ST. LOUIS – Missouri State’s football tandem of freshman running back Celdon Manning and senior quarterback Matt Struck picked up weekly honors Sunday from the Missouri Valley Football Conference for their roles in leading the Bears to a 30-27 comeback win over No. 10-ranked Southern Illinois this week.
Manning was named MVFC Offensive Player of the Week after he scored all four of Missouri State’s touchdowns to help the Bears to their third straight win over a Top 25 foe. He racked up a game-high 117 yards on six pass receptions, including a 75-yard strike on the first play of the game. He also averaged 5.4 yards per carry on the ground with 12 touches for 65 yards. Manning, a freshman from Allen, Texas, scored on rushes of 2, 3, and 23 yards in the second half, the last of which tied the game, 27-27, with 2:42 to play. He then ripped off a 13-yard pass reception, an 11-yard third-down rush and 35 total yards on MSU’s game-winning drive that culminated in a 33-yard field goal by Jose Pizano as time expired.
Manning is Missouri State’s first MVFC Offensive Player of the Week since Oct. 30, 2016 (Brodie Lambert) and became the first Bear to score four touchdowns in a game since Jason Randall in 2017.
Struck was named MVFC Newcomer of the Week after he completed 18-of-26 passes (69 percent) with no interceptions and 245 passing yards in his second straight start. The Idaho State transfer from Central Point, Ore., helped the Bears draw first blood with a 75-yard touchdown pass to Manning on the very first play of the game, and then engineered scoring drives of 80, 51, 75 and 50 yards in the second half to help the Bears overcome a 12-point deficit against the Salukis. In the second half alone, Struck was 12-for-16 passing for 142 yards, guiding MSU to four scores over its last five possessions to secure the win.
Missouri State, which is 4-1 in the MVFC and tied for first place, has now earned five MVFC weekly awards this spring. In addition to Manning and Struck, the Bears have earned two MVFC Defensive Players of the Week in Kevin Ellis (Feb. 28) and Montrae Braswell (March 14) and a Special Teams Player of the Week in Jose Pizano (March 21).
The Bears will return to the road this Saturday when they take on fellow league leader North Dakota (4-1) at 11 a.m. Missouri State then returns to Robert W. Plaster Stadium on Saturday, April 10 to take on Youngstown State in the team’s scheduled conference finale.
