NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State junior middle linebacker Tye Niekamp tied his career high in tackles in the Redbirds' 21-13 road victory at No. 21 South Dakota on Saturday in Vermillion. For his efforts, Niekamp was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season by the league office on Monday.
Niekamp joins quarterback Cole Payton of North Dakota State (Offensive Player of the Week), punt returner Tae Marrero Jr. of Southern Illinois (Special Teams Player of the Week) and kick returner/wide receiver Ky "Flash" Wilson of Youngstown State (Newcomer of the Week) as this week's conference honorees. The weekly honor is the fourth for Niekamp in his career at Illinois State.
The Normal, Illinois, native tied his career and season high with a game-best 14 tackles against the Coyotes, which included a career-best 11 solo stops. Niekamp was also credited with a tackle-for-loss, as the Redbirds held the No. 21 ranked Coyotes to just 13 points at home. It marked Niekamp's fourth double-digit tackling effort of the season and third game with 13 or more tackles. He now leads the Redbirds with 77 total tackles on the year, with a team-leading 6.5 TFLs to go along with three pass breakups.
No. 17 ranked Illinois State (5-3, 2-2 MVFC) returns home to host UNI (2-6, 0-4 MVFC) on Saturday, November 1, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. on Jay and Lori Bergman Field at Hancock Stadium.
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