemore and the Redbirds return home for their final contest at Hancock Stadium of the season on Saturday, when they host Murray State on Senior Day with kickoff scheduled for 11 a.m.
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