ST. LOUIS – Illinois State sophomore middle linebacker Tye Niekamp played one of his best games of the season in Illinois State's regular season finale win over North Dakota, and for his efforts was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday.
Niekamp joined quarterback Michael Lindauer of Southern Illinois (Offensive Player of the Week), linebacker Nate Ewell of South Dakota (Newcomer of the Week) and wide receiver/return specialist Sergio Morancy of UNI (Special Teams Player of the Week) as this week's conference honorees.
Niekamp paced the Illinois State defense in its dominant 35-13 win over the Fighting Hawks on Senior Day. The Normal, Illinois, native led the team with 10 tackles while adding a sack and three pass breakups in the victory. Niekamp and the Redbird defense held the dangerous UND offense to just 266 yards of total offense, while ISU forced two turnovers and recorded 5.0 tackles-for-loss.
On the season, Niekamp leads the Redbirds and ranked second in the MVFC in tackles with 99 (42 solo). He also ranked fourth in the league in tackles for loss with 10.5, added 2.5 sacks and tied for the team and league-lead in interceptions with three on the year.
No. 12 seed Illinois State will head to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Saturday, November 30, with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. at Houck Field against Southeast Missouri State (9-3, 6-2 Big South-OVC).
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