ST. LOUIS – Despite his services not being needed in the game until the fourth quarter on Saturday against St. Francis (Ill.), Illinois State punter Hayden Futch made the most of his opportunities and turned that into him being named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday by the league office.
Joining Futch as a weekly honoree are quarterback Austyn Modrzewski of South Dakota (Offensive Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week), linebacker Chase Van Tol of South Dakota State (Defensive Player of the Week) and left tackle Quinten Christensen of South Dakota State (Offensive Lineman of the Week).
Futch was not needed much in the 76-0 season opening win over St. Francis, but when he did come on to punt, he made it count. The senior only punted twice in the game but averaged 66 yards per punt against the Fighting Saints, both punts coming in the fourth quarter. His first was a 62-yarder, which fell one yard short of a career-high, but on his next attempt, he set a new career-best with a 70-yard punt that was downed inside the Saints' five-yard line.
Last season, Futch averaged 43.4 yards per punt (fifth on the ISU single-season list) on 62 attempts, with 14 punts over 50 yards in length. He also pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line a total of 23 times and forced 13 fair catch calls on the year.
The Redbirds (1-0) will renew one of their longest-standing rivalries this Saturday, when they travel to Macomb, Illinois, to take on the Western Illinois Leathernecks (1-0) at Hanson Field, with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. CT.
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